A Twisted Crown of Thorns ®

Africa is watching Nigeria

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, the eighth most populous country in the world. It is listed among the “Next Eleven” economies. The economy of Nigeria is one of the fastest growing in the world, with the International Monetary Fund projecting a growth of 9% in 2008 and 8.3% in 2009. It is the third largest economy in Africa, it is also the largest exporter of oil in Africa.

I read with glee as the most populous country in Africa had its incumbent president declare his intentions on …wait for it. Face Book. Well, yes apparently this is what it said:

“Today I confirm that after wide and thorough consultations … I Goodluck Ebele Jonathan by the grace of God hereby offer myself and my services to the Nigerian people as a candidate for the office of President in the forthcoming 2011 elections,” said a statement on his page on the social networking site. –Reuters

My glee was not in the fact that an electoral race has started. I’m not even rejoicing in the fact that the said candidate has a feel good and likeable ring to his first name. I’m rather optimistic that the religious tension in Nigeria will take a turn for the better soon.  Did people read on Face Book about the masacre of Christians in the Nigerian suburbs in March 2010? When the country was abuzz with reports like:

Dozens of bodies lined the dusty streets of three Christian villages in northern Nigeria yesterday. Other victims of Sunday morning’s Muslim rampage were jammed into a local morgue, the limbs of slaughtered children tangled in a grotesque mess. One toddler appeared fixed in the protective but hopeless embrace of an older child, possibly his brother. Another had been scalped. Most had severed hands and feet.

Officials estimate that 500 people were massacred in night-time raids by Muslim gangs near Jos, the city that bestrides Nigeria’s Christian-Muslim fault line. –The Times

I hope Goodluck keeps up this social transparency.  I hope he regularly updates the social net working sites with tweets as to the progress of his efforts in ensuring the safety of his people and religious freedom in Nigeria. Otherwise his name will be the last thing we ever tweet about him. Good luck, Goodluck!

Chinua Achebe, one of Nigeria’s most famous poets  once said, “When suffering knocks at your door and you say there is no seat for him, he tells you not to worry because he has brought his own stool.”

In this case may God who is Sovereignly seated on the throne on high look on the suffering of his people in Nigeria and sustain them in such precarious times. Godspeed.