Introduction

In a troubled world where religious intolerance has led to loss of lives and livelihoods, Christians and Muslims have reasons to be sober towards embracing religious pluralism and peaceful co-existence. Sadly, various events hurt badly. For example, between October 2016 to January 2017, there was persecution and killing of over 6000 Muslim Rohingya people by the Burmese military in Myanmar. By the same token, there was an alarming report by Crux that “At least 3,462 Christians, including ten priests or pastors, were murdered in Nigeria in the first 200 days of 2021.” These sad incidences suggest that the world is more religious than spiritual.

Perhaps Samuel Huntington (1996) was right when he predicted “a clash of civilizations” between the West and the Islamic-world in the Post-Cold War. Despite this apparent unsavory tale, “the people of the book” share certain values in common which if properly harnessed, could build bridges of peace. On 2 March being Ash Wednesday 2022, Christians the world over began their 40-days fast which is expected to end on Holy Thursday, April 14 leading to Easter celebration.

In like manner, their Muslim counterparts started their 30-days Holy Month of Ramadan on April 2 which is scheduled to end on May 2 with the Eid al-Fitr celebration. This holy coincidence speaks to the heart of piety as a modest attempt at healing the world and living in a pluralistic society. This piece argues that despite the bitter past as regards what has transpired between Christians and Muslims, these fasts could be catalysts for global harmony.

Fasting in Christian Tradition

For Christians, Lent begins on “Ash Wednesday” and ends at sundown of Holy Thursday. On this day, the faithful are marked with ashes on their foreheads in keeping with Holy Scriptures (Cf. Esther 4:2-3; Daniel 19:3; Jonah 3:6 and Matthew 11:21) as a sign of repentance and penitence. In imitation of Moses (Cf. Exodus 34:28) and Jesus (Cf. Matthew 4:2), the people of God take to the three traditional spiritual acts of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

The spiritual benefits of fasting and mortification are rife. During Lent, the faithful are encouraged to abstain from meat and alcoholic drinks as a way of spiritual discipline. Church Fathers like Basil the Great and Saint Augustine have spoken eloquently about physical and spiritual fast. They contend that while physical fast entails the body abstaining from food and drink, spiritual fast has to do with abstaining from evil intentions, words and deeds. Lent helps Christians to address sinful personal habits like masturbation, sexual immodesty, gossips and nagging. At this time, penance includes going for sacramental confession, prayer, meditation and reflection.

Islamic Perspective of Fasting

In Islam, fasting also known as Sawm or Rūzeh is the practice of abstaining from food, drink, smoking and sexual activity during the Holy Month of Ramadan. Sawm occurs between dawn and nightfall when the adhan of the Maghrib prayer is proclaimed.  It appears in the ninth month of the Muslim lunar calendar. As the fourth of the five pillars of Islam, the fast of Ramadan requires Muslims to give alms, read the Holy Koran more often and practice reflection.

Ramadan disposes Muslim faithful to be sensitive to the needs of the aged, strangers, widows, orphans and other vulnerable groups. This is achieved during breaking the fast. The rich invite family members, friends and neighbours to enjoy the iftar – that is, the evening meal that is taken which replaces breakfast, lunch and dinner. This is a sign of gratitude to Allah for the gift of life and all good things. Islamic scholars are of the view that: “Fasting (Sawm) carries many rewards, whether we are fasting voluntarily or in Ramadan. It improves our physical health and our relationship with food, helps us to be more grateful and more conscious of Allah, protects us from the Fire and leads us into Jannah.”

Nostra Aetate, Christian-Muslim Relations

Nostra Aetate, The Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions, disclosed that Muslims are believers in one God who respect Jesus and His Mother Virgin Mary; although they do not believe in Him as God. They hold that He is a Prophet. Muslims believe that God will judge all peoples. They worship God through prayer, charity and fasting. It also suggests that overemphasizing differences with Muslims is a sin. It is on the basis of Vatican II’s teaching as espoused in Nostra Aetate that Popes John 6, John Paul 2, and Benedict 16, referred to Muslims as “Brothers.”

In his address to the United Nations on 25 January 1959, Pope John XXIII put across a historic reminder to people of different religions, cultures and ethnicities that: “Peace on earth is an object of profound desire for humanity.” He emphasized that the four principles for achieving peace for humanity are: “Truth, justice, solidarity, and liberty.” Going forward, Nostra Aetate is employed as the Magna Carta for inter-faith relations.

In a Ramadan message released by the Vatican on April 8, leaders of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue called on Christians and Muslims to share God’s bounty and gifts with one another. The statement co-signed by Cardinal Miguel Ángel Ayuso, Council President, and Msgr. Indunil Janakaratne Kankanamalage, Council Secretary indicated that God’s “generosity fills our hearts with gratitude toward him and, at the same time, encourages us to share his gifts with our brothers and sisters who are in any kind of need.”

In the statement which drew attention to sharing in this time of Coronavirus pandemic, the Vatican reiterated that sharing “involves sharing one another’s joys and sorrows, which are part of every human life.” The officials surmised: “Our hope, dear Muslim brothers and sisters, is that we continue sharing the joys and sorrows of all our neighbors and friends, because God’s love embraces every person and the entire universe.”

This also played out in another Ramadan message which was released on Thursday, April 7, by Bishop Emmanuel Badejo of the Nigerian Diocese of Oyo which stated that: “The Almighty Allah, who grants every good thing, must have a hand in the coincidence that you’re beginning this unique spiritual exercise while Christians are still observing their annual fasting which we started a month ago.”

Speaking further, he stressed, “Let our fasting and prayer make us work for a better Nigeria that we all desire,” while adding, Nigeria “is our own, our common heritage, and country. Let us seek for her unity, political stability, equity, true and good governance as we prepare earnestly for general elections early next year.” Bishop Badejo advised both Muslims and Christians to work together for unity, justice and good neighborliness while seeking justice, peace and development. He seized the occasion to wish all Muslims “a fruitful and blessed month of Ramadan.”

Conclusion

Both Christians and Muslims are challenged to be charitable to orphans, widows, the aged, those in prison, the hospitalized and all destitute people. It is also a season to show acts of mercy to the countless vulnerable groups such as immigrants and refugees across the world. It is high time they reflected on the lives of Jesus and the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him) for positive action. The current aggressive invasion of Ukraine by Russia akin to the biblical analogy of the killing of Abel by his brother, Cain calls for global synergy to stand for the truth and what is right.

This Holy Season requires that these two nations (Ukraine and Russia) with Christian heritage pay attention to the passion of Christ by fasting from this meaningless war. “Fast,” as a common denominator for the world’s greatest religions should be the basis for promoting justice and peace globally. Amidst the conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa, may the closing days of Lent leading to Easter celebration and the Ramadan fast transform the world into the new heaven and new earth which every human soul desires.

Dyikuk is a lecturer in Mass Communication, University of Jos, editor of Caritas newspaper and Convener of the Media Team Network Initiative (MTNI), Nigeria.

Technology and Recalibration of the Global Economy

The manner in which our global realities – and economy – have been transforming at the speed of thought in the past two decades, at least, driven by the massive force-field of information and communication technologies, has occasioned sea-changes in the nature of commerce and the wealth of nations. Hence, humanity has not only made huge transitions from the first to the third industrial revolutions – in terms of the production of goods and services, but we are now making rapid advances into the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

This is an age that has earned the apt moniker of ‘disruption’, in which the traditional basis of social and economic organisation are being transcended, as artificial intelligence and machine learning take on bigger stakes. These newer systems are equally set to play greater roles in governing the interactions between man and the environment, alongside the way in which resources are husbanded and value created. The way in which tourism is experienced and consumed is a critical component of this newer reality.

A shorthand for this complex re-arrangement of the production and access to tourism goods and services is the ‘digital economy’, which is anchored on the technologies of open source systems, data analytics, cloud computing, blockchain, search engines, other cybernetic platforms, and smart devices, all hitched to the Internet (of things) and its infrastructure.

Since it took off, the global digital economy has grown in scale and size, getting estimated at a value of $11.5 trillion dollars or about 16 per cent of the worldwide economy, in a report by Oxford Economics in 2016. No doubt, with the increased global convergence around digital channels, especially since the outbreak of the coronavirus in late 2019, this value would have accelerated tremendously to possibly twofold of the earlier figure.

Nigerian Tourism and the Digital Economic Disruption

With the traction gained by the digital incursion and its transformation of the Nigerian economy, Oxford Economics has equally calibrated its impacts on tourism in the country as having witnessed a total inflow of $7.9 billion from international and domestic visitors spending. This is a composite of a direct contribution of $2.6 billion to the Nigerian GDP, alongside a ripple effect of indirect and induced impacts. As such, it is noted that the travel and tourism industry in Nigeria constituted 4 per cent of the GDP in 2019 and was responsible for some 3.3 million jobs, before the onslaught of COVID-19.

Also, Oxford Economics reveals the extent to which digital content has driven tourism in Nigeria, with 70 per cent of overnight stays being booked through digital platforms in 2019, rising from 55 per cent in 2014, and a 8 per cent net increase in the economy of tourism within the same period. Equally, there were 20 million incremental visitor nights and a $1.1 billion incremental contribution to the GDP in 2019 alone.

As the uptake of digital platforms grows, increasing the competitiveness of products and destinations, the potential gains to Nigeria have been projected at the creation of about 74,000 new jobs and 8.5 million incremental overnight stays by 2025. This would be on the back of about a $1 billion cumulative increase in the spending on tourism over a five-year period, benchmarked from 2020.

Tools for Accessing Tourism in the Digital Economy

These days, digitalisation has pervaded the entire gamut of the tourism ecosystem – from the points of desire and research about destinations and local experiences, to travel itself, hospitality, local touring, gastronomic rendezvous, and all the associated sectors. The wide sweep of digital innovations has encompassed the entire tourism industry, leading to far-reaching transformations worldwide, and making the World Economic Forum’s Digital Transformation Initiative (DTI) estimate that between 2016 and 2025, tourism would create value in the range of $305 billion.

More so, it is claimed that about $100 billion of value will be migrated from traditional sector players to new competitors, while consumers and the entire society will witness benefits valued at about $700 billion from digitally driven tourism. In this regard, many industry actors have been adopting digital assets, which are incorporated into their strategies and operations – thereby linking e-tourism, smart tourism and e-commerce, etc. – as a way of ensuring their competitiveness and relevance.

As such, part of the transformations wrought by digital technologies have led to changes in the business model of tourism, which still keeps evolving, and creates not only new forms of revenue, but also value-enhancing opportunities. It has become empowering of the consumer, who is located at the centre of curating his/her experience, out of the range of offerings and choices available to him/her. In stride, the new model has diminished the need for intermediaries (such as the traditional travel and booking agents), although there is the strong indication that tour operators, travel agencies and other tourism sectors enablers will remain, even in the virtual space.

Tourism is now facilitated significantly by technology, including the Internet of Things, search and geolocation technologies, while equally enabled by payment platforms and the preponderance of social media for destination marketing. In as much as, in an earlier phase, the tools for drawing attention to the experiences of tourism were through websites, email marketing and search engine optimisation (SEO) on Google, the field has become massively leapfrogged by the predominance of digital applications – much of them mainly used on mobile devices.

The raft of global digital tools for accessing tourism and its experiences these days include Tripadvisor; then Airbnb, FlipKey, HomeAway, 9Flats for accommodation; Uber, Gokada, Lyft, Grab, ZipCar, iCarsClub for transportation – which also has subsets comprising touring, that can be requested through apps likes ToursByLocals or Vayable, or Wingly for private flights in Europe. A solutions provider for tracking destinations is WishTrip, which assists with digital maps and trails, live maps, and location based pop ups, etc.

In Nigeria, and across large swathes of the African continent, beyond the adoption of a number of the more universal digital tools mentioned above, some of the fairly peculiar digital applications that have created online marketplaces for tourism include Afritrip, Ajala.ng, Hotels.ng, Wakanow, Travelbeta, Travelstart, and Jumia travel, among others. These are product hubs that are becoming increasingly important players within Nigerian tourism’s digital ecosystem and economy.

Definitely, the mammoth platforms spawned by social media applications like Facebook and WhatsApp, alongside others like Google’s Travel Insight/Arts & Culture, are taking tourism and destination marketing to newer levels. Instances of their efforts include how they re-present tourist products and offerings through augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR), which are bringing in fresh possibilities that allow users to enjoy the sights and sounds of tourist attractions, both near and far.

Nigerian Tourism and an Expanding Digital Economy

In this audacious new digital world that we have emerged, the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), which I lead, is positioned, in our range of activities and openness to innovation, to enhance the course of the Federal Government in breaking the present fiscal bind, and chart a bold course for the future. We have taken noteworthy steps in this direction, with the development of a bouquet of digital products, in collaboration with tech giants such as Google, and a forward looking approach to developing capacity in the sector.

We believe that when properly harnessed, tourism can contribute a lot more to the size of the Nigerian GDP, as it creates an increasing number of jobs, and livelihoods, beyond what I believe has been greatly underestimated by international and local pundits.

As our country moves in the stride of the greater expansion of telecommunications – more so the Internet broadband – infrastructure, the deepening of digital capacities and skills, the repurposing of destination marketing organisations (DMOs) to make them more effective, and investing in a better understanding of consumer behaviour, the trajectory of Nigerian tourism in the digital economy can only be that of bigger wins.

This will, no doubt, help in moving our country towards the government’s enduring objective of creating an economy that is strong enough to provide for the needs of Nigerian people across board, while attaining the resilience that makes it sturdy enough to withstand external shocks.

Coker is the Director General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) and chief marketer of the Nigerian destination.

ISI, short for Inter-Services Intelligence, is not your run-of-the-mill spy agency. Founded on January 1, 1948 with the goal to “gather, process, and analyse any information from around the world that is deemed relevant to Pakistan’s national interest”, its men know exactly where the corpses are buried. And so, it’s not by mistake that the American Crime News called ISI the world’s finest and strongest intelligence agency, ranking higher than even the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which prides itself as the world’s premier foreign intelligence agency. But I digress.

Stratocracy, a term first used by the renowned English political theorist, Sir Robert Filmer, elucidated a form of government headed by military chiefs. But it was Samuel Finer, a political scientist of no less standing, who went on to differentiate a stratocracy as a government by the army backed by a constitutional provision, as opposed to military regimes where the army is a rogue element that usurps a nation’s leadership, using the threat of force.

The closest modern equivalent of a stratocracy is the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) of Myanmar, in Southeast Asia. This military government completely abolished the civilian constitution and legislature in the country, while at the same time reserving 25 per cent of the seats in the legislature for military personnel.

Stratocracy is not particularly the best way to describe the political system in Pakistan, but what obtains in this south Asian nation, for all intent and purpose, may not be too far from that concept either. Or how do you explain a system where men with all the guns are the ultimate kingmakers, pulling the strings, while lurking far behind in the shadows!

Pakistan, officially called the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a nuclear-armed multi-ethnic nation with the majority of its people being of the Punjabi tribal stock, followed by the Pashtuns and then Sindhi and Sariaki ethnic groups, in that order. It is the fifth largest country in the world and with a population of about 220 million people, it is roughly the size of Nigeria. Pakistan came into being from the efforts of a coalition of movements that sought a separate homeland for Muslims, leading to the partitioning of the then British Indian Empire, 75 years ago; precisely in 1947.

Since independence, with four military coups and countless unsuccessful attempts, the military has controlled the main levers of power in Pakistan. For more than three decades, the men in uniform have ruled the country and dominated its foreign policy, while also dictating the security priorities. If you are in Pakistan and want to play with the big boys (apologies to Goya Menor), don’t go looking inside Aiwan-e-Sadr, as the nation’s presidential palace is called.

An ethnic Pashtun, whose family is from Lahore, Pakistan, Imran Khan had a privileged upbringing that made him attend elite schools, including Oxford University. But it was his exploits on the cricket pitch, especially when he led his country in 1992 to win the first and only World Cup, that thrusted him fully into the limelight. Now a world celebrity, he hobnobbed with London’s glitterati and ended up marrying a British heiress, Jemima Goldsmith, who later became the European editor-at-large of the American magazine, Vanity Fair.

That was the past life of the man who would become the prime minister of Pakistan. In his later life, however, he traded the playboy image to embrace puritanical Muslim. Having divorced both his British wife and another lady named Reham Khan, who is a broadcast journalist, he remarried this time to his spiritual adviser, Bushra Bibi. Imran went on to launch a political career and established a brand-new political party called Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) or the Movement for Justice. He wanted to be identified as a reformer out to upend Pakistan’s long entrenched political dynasties. His rhetoric was distinctively populist, anticorruption and anti-American.

For many years, Mr Khan struggled to be accepted as a politician of reckoning. Around 2011, however, his political fortune changed for good and, little by little, he started drawing large crowds to his rallies. His message seemed to have resonated with everyday Pakistanis. To cap it off, he also won the backing of the top military establishment, which allegedly manipulated the process to pave the way for his emergence as the prime minister of Pakistan in August 18, 2018.

During the campaign leading up to the election, opponents accused military leaders of sidelining some serious candidates and censoring major news outlets, all in the bid to give Mr Khan a competitive advantage. Upon assuming the mantle of leadership, he quickly ushered in a new foreign policy for his country that drew Pakistan closer to Russia and China, while distancing it from the United States.

His government came into power in the midst of high hopes and expectations from the people and he seemed ready and able to take on the onerous task involved head on. As a fiscal conservative, Prime Minister Khan and his government presided over a shrinking current account deficit, curtailed defence spending and addressed a balance of payment crisis. He pursued public policies that would improve the nation’s tax revenue and made reforms on social safety nets to help the poor and the less privileged. He also launched an all-out war against corruption, which however was accused of targeting only his political opponents.

Despite the earlier successes recorded, Prime Minister Khan had to contend with a political crisis caused by double-digit inflation that has pushed the cost of basic foods and essentials out of the reach of many Pakistanis. After a period that lasted over three years, the honeymoon was over. Pakistan’s economic challenges ignited a flood of criticisms, and Khan was accused of not only mismanaging the economy but failing to deliver on his core promise of creating an Islamist welfare state out of Pakistan. Against this backdrop, opposition to his government quickly swelled and very soon there were enough votes to pass a vote of no confidence on his government.

Prior to this no confidence vote, he was advised by the opposition to resign but he chose to deny the reality, citing an international conspiracy for his troubles. Using his position as a bully pulpit, Mr Khan resurrected his campaign-style caustic rhetoric and called those trying to remove him traitors who were being sponsored by the United States, with the sole purpose of inflicting harm on the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. As always, large crowds showed up at his addresses and chanted support for him.

Khan then proceeded to adopt strong arm tactics and attempted to dissolve the nation’s parliament that sought to remove him, a move that startled even his supporters and almost plunged a nation that is perpetually on the edge, into a near constitutional crisis. Thankfully, Pakistan’s Supreme Court stepped in and opposed his action, paving the way for the vote that resulted in his removal.

For most of his tenure, Mr Khan enjoyed the support of his close friend and Pakistan’s powerful spy chief, Lt. General Faiz Hamid. The General was accused of silencing Mr Khan’s enemies, real or imagined, through acts of intimidation and repression. Late last year, however, the table turned and Pakistani’s military leaders moved to remove General Hamid from his position. In his place, a new spy chief was appointed against Mr Khan’s protests. His relationship with the military top brass subsequently soured over his refusal to back the new chief. This rift would later become evident, even in public spaces, albeit in a subtle manner.

Speaking at a security conference in the country’s capital, Islamabad, recently, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who is Pakistan’s army chief, made it known that the country is hoping to “expand and deepen its ties with other countries, including the United States”, a marked departure from Mr Khan’s foreign policy position that sees the United States as an adversary. Also, the chief strongly condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which Mr Khan, all the while, had been very hesitant to do.

In the end, even though Imran Khan still enjoys a great deal of popularity and has built a huge following among a good segment of the Pakistani society, that was not enough to save him or his position. As Arifa Noor, an Islamabad-based political analyst summed it up nicely: “Pakistani politics has two parallel strands, one is public support, and the other is military. One without the other doesn’t land you in the big seat.”

Imran Khan, the cricket star turned politician totally missed that memo and that, ladies and gentleman, was why his cookie crumbled.

Agbo, a public affairs analyst is the coordinator of African Center for Transparency and Convener of Save Nigeria Project. Email: Eagleosmund@yahoo.com

The unresolved disagreement between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the federal government weighs heavily on Nigerian youths who are out of school. While some have taken to vocational skills, others still lay idle in the discomfort of the economy, finding it hard to support themselves and their family.

In the light of making the best use of the free time forced upon them by the strike, digital learning has become entrenched so wide for many to unravel other aspects of their potentials by accessing the web of technology for self-development.

It is an indisputable aphorism that “an idle mind is a devil’s workshop”. This continual strike by university lecturers, with no indication of compromise from either the ASUU or government parties anytime soon, can push many “stay-at-home” students into heinous acts.

At this juncture, many students ought to avail themselves of practical engagement in the ongoing digital skills acquisition initiatives/programmes organised by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and other stakeholders in Nigeria’s tech ecosystem.

In all honesty, the strike might turn out beneficial to some students who will have used this time to engage in virtual studies and digital skills development, even as a good number of them will still struggle to fit into the digital world due to financial challenges, among other similar constraints.

Even at this, the delays in getting academic qualifications, long reversal of projects, university clearance, mobilisation into the National Service, and the overburdened labour market are many of the challenges that Nigerian students foresee within the academic terrain.

NITDA, in its effort to digitalise the nation and de-institutionalise learning, developed digital channels for free e-learning through the NITDA Academy for Research and Training (NART), to build capacity, enable the acquisition of skills, and reduce unemployment in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector.

The platform, in operation since 2020, with fully operational centres across Nigeria, has been a blessing to the promotion of e-learning in the country. In addition to bridging the skills gap between the industry and academia, the programme is also promoting more inclusive ICT knowledge access for various segments of the Nigerian populace.

NART was developed to boost the capacity of Nigerians with courses that will help them to be creative and find their calling in the labour market.

The propagation of digital literacy or technological knowledge is a strategic effort by NITDA to engage many Nigerians to acquire the skills that will help them harness the abundant opportunities to become job providers and wealth creators in the digital economy. Also, it will help with the building of capacity and development of the skills of Nigerians in the emerging IT industry, and reduce the unemployment rate by bridging the widening skills gap in the sector.

The fate of Nigerian students during this strike is reflective of the saying that “when two elephants fight, the grass suffers”. The unique difference is that there is a platform (NART) for students to engage in the attainment of productive skills, with no financial challenge.

The NART e-learning facilities and vocational training programmes are scheduled into four categories. These include Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) Training; Students Training; General Training, and these trainings in digital skills are to help those who experience them to function better and achieve self-sufficiency.

With hundreds of courses available, the e-learning resources have helped many to envision a realistic futures of gainful entrepreneurial and digital competence. For students with little digital knowledge of the internet, programmes like digital literacy, introduction to packet tracer, entrepreneurship courses, and many more, are basics to knowing the web of technologies.

Over 47 different courses can be accessed on the NART website. Introduction to computer science for lawyers is another interesting platform for upcoming legal practitioner’s to digitalise their profession and become self-competent digitally.

NART’S achievements include the training of more than 26,000 active students and over 200 women in ICT, provision of tools at the end of the training, development of tech startups, and efficiency in artificial intelligence, among others. These have helped many Nigerians to spend their time meaningfully and get trained on new technologies that will build and develop their capacities in the tech world.

While outside the realm of core academics, learning must never stop. In this regard, the Director-General of NITDA, Mallam Kashifu Inuwa, recently challenged universities in the country to devote greater attention to entrepreneurship training to produce graduates capable of creating job opportunities, rather than becoming job seekers.

Considering the large number of young Nigerians graduating yearly, NITDA must strengthen its collaboration with Nigeria university system to enable students partake in courses that can serve as industrial training in digital communication, to widen their scope of knowledge beyond their courses of study.

In consonance with NITDA’s agenda to foster entrepreneurship training and create jobs, both tertiary and vocational institutions should raise awareness to encourage virtual learning, the building of innovations, and developing digital skills among students and lecturers. This will enable Nigeria to produce more job creators and solution providers in the no distant future.

It is impactful to be able to learn with the comfort of digital devices and be certified with newer knowledge. With over 20 free training centres in Nigeria, the opportunities are available and awaiting more youths to delve into. With set priorities and digital education, the breach in academic activities due to the ongoing strike will not be so wearisome to students when they are gainfully engaged.

A society with multiple dimensions to learning always produces the right thinking, visionary and effective leaders. In the fight of ASUU for its demands, students should not become the collateral damage, as they should be enabled to enhance their intelligence and knowledge base by engaging in numerous knowledge-building opportunities created by the federal government.

Zeenat O. Sambo writes from Wuye District Abuja

Sometimes, the difference between a coup and a democratic process can be so narrow as to be interchangeable. The move to oust Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan had been in the offing, but there were questions of methodology, and how the populace might react.

This was more so when his replacement was likely to come from the controversial family of Nawaz Sharif, who leads the Pakistan Muslim League.

Khan, as the opposition leader, had gotten the Supreme Court to indict Sharif, in 2017, for using off-shore holding companies to buy luxury properties in London. Nawaz had then fled to Britain before the indictment. His daughter, Maryam, and her husband, Muhammad Safdar, were also indicted at that point.

As the plotters made their moves to effect the recent regime change through a vote of no-confidence in parliament and they started enticing legislators, the former international cricket star publicly identified them. On March 27, he told the public that the United States (U.S.) was engineering and co-ordinating the regime change and cobbling together an internal alliance of questionable Pakistani politicians and some elements in the military.

At the rally, he produced a diplomatic cable from Asad Majeed Khan, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the U.S., which allegedly contained threats by high-ranking U.S. officials, including Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu, that unless Khan’s government is replaced, there can be no improved relations between both countries. That was a diplomatic way of demanding the replacement of the Khan government.

Pakistan’s Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari had tweeted in reaction to the moves to unseat Khan, that the prime minister’s independent foreign policy “does not sit well with those powers which have viewed Pakistan as a state where leaders are subservient to foreign diktat; Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hanged because of his independent foreign policy; regime change is a frequent tool of powerful states and allies with vested interests from within.” The cable from the ambassador had been received on March 7, and the next day, the opposition requisitioned the National Assembly for a vote of no-confidence against Khan.

There is a saying in Nigeria that if the witch cried in the night, and the child dies in the morning, who does not know that it was the witch that cried at night that killed the child? It was obvious the Pakistani opposition parties were acting out a script that Khan’s government claimed had been crafted in Washington.

To be sure, Khan had in the eyes of the U.S. committed a number of sins as leader of a hitherto subservient country. The America Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had since the 1980s run the Pakistani intelligence, with which it created, trained and hosted the Mujahedeen.

It was a group of young Muslims like Osama Bin Laden, who were recruited across the Arab world to fight Soviet troops stationed in neighbouring Afghanistan, and overthrow that country’s pro-communist governments. That war was presented to the youths as a jihad to remove godless people from power. The Mujahedeen later mutated into various groups like al-Qaeda, the terrorist Pakistani Taliban, the nationalist Afghanistan Taliban and arms of the Islamic State (ISIS).

One of Khan’s capital sins was to try to run a foreign policy independent of the U.S. He also had the guts not just to criticise the American occupation of Afghanistan but also to call for international support and funding for the new Taliban government that had forced America and Western powers to flee that country in August 2021, after 20 years of occupation.

On the day that Russian troops rolled into Ukraine, Khan was making a previously scheduled visit to Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. One of the ‘sins’ he committed was his refusal to condemn Russia or support Ukraine.

To him, it was a war that Pakistan should not be involved in as it has close military and economic ties with both countries, including being a major importer of Ukrainian wheat.

Khan argued that the best solution is to get both sides to the negotiation table, saying: “Now, what we want to do does not become part of any bloc. We want to have trading relations with all countries… The countries that rely on a military conflict have not studied history properly.” Khan added that: “The developing world really wishes that there is not another Cold War.” He offered to organise peace talks between the warring parties, but America and its allies were not interested in either a ceasefire or negotiated settlement in Ukraine.

When on March 1, the heads of 22 Western diplomatic missions in Islamabad released a joint letter asking Pakistan to support a resolution at the United Nations condemning Russia’s military operations in Ukraine, Khan retorted: “What do you think of us? Are we your slaves…that whatever you say, we will do?” At the UN, Pakistan abstained.

The Khan government is credited with handling the COVID-19 pandemic quite well, through its ‘smart lockdown strategy’, leading The Economist to rate it as the ‘third-best performing country’ in handling the pandemic.

The administration, within 22 months, reduced the trade deficit of Pakistan from $37 billion to $21 billion and the current account deficit from $20 billion to $3 billion. Within the same period, the State Bank reserves increased from $9.7 billion to $12.3 billion; tax collection increased by 17 per cent; and 11.4 million people in Punjab alone received insurance cover.

Interestingly, the charges against Imran Khan include double-digit inflation, especially during the COVID-19 period, and the devaluation of the currency. As the plot to remove him thickened, Khan, whose power resides with the Pakistani masses and not the parliament, decided to dissolve parliament and call for early elections, which he hoped would change the configuration of the law making body. But on April 7, the Supreme Court ruled his move as illegal. Two days later, 174 members of the National Assembly passed a vote of no-confidence in him.

Khan was replaced by Nawaz’s brother, Shahbaz Sharif, a man facing corruption charges for involvement in an Rs18 billion housing scam. Shahbaz and his sons, Hamza and Salman, have also been indicted for a Rs7 billion money laundering charge, while his son-in-law, Ali Imran Yousuf fled to Britain to avoid corruption charges. Khan turned to the populace and told them: “You have to come out to protect your own future. It is you who have to protect your democracy, your sovereignty, and your independence … this is your duty.”

An estimated 10 million Pakistanis harkened to Khan’s appeal by pouring out into the streets. So, while Imran Khan has fallen from power, he has not fallen in the streets; he has become the major issue in Pakistani politics. Pakistan is scheduled to go to the polls in August 2023 and Imran Khan, barring foreign and military interventions, has a strong chance of returning to power.

Lakemfa, a former secretary general of African workers, is a human rights activist, journalist and author. 

At a time when elements of the conservative northern political establishment in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) appear to have resolved to shift presidential power to the South of Nigeria in 2023, the liberal northern politicians in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seem determined to retain power in the northern region beyond 2023. Led by President Muhammadu Buhari, the conservative northern establishment, which has been in firm control of the politics of Nigeria’s largest democratic demography since 2015, when the APC came to power, may have come to the realisation that it cannot hold on to power after eight years without severe consequences for the unity and continuous existence of Nigeria. From all indications, as seen in the near absence of northern presidential aspirants on its platform, the President Buhari-led APC has clearly settled for a Nigerian president of southern origin, beginning from 2023 when Nigerians will go to the polls to vote for a new president.

On the other hand, the PDP, with its strongest political support base in the South and minority areas of the North (the Middle Belt), and which is expected to be the most willing to pick its presidential candidate from the region, is looking towards the North for its presidential redemption. Clearly unprepared for a Southern presidency, the PDP is hoping to opportunistically inherit the massive votes of Northern Nigeria by fielding a candidate from the region at a time the APC is looking South. In the thinking of many a PDP stalwart from the South, the interest of the party should be to win the next presidential election by any means possible and not be concerned by the morality of zoning for the purpose of equity, justice and unity. Having been defeated twice in the 2015 and 2019 presidential elections by the APC, which was heavily enamoured on both occasions by the massive votes of Nigeria’s largest voting bloc in the Muslim North, some PDP stalwarts from the South, like members of a defeated army whose officers and men are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, have surrendered to the political supremacy of Northern Nigeria.

In their consideration, an average Muslim Northerner is incapable of making rational political decisions without being influenced by ethno-geographic and religious sentiments, which makes it impossible for a Southerner to defeat a Northerner in any presidential contest in Buhari’s Nigeria. And for the PDP to win back the presidency of Nigeria in 2023, the candidate has to be Northern and Muslim. Even when there are clear indications that the political establishment in the region has reached a decision to cede power to the South in 2023, some PDP pundits have expressed doubt about the sincerity of this purpose, given the fact that Northern Nigeria holds the knife (power) and the yam (patronage) and can decide to keep both.

Relying on this impression of the political invincibility of the Muslim North, a legion of presidential aspirants from the region have been straddling the lengths and breadths of Nigeria and making a case for “winnability” over the morality of zoning, as the PDP prepares for the 2023 presidential election. However, the widespread clamour for power shift to the South by leaders of the region across ethnic, religious and partisan divides, as contained in the Asaba Declaration of the 17 Southern governors in May 2021; a position that has been adopted by the leadership of ethnic nationalities in the region and the seeming willingness of the APC to field a Southern candidate in the 2023 presidential election, has made the PDP find itself in a state of flux, amidst a raging controversy over zoning.

Whilst it is true that the North has the knife and yam in Buhari’s Nigeria, yet much as it may want to keep both, it is in the long-term interest of the region to relinquish power to the South as a last ditch effort to salvage whatever is left of Nigeria’s national unity and cooperate coexistence. Whereas the North wants power, still its needs the unity of the Nigerian state for its regional self-enlightened interest. Having failed to improve the socio-economic condition of the region and leaving it, by the end of his eight year rule, a terrorised, war thorn, poverty stricken dungeon of insecurity, President Buhari, despite his crass sectionalism, failed to wean Northern Nigeria off revenue dependency from oil minerals and tax revenues from the South.

It is the monthly allocation from crude oil revenues to the 19 states and 419 local governments of the North that is used to fund the elaborate and flamboyant Emirate system in the region. Just as the monthly allocation is also used to sustain the rich lifestyles of the political elite and their Ulama collaborators, whose duty is to put a stamp of religious authority on their divine right to rule over the people. Most importantly, for a region that is ravaged on all sides by terrorist groups, Northern Nigeria may fall to the combined armies of Boko Haram and killer herdsmen in the event of a prolonged disruption of oil production by militant agitators in the oil producing states of the South, resulting in the inability of government to fund security operations. Aware of this stark reality, in addition to a deeply polarised polity along the North/South and Muslim/Christian divides, the North may have taken a painful decision to cede power to a trusted ally and friend from the South, who has the capacity to heal a fractured Nigeria by not elevating the interest of his region over those of the others. It may have been provoked, abused and maligned but the North is not ready for a divorce from the Southern lady of means. And this is why no Northern presidential candidate of any party is likely to make much impact in the North, as most of the votes in the region will be mobilised for a preferred Southern candidate in the 2023 presidential election.

For a multi-ethnic and religious country like Nigeria, the principles of zoning and rotation of political leadership positions amongst the constituent peoples and regions, which has been in place since its independence in 1960 as a means of ensuring justice, inclusivity, peace and unity, is affirmed in section 14[3] of the 1999 Constitution, which states that; “The COMPOSITION of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs SHALL be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few States or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies.” It is in furtherance of this constitutional provision that a political convention was evolved to rotate the office of the president between the pre-amalgamation (1914) territories of Northern and Southern Nigeria every after two terms of eight years each.

That the PDP may not sail against the strong wind of the presidency that is blowing South, will be for the party to field a Southern candidate as its candidate in the 2023 presidential election. For the PDP, the 2023 presidential election is not just about “winnability” but actually survival. While the APC is dominant in the North and the PDP’s strongest support base is in the South, the move by the APC to field a Southern candidate in the 2023 presidential election will torpedo the PDP from the region, if the party fields a Northern candidate. And if the PDP goes ahead to sail against the wind in 2023 by fielding a Northern candidate, the ship of the party will capsize, sink into oblivion, as the party will lose in the North and in the South to the APC and go into extinction in post Buhari Nigeria.

Dahiru, a public affairs analyst, writes from Abuja and can be reached through dahirumajeed@gmail.com.

The state of insecurity in the country is so high that it is difficult for Nigerians not to think of jumping ship and going somewhere else safer. Nigeria’s governing class, the source of all our problems, has made its arrangements, its members have bought houses abroad, transferred money out of the country, and are ready to leave the country within minutes. That is why we have a large fleet of private jets in our airports, ready to take those who have ruled and ruined Nigeria out of the country at short notice. For the poor and even the middle class, the only possibility of exit is to neighbouring countries and on that score, our backs are against the wall; there is nowhere to run. Cameroon is facing the Boko Haram insurgency in the north and the Ambazonian civil war in the south. Niger and Chad are both suffering from insurgency by jihadist movements and warlordism, while Benin Republic has just become a target of jihadist attacks; so for us, we just have to sing with Wole Soyinka:

“I love my country I no go lie/na inside am I go live and die/when e turn me so I twist am so/e push me I push am I no go go.”

We are just in mid-April and already, over three thousand Nigerians have been killed by bandits and terrorists this year. Thousands have been kidnapped for ransom, and tens of thousands have had to flee their homes and livelihoods just this year. The macabre daily count is sickening. A couple of days ago, 92 persons were killed by terrorists in Kanam Local Government of Plateau State, and the assailants were said to have come from Taraba State and were killing indiscriminately. The lawmaker representing Pankshin/Kanam/Kanke federal constituency of Plateau State in the House of Representatives, Yusuf Gagdi reported that 3,413 persons were displaced following the attack. At the same time, Benue State has a similar story to tell.

In the South-East, the most dangerous profession is to serve the nation as police personnel. Every week, there are reports of attacks on police stations, arson and the killing of officers. This past week, already five have been killed. The Nteje Divisional Police Headquarters in Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State was attacked on Thursday and one officer was killed. This attack occurred barely 24 hours after four police officers were killed by gunmen at another police facility in the State – the Atani Divisional Police Divisional Headquarters. These are simply illustrations of the daily macabre count of deaths and destruction that we are all making.

In the North-East, the Islamist group, Boko Haram, has waged a bloody insurgency against the country for the past 13 years and an estimated 35,000 people have been killed, with over three million people displaced by the conflict. In the South-East, the key actors are said to be “unknown gunmen” carrying out orders of the separatist organisation, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its militia wing, Eastern Security Network (ESN).

According to data released by the Nigeria Security Tracker (NST) this week, at least 2,968 people were killed, while 1,484 were abducted in the country from January to March. The data shows that more people were killed in the North-West region, than in other regions in the country. At least 1,103 people were killed within the period in the region. The North-Central region recorded the second highest number of murders, with 984 killed during the identified period, while in the North-East, 488 were killed. In the South-East, 181 people were killed during the period under review, while in the South-West and South-South regions, 127 and 85 people were killed respectively, according to a report on the story by Premium Times.

Bandits and terrorists have been attacking and killing thousands of people in the country’s North-West over the past seven years. They are now the new Sheriffs in Zamfara, Katsina, Niger and Kaduna States where they make and apply the law, while moving about freely in raids composed of hundreds of gunmen on motorcycles, who attack, kill, pillage, rob, rape, burn down houses and abduct citizens for ransom at will. Although it started as a rural phenomenon, they are now attacking the symbols of ruling class freedom of movement by taking over the Abuja-Kaduna highway, amongst several others, and they have recently attacked the Abuja-Kaduna train and the Kaduna airport. Now, they are closing on in the cities, where they are killing and abducting people from their homes.

In the North-East, the Islamist group, Boko Haram, has waged a bloody insurgency against the country for the past 13 years and an estimated 35,000 people have been killed, with over three million people displaced by the conflict. In the South-East, the key actors are said to be “unknown gunmen” carrying out orders of the separatist organisation, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its militia wing, Eastern Security Network (ESN). They have targeted government buildings and security personnel. The have also imposed a stay-at-home order that has been crippling the economy of the zone, while those who break the order are regularly attacked and killed.

The current reality is that no one is safe in Nigeria and our 200 million compatriots have nowhere to run to. The irony is that the armed forces have been deployed to almost all the states in the country, but with each passing day, the security situation in Nigeria is deteriorating further. The first lesson we have to understand, therefore, is that they have no will or intention of saving us. The explanation is straightforward.

The current reality is that no one is safe in Nigeria and our 200 million compatriots have nowhere to run to. The irony is that the armed forces have been deployed to almost all the states in the country, but with each passing day, the security situation in Nigeria is deteriorating further. The first lesson we have to understand, therefore, is that they have no will or intention of saving us. The explanation is straightforward. With rising insecurity, security budgets have expanded considerably and many officers and commanders have become rich. Fighting armed combatants always carries the risk of death to both the combatants and the armed forces. The combatants are mostly young kids who are on drugs and have no fear of death. The rich commanders of our armed forces appear to have taken the decision to avoid direct combat as much as possible, so that they can live to enjoy their wealth. It is in this context that these drug-crazed boys have made new laws based on the power of the Kalashnikov and become the new Sheriffs in our towns and villages, and they are today imposing taxes on citizens, the payment of which determines whether you live or die.

The approach of the military is to rely on bombing the armed combatants from the air, without sufficient troops to mop them up as they run. As the combatants are widely spread, bombs can only get a tiny fraction of them, so there is no real strategy to finish them off. In any case, the armed forces have not expanded considerably and those on active duty are exhausted and frustrated due to the lack of rotation. Careful trend analysis shows that insecurity has been increasing and will continue to increase in the country.

Our backs as compatriots are against the wall, we have nowhere to run to and there is no one to defend us, so we need to open a conversation on how we can defend ourselves and save our families and indeed the nation. Any ideas?

A professor of Political Science and development consultant/expert, Jibrin Ibrahim is a Senior Fellow of the Centre for Democracy and Development, and Chair of the Editorial Board of PREMIUM TIMES.