THINGS FALL APART...

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
               (The Second Coming, Yeats)

What kind of religion is it that can brook no criticism, that cannot hear alternative views about its code of morality, its ethical standpoint on issues that we face in the world today?

Now is a sad time for Muslims whose silence in response to the killing of workers in the publication office of Charlie Hebdo and the people in the kosher supermarket in Paris has been short in conviction while expressing their opposition to the actions of the terrorists.


Immediately, there were protests all over France which world leaders quickly cashed in on.  There they all were, the black suits and the look at me aren't I concerned linking of arms as if they have personally suffered a loss.

Cynical, maybe, but as the world watches, why to miss a photo opportunity showing solidarity against terrorism?  Er...didn't see any mention or looks of despair in relation to the 2,000 killed by Boko Haram in Nigeria.  Not a peep, not a word of sympathy, not a flicker of awareness that in Africa and the Middle East, worse atrocities are taking place on a regular basis.

Islamic extremism is entering a new phase.  Germany has already had protests against the Islaminisation of the country in three major cities.  The country has the highest number of immigrants from Islamic states in all of the EU.

So Yeats was right when he foresaw the creature "moving its slow thighs with a gaze as blank and pitiless as the sun...slouching towards Bethlehem to be born".

Apart from Israel, every middle eastern country is ruled by dictators who will not brook any opposition to their rule.  Arms are flooding into those countries instead of real help for the people in the form of education, housing and medical facilities.  Now is the time for the leaders to act in unison against this threat of fundamental dogma, and not by linking arms for a hypocritical photo shoot.

NIGERIA

Nigeria is a kleptocratic country with members of the government and civil service stealing money from oil revenues, money which should have gone to develop the infrastructure of the country.  How has this played a role in the rise of Boko Haram and the kidnapping of 300 schoolgirls?

That the country is corrupt is beyond doubt.  There have many reports about this, The recent firing of the central bank governor who was investigating a $20 billion dollar shortfall in the bank's books, money accrued by oil revenues.  President Goodluck Jonathan, of course, was instrumental in the fraud.

However distasteful the kidnapping of the schoolgirls is, very little is being said about the disappearance of such a large amount of money.

Boko Haram started as an opposition group to the educational system that was spawning corrupt officials of the civil service.  The name translates as "western education is a sin".  This education system, the Nigerians say, is a reminder of the left-over system from the time of British colonialism.  To go through this system meant having to pay a bribe to enter the school and then buy their way through exams.  Jobs were procured by members of the government perpetuating the system to their own financial advantage.  Nigeria is not unique in this respect. Many countries such as India and Pakistan have retained a British system of education from colonial times and now use it to accrue bribes for entry and the passing of exams.

With so much corruption and greed, the question has to be asked: Why is Britain giving £300 million to Nigeria to help fund a space programme and launch a man into space?  Although this is denied by a spokesman for the Department for International Development.  Nevertheless, over the five years of the coalition government in the UK, £1.14 billion is being given to the country in foreign aid.

Now Michelle Obama is on the bandwagon, criticizing the kidnappings say it is an "unconscionable act" of terrorism.  She does have two daughters and she is an obvious candidate to criticize the action of Boko Harem.  Others, too, are belatedly expressing their wish to help:  former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Binyamin Netanyahu, amongst others, as well as China and France who have sent teams to track down the girls.

But has Michelle Obama and all the leaders of countries who are speaking our against this kidnapping getting to the root of the problem?  I don't think so.  There is no mention of 300 people killed the other day in a market place, people who were going about their daily business.  This year alone 1,500 people have been killed and the government seems unable to ensure the safety of the people.

Of course, the military are also out of control, killing unarmed civilians.

Therefore, why are taxpayers contributing to a country where $20 billion dollars has been siphoned off and people are being killed by Muslim extremists  in the north?  The root problem is not being confronted and no peace will come about until corruption is ended and the people benefit from a fair and transparent development plan.