One of the most commonly-held beliefs in Nigeria is that we are such an import-dependent economy: 'we import everything, including toothpicks' & so on.
But are we really that import-dependent?
The data says no: as a percentage of GDP, imports = 19.8%. Exports? 14.2% (2019 stats)
In fact, when you break it down, we export more products than we import. It is services that we import way, way more than we export. oec.world/en/profile/cou…
Aug 14, 2021 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
This tweet says there is a mosque in UNN. So is this guy lying?
Secondly, is it because requests for land to build mosques in the school were denied?
Lastly, these claims do not suddenly confer on the North religious tolerance.
In 2006, 16 people (officially) were killed in Maiduguri in riots because a Danish newspaper published cartoons of Prophet Muhammad. Ppl who don't know where Denmark is on the map were killed, also by those who don't know where Denmark is on the map. news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4728616.s…
Aug 13, 2021 • 17 tweets • 3 min read
Anytime we bring up this church building in the North matter, the counter is that SE states don't also allow mosques being built - in other words, 'do me I do you'. But no one has ever brought a specific instance of where it happened in the SE.
I'll bring two specific examples of where in Maiduguri, which is my hometown by virtue of living there from birth to the age of 26. None of these examples are new. If you've followed me long enough, you would have seen it before. You can search on Twitter & you'll see it too.
Aug 10, 2021 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
The non-kinetic approach of the counterinsurgency via the DDR program (Operation Safe Corridor) is a solid idea considering the hundreds & perhaps thousands of fighters in BH who were abducted & forced to fight. But the military keeps bungling the PR around it:
They don't sufficiently explain the context around the rehabilitation, & in some other cases, seem to be sabotaging it - how do you say top commanders surrendered, asked for forgiveness & will be rehabilitated? The statement is working at cross-purposes.
May 28, 2021 • 17 tweets • 4 min read
None of Nigeria's 36 states were created during any of its 4 republics so far. All were created by military regimes. This is a very important historical fact to take note of, especially with the Zonal constitutional amendment hearings underway & memos for state creation coming up
Although the 1999 constitution lays out the process for creating new states in S. 8(1) & makes it theoretically possible, the politics of it makes it practically impossible or at best, highly improbable. Let's look at the requirements one by one.
I didn't know this myself until I read retired General Paul Tarfa (NEDC board chair)'s autobiography, 'Profile in Courage'.
According to him, as a col, he was listed to be MILAD to Sokoto by the Obasanjo Military Government.
But there was resistance to the idea within the military hierarchy to have a Christian posted to the seat of the caliphate. The other state that was off-limits to a Christian was Kaduna as the political capital of the North. So he was sent to Oyo & Col Gado Nasko sent to Sokoto.
Apr 20, 2021 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
Today is a good day to talk about the gaslighting that's always attempted anytime you criticize anything northern: whether personality, socio-economic conditions, cultural practice, or even a criminal (like Yunusa Yellow). It is called an attack on the north & Islam.
But the North & Islam aren't the same. They are mutually exclusive. There are millions of northerners, like myself, who aren't Muslim. In every northern state, there are lots of indigenous people who aren't Muslim, who are Christian or another faith altogether.
Apr 19, 2021 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
On my first (and so far only) trip to the US a few years ago, I spent a night in a small town in Indiana called Wabash, seat of a county called Wabash (total pop: around 38k). But the county administration had a well-designed brochure trying to attract visitors to the area.
Contrastingly, the city of Abuja (est pop: 3.4m), capital of Nigeria has no similar material selling the city to visitors & residents, whether in print or online. So if you are looking for how to enjoy the city, your best bet is to ask around & cross your fingers ppl come through
Apr 19, 2021 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
One of my earliest memories experiencing religious intolerance was circa age 8: I had a couple of close friends in primary school, so close our moms became acquaintances & even did some biz together. Our younger ones were in the same class too, & were also friends.
One of them was Muslim - he got confronted by another Muslim kid who led a group of other kids to ask him he was making friends with infidels & if it's because of money. It was quite a shocker for me.
Apr 19, 2021 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
There are 3 major ways people misinterpret what is said:
Deletion
Distortion
Generalization.
Pantami's defenders have gone on to add a couple more:
Insertion
False equivalence
There are those that focus only on the Daily Independent piece which is not credible but ignore David Hundeyin's which is based on his sermon whose veracity is not in doubt. If anything, it is from a website with loads of his other sermons.
Deletion.
Apr 18, 2021 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
This is a very simplistic way of reducing the situation of northern Christians to speaking Hausa over their indigenous languages esp when it's a phenomenon that applies to almost all northern minorities irrespective of their faiths, as many languages are being lost to Hausa:
As as matter of fact, in many ethnic groups I've observed (esp those in the NE), Christians within the ethnic groups do more to preserve their cultural identities than Muslims in same ethnic groups in terms of speaking the language, names (first, middle & last names), etc.
Apr 17, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Nigerian Student Murdered in Clash over Evangelism worthynews.com/291-nigerian-s… | I still remember the events that led to this like it was yesterday.
Sunday Nache Achi, your death shall not be in vain.
Achi's murder & the crisis that led to it was the first of 5 religious crises I witnessed in my 13 years of being a student in Bauchi. In each of those crises, there are/were ppl who were witnessed as taking part in the violence.
Apr 17, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
When I tweeted about Pantami in 2016 when he was appointed to run NITDA & got attacks (expectedly), I also had folks who messaged me to say he didn't hold those views anymore. It is the same defence being put up by Kperogi, that Lukman guy & a few others.
But you see, when you your stance on an issue publicly, you should also change that stance publicly. It will be foolhardy to expect all those who heard your public opinion to hear privately that you no longer hold those opinions.
Feb 21, 2021 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
What's happening in Billiri is the fruit of seeds planted since British colonial rule with regards to traditional rulerships in the North:
Creating emirates in Christian-majority areas (e.g Uba in Borno, Jema'a in KD) or where there is no clear religious majority (e.g Mubi)
In some places, traditional emirates were expanded to include areas they didn't before (e.g Biu to cover Buraland & Teraland). In places like Billiri, the first Mai until the one before the recently deceased were Muslim despite the area being predominantly Christian
Feb 20, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Political hacks, no matter the party affiliation, are folks are avoid here by all means. Those for whom their parties & politicians are never wrong and those on the other side are never right; always so vile; can't ever have a sensible debate with them because all they do is..
.. repeat WhatsApp group talking points & what their party overlords (who are often as dumb as bricks as they are, just with more Twitter followers). The painful part is that these guys hardly (maybe never) amount to anything. Living off scraps but thinking they have made it.
Jun 9, 2019 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
This thing some feminists do where they call women who don't hold the same progressive views on gender relations 'pick-me' is quite short-sighted & erroneously assumes that these women hold these views solely for the approval of men.
On the contrary, it is mostly because this is all they have known & have likely seen around them. Ppl don't let go of ideas & beliefs that have been passed down millennia in an instant.
Oct 9, 2018 • 7 tweets • 1 min read
There is a reason why it took the formation of APC by the merger of 3 regional parties for PDP to have a worthy challenger at the Federal level: national structure.
Without a national structure, it is almost impossible to win the presidency. Does your party have presence in every state, local govt & ward? This matters greatly: it is not by road shows in some states & TV appearances.
