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September
30, 2001
What's Africa Have To
Do With The Events
of September 11?
By
Chido Nwangwu
I
deliberately raised this question as the caption of this commentary
to underscore some points. To be sure, it is not a suggestion
of culpability of Africans regarding the September 11 terror
but more of a challenge to come to terms with the the interconnectedness
of global safety. For example, in Nigeria, which is celebrating
its 41st year of political "independence" from Britain
today, October 1, Libya's Muammar Ghaddafi has been funding and
financing "centers of Islamic learning" in such places
as Zamfara State where the Islamic Sharia law was first formalized
in Nigeria (applicable in 10 out of Nigeria's 36 States), the
"graduates", leadership and "students" have,
reportedly, been on the frontline of previous and recent emanations
of zealotry and religious violence. Some of the most dreaded
and violent groups in Nigeria, Chad, Tanzania-Zanzibar, parts
of Northern Africa and the Maghreb region, are said to have been
financed from Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Yemen, Zia ul-Haq's
Pakistan, and other "Brother Islamic countries and agencies."
Only a forthnight ago, Jos, one of the central cities in Nigeria
with a mixed population of Christians and Muslims, and sizeable
Euro-American population saw 700 persons killed, and thousands
maimed and houses burnt.
Years-old request and arguments
for the retired General Olusegun Obasanjo's government to be
decisive in dealing with the issues regarding terrorists who
kill in Allah's name or Christians who turn Biblical certitudes
for ethnic vengeance, according to many Nigeria analysts including
the respected Prof. Wole Soyinka have met with fatal reluctance.
First and most, Africans suffered
deaths (and an estimated 53 persons missing) from the consequences
of the events of the September 11 bombing. Most of those being
breadwinners for their families. Those wanton terror and wholesale
visitation of murder and mayhem did not only affect Americans
but persons from almost 20 countries, including persons thus
far known, from four African countries. For those who have forgotten,
Osama Bin Laden, the prime suspect for the September 11, 2001
terrorist attacks, was based in the largely Islamic African country
of Sudan before leaving in 1996. Also, on August 7,1998, the
U.S embassy in the east African country of Kenya was bombed which
led to the death of 207 Kenyans, 12 US citizens and left more
than 4,000 injured. Within a minute of that sad event, a smaller
terrorism blast rocked Tanzania's capital, Dar es Salaam, killing
11 Africans. Now, should Africans care more or morph September
11 into some nebulous, baseless "fraternity of the oppressed"?
I don't think so!
Second, in the light of September
11, and especially the murderous domestic excesses of these harbingers
of death and purveyors of mayhem, it becomes, in my view, a matter
of vital national duty that African governments take a more
decisive and no-holds-barred approach to choke off the camps
and networks of terrorism hiding under the veneer of religiousity
and a concoction of bloody and assorted fanaticisms. These trouble
makers and merchants of death have caused the deaths of at least
5 million Africans since the end of colonialism in the early
1960s, including one of my enduring personal experience as a
survivor inside the zone of limited safety declared by Igbos
and other minorities of south eastern Nigeria as defunct Republic
of Biafra.
Third, African leaders and
Africans abroad ought to unmask and halt those unperturbed villages
of radical religio-political zealotry and hate academies for
terror training and funding. In so doing, we are acting not only
in America's current best interest but in our continent's strategic
and developmental interests. Although, there are sophiticates
among these "armies of god", the failure of some of
those countries' leaders, Christian and Muslim alike, have made
the very poor, uneducated and dispirited willing goons in religious
conflicts and fodders for terror machines.
Fourth, Africa and its governments
should position their actions and policies around the paradigm
that terrorism in the 21st (and in fact during the 20th century)
is an issue of domestic consequence. It affects the flow of
economic investments, weighing in the measure for or against
international capital, and even the value and safety of domestic/internal
business. My point? Offering or dealing kid gloves or looking
the other way believing the terror machines will relent is wishful
thinking. The U.S. must also weigh its own policies and actions
which do not excuse but can open a window for some nut to engage
in their sick pursuits of lethal zealotry.
Sixth, in this quest to make the world relatively safer, it is
important to note the views of John L. Esposito, professor of
Religion and International Affairs and Director of the Center
for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University,
Washington D.C. and the author of several books on Islam, including
The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?, who has stated that: "While
some governments and experts identify Islamic fundamentalism
as a major threat to the stability of their societies and to
global politics, others point out that it is important to distinguish
between authentic populist movements that are willing to participate
within the system and rejectionists who seek to topple governments
through violent revolution."
Accordingly, I mush commend
Senegal's democratically-elected Abdoulaye Wade, a member of
the Mouride Islamic sect whose wife is a French Christian as
an excellent reflection that the issue in Africa cannot be that
all Muslims seek for conflicts or are terrorists. No. Such reductionism
is not only foolish but untenable. I was in Senegal on assignment
regarding former President Bill Clinton's visit in April 1998
to parts of Africa, and I'm aware of the fact that, although,
Senegal's population is 90% Muslim, Islamic fundamentalism is
not common. Wade challenged the continent a few days ago that
"beyond verbal declarations, African countries should engage
in direct actions in the global fight." Note the key word
is "direct actions". Translation: rid your neighborhood
and countries of any support or cover for terrorists. Any wonder,
therefore, that when Nigeria's Obasanjo told U.S. president George
W. Bush that he'd join the battle against terrorism, many Nigerians
wondered if their president should not start from his own backyard.
That is, putting it politely.
Now, do you still wonder what
has Africa to do with September 11 terror? CP
Chido Nwangwu, adviser to the Mayor of Houston on
Africa business, serves as Founder & Publisher of the Houston-based
USAfrica The Newspaper
and the
first U.S.-based, African-owned newspaper to be published on
the internet; The Black Business Journal, and NigeriaCentral.com.
He is the recipient of the HABJ Journalism Excellence Award,
1997, and has appeared as an analyst on CNN, VOA, local tv
and radio stations in the U.S. and Africa.
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