Karygiannis completes successful mission to Nigeria
OTTAWA - The Honourable Jim Karygiannis, Member of Parliament for Scarborough-Agincourt, has completed a successful fact-finding trip to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Mr. Karygiannis was accompanied by Mr. Kene Nnagbo, Vice-President of Nigerians In Diaspora Organization (Ottawa) and Mr. Billy Etuk, President of the Canada-Nigeria Business Council.
In Abuja, Mr. Karygiannis met with various government officials and members of the legislature to explore the possibility of arranging a Canadian business trade mission to Nigeria later in the year. During these meetings, Mr. Karygiannis was encouraged by various officials who expressed great interest in more Canadians doing business in Nigeria. It was pointed out that the Nigerian and Canadian legal systems are based on British Common Law and, therefore, Canadian business people will be comfortable with the Nigerian laws that pertain to business.
On his trip to Lagos, Mr. Karygiannis and his party met with the Canadian Deputy High Commissioner to further explore the possibilities of a trade mission. The discussion was wide-ranging and covered such topics as the best time to arrange a mission, the types of Canadian businesses which would prosper in Nigeria and the Nigerian companies which would be most suitable to partner with Canadian businesses.
In recent weeks, there have been sectarian riots in the City of Jos, in northern Nigeria. In order, to more fully understand the situation, Mr. Karygiannis and his party met with Christian and Muslim religious leaders, government officials and civil society officials. During these discussions some issues which led to the riots were identified. The feeling among these leaders was that issues such as unemployment and poverty could be addressed and would help lessen tensions. The reconstruction of the homes and businesses that had been destroyed was beginning and people were leaving the refugee camp to return home.
In his meeting with Chief Solomon Lar, the Chair of the Committee established to investigate the underlying tensions which led to the riots, Mr. Karygiannis was told that the issues leading to the riots must be identified and solutions must be found so that peace could return to the area. “We must build our nest together.” stated Chief Lar.
Mr. Karygiannis also met with the Governor of Plateau State, Jonah Jang, to discuss the situation in Jos. The Governor and Mr. Karygiannis discussed the government’s quick action in re-establishing order after the riots. The Governor indicated that those responsible for instigating the riots would be charged and brought to justice.
“I feel that my trip to Nigeria was very useful. There are many opportunities for Canadian businesses.” said Mr. Karygiannis. “I look forward to leading a delegation to Nigeria in the future.”
I find your visit so inspiring that I want to give you the full picture of the issues in Jos crisis. I live and lecture in European’s top university and have been involved in the investigation of Islamists. Herewith is the whole reason why the Jos Plateau plays a vital role and the Muslims want it all cost.
I title my comment ‘mistaken notion’ because many people do not even understand the type of Islam that is practiced in northern Nigeria. Let me pose and shout a question: WHY IS RELIGIOUS CONFLICT ABSENT IN OTHER PARTS OF WEST AFRICA EXCEPT NORTHERN NIGERIA? Have you posed and asked yourselves that question? Let me update you. The same proportion of divide between Muslims and Christians in northern Nigeria is found in Senegal, Ghana, Cameroun, and Benin Republic. Why are the Muslims in those areas not as active in conflicts as that of northern Nigeria? The simple answer is the type of Islamic faith that is practiced in northern Nigeria is different from the others practiced in West Africa.
I live in Europe and my friend a Nigerian Ibo fellow, dated a Fula woman from Senegal. Her name is Khady. Khady was ready to marry my friend. In fact, she was ready to be his second or third wife if he already had a wife in Nigeria. Do not think that she was desperate because she was doing a PhD and a European by nationality and on full scholarship. Her only fear was that her fellow Muslims in Nigeria will kill her once they found out that she is a Muslim and Fula of the linguistic stock parent of the northern Nigerian Fulani. Why would a Muslim Fula in Senegal be ready to marry a Nigerian Christian but a Fulani girl in Nigeria cannot even dream of the same thing? LISTEN: THE DIFFERNCE IS THAT THE BRAND OF ISLAM PRACTICED IN NOTHERN NIGERIA IS DIFFERENT FROM ANY OTHER PRACTICED IN WEST AFRICA.
The Islam practiced in northern Nigeria is called WAHABISM. Wahabism was founded by Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhaab (1115-1206 AH/ 1730-1793 CE) in the Arabian Peninsula and is well accepted among the Mecca people. It was the starting-point of government, which took it upon itself to apply the Islamic sharee’ah in “totality” and to seek the guidance of the “Qur’aan” and “Sunnah” in all its dealings. Before the arrival of petroleum, the Mecca people wandered in the desert taking care of animals. They were not respected in the Islamic world. In spite of the fact that Muslims go to Mecca and respected the birthplace of Prophet Mohammed, they did not respect Wahabism because of its doctrines. The most respected part of Wahabism doctrines, which other Muslims hate, is the use of violence to propagate or purify Islam. The Wahabists attacked many Islamic states in the name of trying to purity Islam, as such all other sects or countries of the Muslims world hate them even today.
Now when Nigeria worn its independence in 1960, the Sardauna of Sokoto Sir Ahmadu Bello and Sheik Abubakar Gumi thought of ways to stop the advent of Christianity from the south. They were afraid that Christianity was going to overcome Islam in the North, so decided to look for a radical form of Islam that they will use to stop the advent of Christianity. The best and the most radical was Wahabism. The two went to Saudi Arabia and invited Wahabism and planted its roots and teachings in Nigeria. They planted the headquarters of Wahabism in Jos, the frontiers of Christianity and Islam. They named it Jama’t Izalat al Bid’a Wa Iqamat as Sunna (Society of Removal of Innovation and Re-establishment of the Sunna), abbreviated as JIBWIS and known simply as Izala, was founded in 1978 by Sheikh Ismaila Idris in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria. Both in intention and reality, the JIBWIS is an anti-Sufi-movement that was established to fight against the so called bid’a, innovation, practiced by the Sufi brotherhoods, especially the Qadiriyya and the Tijaniyya. Practices like naming ceremonies, celebrating the Maulid (the birthday of the Prophet), visiting tombs of Saints, etc. are considered to be as non-Islamic by the Izala.
Although the launching of the Izala society took place at the end of the 1970s, the history of the movement started several years before. Sheikh Abubakar Gumi (1922-1992) was one of the main figures of Islam in Nigeria of the 20th century. He obtained a Diploma in Arabic Studies from the Sudan and was appointed as Pilgrim officer in Saudi Arabia. After he returned to Nigeria he was appointed as a Grand Qadi of the North. The critical attitude displayed by Gumi towards Sufism in Radio Kaduna, his writings (both in Hausa and Arabic) against the Qadiriyya and the Tijaniyya are crucial elements in the later establishment of the Izala-society. Sheikh Gumi preached against Bid’a and Sufism without having any institution behind him. Today the Izala is one of the largest Islamic societies not only in Northern Nigeria, but also in the South and even in the neighbouring countries (Chad, Niger, and Cameroon). It is very active in Da‘wa and especially in education. The Izala has many institutions all over the country and is influential at the local, state, and even federal levels. Even though the Izala-organization split into factions in the mid 1980s, it still retain its main goals in Northern Nigeria, that is stopping the growth of other religions and sects that do not belong to Izala.
Izala is Wahabism and its headquarters is in Jos. Even though the Izala are in Chad, Niger, and Cameroon, they do not make trouble there because they are not as many as northern Nigeria. Now you can see the reason why Jos is going through the crisis today. The main problem that the Wahabist have is their inability to convince the world that Jos has the element of Islam to the level that it can declare it a Muslim state as result of which they can declare Shariah on it. This is because In Nigeria, the Wahabist instituted Sharia as a main body of civil and criminal law in 9 Muslim-majority and in some parts of 3 Muslim-plurality states since 1999, when then-Zamfara State governor Ahmad Rufai Sani began the push for the institution of Sharia at the state level of government. As of 2009, the following 9 states have instituted Sharia: Zamfara State (January 27, 2000), Kano State (June 21, 2000), Sokoto State, Katsina State, Bauchi State (June 2001), Borno State, Jigawa State, Kebbi State, Yobe State. The following 3 states has also instituted sharia in some parts with large Muslim populations Kaduna, Niger State (January 13, 2000) and Gombe State.
Nigeria is divided into 6 geopolitical Zones which are North East, North west, South West South East, South-South and Middle Belt. In a situation where the country splits, the six geopolitical Zones will become nations of their own. And the headquarters of the Middle Nation will be in Jos. In a situation where they Nigerian Wahabist in Nigeria cannot declare Sharia in any part of Jos, it means that they cannot lay claim to the Middle Belt States. This is because even the places Kaduna, Niger State (January 13, 2000) and Gombe State will not accept the adoption of Sharia in totality. Thus, there is no how the Wahabist of Nigeria can lay claim to the Middle Belt of Nigeria. Where they insists the people of the Middle Belt will form a front and insist on asserting their identity as none Muslims of Sharia States. And the world have the knowledge that Jos and its people are entirely Christians. This will complicate issue for them. The question is why is Jos and the Middle Belt so significant ot the Nigerian Wahabists.
A careful analysis of the states that adopted Sharia are none mountainous. The main trade of the Islamist is rearing cattle. They need the highlands during the raining season if their cattle are to survive. Dr. Tilde a Muslim and Fulani in his publication in Sahara Reporters cap this up and I will paraphrase it here to give you the main factors and interest of the Wahabist cattle readers in Jos and the Middle Belt in general.
Tilde listed political, social and religious relevance of Jos his people, the Nigeria Wahahbist. In his last submission, he stated that, another factor contributing to the relevance of Jos and which contributes in determining its demography is the conspiracy between the aggression of the Sahara desert in the far North and the alluring environment of the Plateau. Tidle asserted that as the desert encroaches at an alarming rate, displacing people on its way, and pressing survivors to migrate southward to areas that can sustain farming and livestock, states in middle and southern Nigeria must naturally be prepared to receive more Nigerians from the far northern parts of the country as well as from Niger and Chad republics, two neighbours which the desert has already consumed. According to Tilde this movement is inevitable as the desert appears relentless in its invasion and governments in those states have been unable to stop it, mitigate its effect or device alternative systems that will retain their citizens. Tilde stated that two groups of people are particularly involved in this flight from the far North and both have been among the biggest victims of the recent crisis. The pastoralists, largely cattle Fulani, and dry season vegetable farmers commonly called “yan ci rani” who are Hausa Muslims largely from Kano and Jigawa States. The Jos Plateau, unfortunate to say, is a favourite area for both groups. Tilde positioned that the rich vegetation of the Plateau has remained irresistible to the Fulani pastoralist for over 100 years. Tilde in verbatim stated that, “
After the first conflict in 2001 they migrated with their cattle to the neighboring fields of southern Bauchi. Unfortunately, the cattle could not survive the poor grassland and scarce water. Many of the herds perished within few months. Thus, the Fulani were commanded by the remainder to undertake the risk of returning to the healthy and rich planes of the Plateau. Without hesitation, the pastoralists obeyed their cattle, only to suffer the same killings repeatedly whenever sedentary dwellers of the Tin City register for another semester of bloodletting. Yet, the cattle Fulani, I must conclude, cannot abandon the Plateau because the Plateau will not fail to seduce his cattle.
Tilde concluded in his analysis that, the perennial rivers of the Plateau combined with its longer rainy season and the comparatively generous vegetable market of Jos, will continue to invite the industry of the ‘yan ci rani. According to Tilde, the returns on vegetables, they told me, is almost three times what their home markets offer them. Therefore, the Adam Smith in them has over the years encouraged them to defy the lure of the rich Hadejia-Jama’are River basin which has inarguably the largest wet lands (fadama) in the country despite the assistance of their home state governments. That is the reason why the petrodollar is used to perpetuate the conflicts of Jos. That also explains the reason why the conflict of Jos attracts Izala people from all over Chad, Niger, and Cameroon. I will not be too far awy from the truth that the composition of the present Fedearl Govermant Comitee on Jos are a group of people that are ready to tell the truth and the Wahabists are afraid that the true ideneity of the problem will be revealed. The Wahabists are afraid as such they had to make sure the Presedent levase for Nigeria to stem the issues in the bud before the Acting Presindet could reveal the reality of issues on gruod. I want to tell you that Jos if globally very significant to the Wahabists that they had to use the riot in Jos in on the 7th September 2001 to divert the attention of the world while they execute the September 11th 2001 strike on The USA.
There is the likelihood that many of the Wahabist might have been trained in the act of bombing, that is why the bombed the Jos central market which is built to resist fire. Recently, they bombed the house of the leader of the Yoruba people. The issue is that they do not want anyone in Jos. They only want the Wahabists in Jos. Nevertheless, the unfortunate thing is that their calculation is wrong because they cannot get Jos, or the people of the Plateau. Check it anywhere in history, no one can defeat any people that live on mountains. That is why the USA in spite of its might cannot defeat the Taliban in their mountains in Afghanistan. One would have hoped that the Wahabist who use the Taliban as their military arm are not able to deduct from their experience in Afghanistan that the Jos people cannot be defeated. Of course it goes with the saying that people donot learn from history.
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