Doing The Needful As Nigerian Leaders

Dear Nigerian leaders, we cannot deny the fact that religious extremism and political extremism, among other things, have kept us on the global map for the wrong reasons for so many years.

No political or religious leader can deny the fact that the existence of armed bandits roaming freely all over some certain parts of Nigeria is not being sustained by funds and support from certain individuals and organizations.
Over the years, especially since the advent of Boko Haram, unnecessary violence has characterized our news.
I have visited IDP camps and listened to the stories of the oppressed in some states of the country.
While all we had to offer the victims were palliatives at the time, It is heart wrenching that the situation has not gotten better despite all the funds and personnel dedicated to it.

It is true that some people make huge gains both politically and financially from destabilizing the country.
It has been claimed that the sponsors of these organizations are known, and yet, for political reasons, they had been untouchable for the powers that be.
We cannot claim to have a country where citizens are afraid to move freely for fear of being kidnapped, tortured and killed simply for existing or for their religious beliefs.
I was asked some months ago while in the United Kingdom about the issue of religious killings in Nigeria.
I replied the British gentleman that asked me this question by explaining that in some areas the issue is beyond religion while in others it is religious.

We have the manpower and the ability to stop evil from festering within our borders. What we lacked was the political will to take decisive action regardless of whose ox is gored. When the Christian leaders from several states travelled to the USA to complain to the authorities, it was in the news. When martyrs like Deborah and Eunice were killed for blasphemy and preaching the gospel too close to a mosque, we saw no punishment for the culprits Rather, we saw certain sections of the country cheering and encouraging the acts.

Some even blamed the victims for exercising their constitutional rights. When Christian churches, priests and parishioners were slaughtered by the thousands in some states, all we had were social media outrages.These bloods are crying for justice.

It is true that Muslims and Christians have both suffered in other instances, but there has never been a report of a church or a Christian lynching a Muslim on the streets in the name of defending our Christian faith and values.
The leaders of the Islamic religion must do better in this regard.
The issue of out of school children in the north has defied all forms of solutions because the leadership of the Islamic religion in the north has refused to do the right thing by leading the Almajiris in the right direction for the future.

The Christians have resorted to prayer and self-help in many cases just so they can exercise their right to exist.
If America comes into Nigeria guns blazing today in defence of the victims, and our poor religious record, everybody will feel the heat. The people will suffer the more.
We have a country running on a Muslim Muslim ticket, and yet the blood thirsty Islamic extremists are not pacified.
You can imagine the frustration of every Christian as a result of that.
The last time we had a Christian president, blood flowed ceaselessly until the man was voted out of office.
Most of the deaths were in the north, where we have the highest concentration of Muslims.
This is not a time to trade blame or point fingers.
A man who had never seen war will assume peace comes at no cost.
Let us preserve our peace and prosperity as a nation.
Let us not jeopardize our economic reforms by allowing a lack of will to act decisively on these matters haunt us.
The challenge laid down by the USA govt can be seen as a declaration of war on Nigeria or as a declaration of war on Religious intolerance
We can do the needful or play ostrich.
I am asking that we do the former.

-GSW-