Sunday December 25, 2011, will be the deadliest, dastardly, and despicable terrorist assault on innocent Nigerian Christians by Boko-Haram jihadist sect. The Christmas Day bomb blasts at the Saint Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger state and other coordinated bombings of churches in Jos, Plateau State and Damaturu, Yobe State, that killed many parishioners and injured hundreds beyond recognition is an outrage and a provocation. Boko-Haram chose the most Holy Day of Christianity to inflict the worst evil, vile, barbaric, and satanic massacre of innocent church worshippers.
Sunday December 25, 2011, will be the deadliest, dastardly, and despicable terrorist assault on innocent Nigerian Christians by Boko-Haram jihadist sect. The Christmas Day bomb blasts at the Saint Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger state and other coordinated bombings of churches in Jos, Plateau State and Damaturu, Yobe State, that killed many parishioners and injured hundreds beyond recognition is an outrage and a provocation. Boko-Haram chose the most Holy Day of Christianity to inflict the worst evil, vile, barbaric, and satanic massacre of innocent church worshippers.
It was not just an attack on Nigerian Christians but an assault on Christianity in general. This assault is the deadliest terrorist atrocity by Boko-Haram on innocent Nigerian worshippers. The Christmas Day killings is reminiscent and worse than the October Independence Day bomb explosion, Police headquarters bomb explosion, and the United Nation’s headquarters bombing in Abuja, all this year, among others. This is an insult, an outrage and a colossal provocation.
Since the return to democratic government in 1999, there have been ethnic, religious, economic, and political motivated violence and conflicts that have decimated thousands of lives in Nigeria. Since the last decade, we have witnessed rash of rampage and despicable acts of violence, looting, killings and wanton massacre of innocent Nigerians by Boko-Haram sect in many cities and states in the North. This ignorant, intolerable, irrational rampage and despicable acts of killings and massacre are getting worse each day. From 2007 till date, an estimated 2,000 or more Nigerians have been killed and more thousands displaced with their means of livelihood shattered. Since 1999, an estimated 12,000 innocent Nigerians have been massacred while the Federal Government, State, Local and Security agencies remain indulgent and incapable of stopping the murderous sect. The government and security agencies –especially the police have failed in their basic duty to provide security and protection of innocent human lives. They all should resign and give way to competent and capable hands – including international community to handle the security and terrorist challenges that are confronting the nation.
I am outraged to read and see the brains of a two-year blown out like that. I am outraged to read about Mrs. Dike who lost her entire family – husband and five children to an irrational and senseless bomb blasts. I am outraged about Sir Emmanuel Obiukwu, who lost his four daughters in the Christmas Day bomb blasts at the Saint Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger state, after running from the Kano religious violence years ago. The nation ought to be outraged. The citizens of Nigeria ought to be outraged. Enough is enough. This is a bloody country, a bloody leadership, a bloody Boko-Haram and a bloody Christmas. The Nigerian nation has become a den of death, of sorrow, sadness, pain, suffering and hopelessness – a lawless and a degenerate society.
When will this despicable and wanton killings of innocent Nigerians stop? When will the Federal Government do something about these lecherous killings of innocent Nigerian citizens in the North? When will the Federal government bring to justice the perpetrators and the sponsors of these heinous killings and cowardice acts against innocent Nigerians? When will this foolishness stop in our nation? When will all Nigerians stand together, unite, and condemn this immoral massacre of innocent citizens? When will Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) engage in serious Ecumenical and interfaith dialogue with Islam and Muslim leaders not just a council meeting with Catholics, Protestants and Pentecostal but ecumenical –interfaith dialogue with Islam and the Imams? The leadership at CAN – especially the Pentecostal pastors and bishops have failed woefully in their calling and divine mandate to build the kingdom of God. For decades, they had focused on prosperity and materialistic message rather than preaching the adulterated gospel of Jesus Christ – the gospel of the kingdom. For years, they had been after their own selfish and worldly interests while their sheep and flocks of God are dying and perishing everyday. Excuse, the essay on CAN and State of Christianity in Nigeria will be for another time. By the way, Christian Association of Nigeria should be renamed to Christian Council of Nigerian (CCN).
Enough is enough. How long more will Nigerians watch and endure this evil from ignorant and uneducated Boko-Haram followers rampage businesses, destroy places of worship and take human lives in the name of Allah. Which God are they fighting for? How long will the international community look away at a religious terrorism that is capable of hampering trade, investment and business opportunities? Where are the so-called Nigerian leaders and those who claim to govern? When will this foolishness and these kinds of dastardly acts stop in our nation?
I am not tribalistic and I still believe Nigerians can co-exist but I do not know how long anymore the various groups that make –up the Nigerian nation will continue to tolerate this foolishness and nonsense from these radicals and murderous sect in this 21st century world. I think it is time that the various groups that make-up the Nigerian nation seriously come together for a dialogue about their co-existence and future. I have no doubt in my mind that if oil and petroleum resources were located in other regions other than the South-south and Southeast; Nigeria as we know it would have been a forgone word. If the major tribes of Nigeria hate each other so much like this, why continue to live together. By the way, petroleum resources should not be the reason to keep people that do not love each other to stay together. Further in this century and even beyond, oil and petroleum resources may be not critical resources anymore as technology and innovators work to find solution to reduce heavy dependence on oil. Today China and China – the most populous nations on earth with 1.2 to 1.5 billion people do not have any oil, yet they are among the richest economies today because of their entrepreneurial and technology skills to create wealth rather than depend on oil revenue.
Shame on the perpetrators of the Christmas bomb blasts that killed many and injured hundreds of parishioners at the church premises. Frankly speaking, I do no longer blame Boko Haram and their sponsors, because Boko-Haram want to opt out of the chaotic nation called Nigeria. I blame Britain, former USSR, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and other Arab countries that supported Hausa/Fulani to kill Biafrans. I also blame the rest of Nigeria – Igbos, Yorubas and tribes that continue to sing unity and co-existence. I hope they are seeing the consequences of their forced union. Shame on them all!
When I write or talk about the fact that Christians and Muslims cannot co-exist, because of their population in Nigeria, people disagree and call me a Zionist and all sorts of names. There is no nation on the face of this earth that has 50% Christians and 50% Muslims that lives in peace. It is not so in any nation in this world. Southern Sudan was only about 13% Christian and yet they fought their way for a separate country. The Christian population in North – whom are mostly Southerners, will continue to perish until people finally realize that Christianity and Islam cannot co-exist. This is not an issue of tolerance or love, which is the pinnacle of both faiths as often said. This is an issue that deeply rooted in the biblical history.
Christianity and Islam do have major fundamental differences and tenet of beliefs. The Muslim concept of sin and salvation is radically different from Christianity. The two biggest faiths in the world cannot be both right. It is either one is right or the other is wrong or vice-versa. Both cannot be right and wrong at the same time. Muslims want to make Islam a worldwide religion with the highest number of adherents. And Saudi Arabia and other rich Arab nations are giving millions of dollars to promote Islam worldwide. Islam today has spread to about 60 countries with well over one billion adherents. They assert that Christianity is Western religion and claim that Islam is the true religion and the only religion with a message of peace and preserver of human civilization. They feel that Christians have been deceived and that they have an obligation to lead them into the truth of Islam. Mostly importantly Moslems claim that Allah is the only one true God. They want to achieve their claims through violence, terrorism, jihad and war without giving any room for reasoning and dialogue.
What is it that makes Muslim Jihadists tick, boast in the name of Allah and rejoice when they kill Christians? Dr. Anis A. Shorrosh, a Palestine Arab Christian, an expert of Islamic and Christian theology, in his book: “Islam Revealed,” brilliantly explained the driving force behind the fanatical as well as the moderate and conservative sects of Islam. He argued that one cannot understand the tensions, attacks, and killings and continuing explosion of Islamic fundamentalist until; one understands the contradictions and intricacies that form the basis for Muslims' beliefs. The book was a product of series of debates he had in 1980's with Ahmed Deedat, considered the foremost Islamic scholar and great orator in the world. These debates took place mostly in the prestigious Royal Albert hall in England and thousand of Muslims and Christians flocked to attend these debates. In that book, Dr. Shorrosh brilliantly compared the God of Heaven and Allah, Christianity with Islam, The Holy Bible with Koran (Quran), the fundamental teachings of Christianity and Islam and most importantly the turbulent life of Islam's sixth-century prophet Muhammad with the holy, virtuous life of the first century Jewish Messiah - Jesus Christ. In a nutshell, he traced the root cause of these despicable, irrational and senseless killings to religious hypocrisy, intolerance, ignorance and bigotry.
However, the major root cause of Islamic fundamentalism is not found in their claims but in the pages of Holy Scriptures - The Bible. In Genesis 16:11, 12; "The angel of the LORD also said to her: "You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers."
The biblical account of Genesis 16 - 21 details the impatience of Abraham and Sarah and the sad mistake they made which explains the reason why we have such a religious paradox and conflict today between two brothers - Christianity and Islam. If you recall, in Genesis 12:1-3, The LORD called Abraham to leave his pagan country, his people and his household to go to an un-known land - a land flowing with milk and honey. God promised to give him and his descendants the land of Canaan. He promised to bless him and make him into a great nation and through his descendants all the nations of the earth would be blessed. At that time, Abraham was 75 years and his wife Sarah was 64. In Genesis 15, God makes a covenant with Abraham and reconfirms His promises to him. At that time, Abraham believed and God credited it t him as righteousness (Gen. 15:6).
In Genesis 16, Sarah became very impatient; she gave her Egyptian maidservant Hagar to Abraham. Abraham went into her and she became pregnant and bore Abraham a son and they named him Ishmael which means God hears. However, Ishmael was not the child that God had promised Abraham. Abraham was 86 years at this time. And so Sarah began to despise Hagar her Egyptian maidservant because she has bore Abraham, her husband a son. Eventually, Abraham listened to his wife Sarah and sent Hager away. The Angel of the LORD appeared to Hagar at a well near Kadesh and Bered and then spoke these words to her: "You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers" (Genesis 16:11, 12).
In Genesis 17, God makes another covenant of circumcision with Abraham and this time reminds him that He will make a father of many nations. At this time Abraham was 99 years old and Sara was 90. In Genesis 18, Sarah laughed at the discussion between Abraham and three visitors who came to visits Abraham to give the news of the birth of his son. To make this story short, In Genesis 21, Sarah became pregnant and bore Abraham a son and they him named Isaac. Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah his wife 90 years. Isaac was the son of the promise. Through Isaac, God would continue His covenant promises to Abraham. Isaac became the father of Jacob who becomes the father of the twelve tribes of Israel and great grandfather of Jesus, the founder of Christianity. God knew what was best for the Egyptian maidservant Hagar and her son Ishmael. God did not forsake them but rather He blessed them. Ishmael and his children became the originator of Islamic faith. As you can see Christianity and Islam were brothers – sons of Abraham but their mothers were different. God's covenant promises and purposes were made with Abraham through Isaac his son and not Ishmael. This is without doubt the root cause of religious squabble and conflict between the adherents of Islam and Christianity.
This religious fanaticism and terrorism is a huge leadership challenge and a major threat to the security, unity and national progress of Nigeria. Religious ignorance and intolerance breed violence and religious violence and war have decimated more lives in Nigeria and around the world in the last fifty years than hunger, disease, and accidents combined together. Northern Nigeria especially has been a battleground between Islam and Christianity. Since 1960, Nigeria has had countless incidents of religious extremism and Islamic fundamentalism in its attempt to Islamize the nation. Islamic fundamentalism, fanaticism, terrorism and jihads are a big threat and enormous challenge for our nations’ leaders.
I call upon Nigerian government, political leaders, religious and civil leaders, Imams, clerics, Islamic scholars, moderate, modern and conservatives Muslims and business leaders, to work together in resolving the imminent threat to Nigeria’s unity. Nigerian religious leaders must work together to ensure that Christians, Moslems and, Atheists become partners in this 21st century Nigeria rather than enemies in solving the social, economic and political obstacles facing our nation. They must work together to hold the politicians and government leaders accountable to the promises and principles of fairness, justice and equity. Christians, Muslims, Animists, Atheists, and others must be involved in shaping public policies, laws and decisions that will promote unity and progress for all. The religious leaders must work together to educate their followers about tolerance and peaceful cohabitation.
Despite the Christmas Day massacre at the Saint Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger state and other places of worship, Christmas season, which is the day chosen by Christians to celebrate the Lord’s birthday, still remains the greatest event in all of human history. This season of the year is the most wonderful time of the year as written by Eddie Pola and George Wyle in 1963. Why, because it is the most holy, gracious and loving season of the year because of Jesus Christ – the Lord of Lords and Kings of Kings, the Prince of Peace, our Savior was born on during this season. May God give mankind the wisdom to live in peace and harmonious existence until He fixes this evil and wicked world through the return of Jesus Christ, who is the Prince of Peace, Son of the living God, King of Kings and Lord of Lords – and the coming King, Savior, and Messiah of the whole world.
Oscar Wilde, a novelist and poet, once wrote, “Life is terribly deficient in form. Its catastrophes happen in the wrong way and to the wrong people.” May God grant the families that lost their sons, daughters and even few cases entire family in the worst vile and evil atrocity on a Christmas Day, God’s peace over these sudden and unexpected deaths and destruction of places of worship! Our hearts, sympathy and condolences are with you and your loved ones over these incalculable losses. May God will dry your tears and fill you with joy knowing that your sons, daughters, husbands, mothers, etc have entered into everlasting glory, where there is no more pain, sorrow, injustice, evil, and wickedness.
Happy New Year!
Dr. C. Kingston Ekeke is a theologian, author, consultant and leadership scholar. He is the president of Leadership Wisdom Institute.
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