THREE issues this week illustrate the topic of today quite vividly. The first was the appeal of the Nigerian army boss General T K Buratai calling on religious leaders in the country to wage a spiritual war against terrorism especially that of Boko Haram because it is spiritual teachings and ideas by preachers of religion, that makes terrorists and suicidal insurgents difficult to defeat on the battle field. The second was the 70th Anniversary celebrations of the emergence of Communist China in 1949, with a military parade pomp and pageantry Beijing, China’s capital that showed vividly that communism has been a successful ideology in terms of the leading role and immense wealth of China both in terms of economic growth and welfare of its people and influence both domestically and globally. The third was the fury and anger of US President Donald Trump at a press conference with the visiting President of Finland when he directed a questioning journalist to ask questions from the visiting president and proceeded to call the questioner rude and the US media largely fake and corrupt.
The guiding principle here today is that religion is regarded as an ideology by the Nigerian army boss and I agree with him for our purpose here . Whereas in China, which is communist and atheist, religion is regarded as a huge distraction and the ideology of communism is the guiding light of the Communist Party of China which has ruled China from Chairman Mao 70 years ago, to Chairman Xi Jinping who proudly took the salute from the same podium used by Mao70 years ago. In the US of the Trump era, the ideology is democracy which highlights respect for freedom, human rights free speech and press freedom which was on collision course with the American president during his spat with the press in the presence of a foreign president.
Again, a common trend in the three observations , ideas or insults – as in the US case – is the threat of not only of any religion or ideology to get militant or weaponised in advancing its ideology or spread in any nation or community. That is why in talking of religious leaders or ideologists the Nigerian army chief should have spoken specifically of Islamist preachers who have used modern technology and especially hot selling video messages to spread and propagate their violent versions of Islam. This is the crux of the matter. While Islamophobia is spreading in the west and liberal democracy is trying to contain it and make it politically incorrect for those who condemn it, it is also difficult for military leaders in Nigeria to highlight the empathy of Nigerian soldiers for Boko Haram, given that it is basically an Islamic insurgency to which Muslims can basically turn a blind eye to, in spite of its bloody terrorism in the North East of Nigeria. It is Islamophobia that has given rise to the increase of anti – immigrants populist governments in Europe like Hungary, Austria and Poland who have made life difficult for EU leaders on the protocols of running an integrated Europe now or in the future. Of course Donald Trump campaigned against immigration and banned migrants from some Islamic nations and even recently asked some American lady legislators to go back to the ‘shit nations’ they came from when they criticized his immigration policy.
However in contrast to all these China has zero tolerance for religion and that is reflected in the way it is wickedly isolating the Uighurs a Muslim caste in a part of China. China claims that it is orientating i the Muslim tribe on civil education and responsibility, but it is really persecuting these Muslims officially because it does not want to have a problem of Islamic militancy or insurgency within its borders. That again is the reality of the matter with China as a communist state that does not want any competition between it and any ideology be it political or religious.
In calling for spiritual warfare against Boko Haram the Nigerian army boss should be reminded that he was not the first military leader to do so. There was a story that a Nigerian army leader, later President, called for African leaders to mobilise traditional herbalists and juju practitioners to mobilise their forces and spiritual power against the apartheid regime in S Africa when Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for 27 years on Robben Island by the evil racist regime. What Gen Buratai is saying however in calling on spiritual war fare against Boko Haram this time around I, more pragmatic than the S African suggestion then except that it has failed to hit the nail on the head in terms of the catalyst for Boko Haram which are the militant Islamic scholars spreading the ideology of Islamic militancy not only in Nigeria but globally nowadays.
With regard to the spat between the US president and the media at the White House, it is necessary to look at the matter dispassionately. Trump was furious because as he said he had just given a long explanation on the Ukraine /Biden matter which the journalist asked about, as if he was not there. The American President really showed that he has scant respect for those in the US media he branded fake and corrupt. If as Trump insisted the journalist was rude, he too was very intolerant and bad tempered in the presence of another president who was his guest. In this particular situation the principle of press freedom and free speech was reduced to shambles and that makes one wonder as to its quality in terms of creating a stable political system in an atmosphere where anyone can say anything to anybody and be deemed to be acting within his or her rights. I remember a saying in Political Science that says -‘your freedom ends where my nose begins’. Neither Trump or the CNN journalist seem to have heard that before, in the testy question and answer press conference in the presence of the Finnish president at the White House this week.
We round up with China which proudly displayed its culture and military ware in Beijing on October 1 which incidentally is Nigeria’s Independence Day too. The Chinese definitely were beating their chest that day in terms of economic progress, political stability and the emergence of China as a diplomatic and economic power on the world stage . Apart from chasing the US and Russia as the military power of the world, China has made huge progress in terms of trade and Information technology. Especially in the realm of Artificial Intelligence which it has used greatly to police its people and establish firm law and order under communist rule. The US’ fierce trade war with China is a reaction to the success of China on trade and IT. The tariffs and the censorship of Huawei are America’s way of showing its anxiety on the arrival of the Chines dragon on the world scene as a potent rival to American global power, wealth and military might. While human rights may matter, any nation with any ideology that makes life safe and well for its people deserve some commendation, no matter how grudgingly it may come. Once again, long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
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