Najeebwali

The recent coup in Niger republic is threatening to be the last straw that may break the camel's back in view of the delicate situation in the sahelian belt of Africa. The coup, which has been executed successfully is facing stiff resistance externally especially from the United States, France and Nigeria whilst also enjoying a modicum of support internally and also externally from ideologically/culturally and neighboring states.  Niger lies near the center of Africa’s Sahel region, a narrow band of semi-arid land where the savanna transitions to the Sahara Desert. Like most Sahel countries, Niger’s population is concentrated in the more fertile south of the sahel, with vast expanses of largely uninhabited desert constituting the majority of the country, though some population centres thrive in the north due to mining activities. Mohamed Bazoum, the former President of Niger republic was ousted in a military coup on the 26th of July and was promptly replaced by a junta ...

  On the 29th of may, 2015, he was sworn in as president of the federal republic of Nigeria, and during his inaugural address, he uttered a sentence that has become the most quoted, most cryptic and probably most profound of any president in the history of Nigeria; 'I belong everybody, and I belong to nobody'. Seven and a half years later into his reign, the quotation looks like a prophecy, for not only has he lived up to his signature quote, he has surpassed expectations in how devoted he is to making it manifest. His tenure began with the treachery and insubordination in the contest of the leadership of the national assembly, where some rogue legislatures of the ruling party connived with the opposition to hijack the leadership of the NASS. It was the first test of his democratic credentials, their were calls and uproar for the president to go the 'Obasanjo way' and have them removed by any means necessary, however, he let the democratic process take its cour...

In the small peninsula in the persian gulf, a land which was once under persian rule, Rashidun caliphate, ottoman and british rule, before finally becoming independent and self governing in from the british on September 1st, 1971, the twenty second edition of the FIFA world cup took place.   This is a nation, that one could argue by accident of geography was destined for the shadows. To the north lies the persian behemoth of Iran, a nation of huge geographical expanse and a population of 90 million people, to the west, the Arab juggernaut of Saudi Arabia, with her massive oil wealth and the two holiest cities of Islam, and the south, the commercial and tourist node that is the UAE. The Qatari irrepressible spirit was never going to accept being in the shadows, against all odds, the Emir, Tamim Ibn Hamad Al - Thank has gone to great lengths to build a twenty first century kingdom and put Qatar on the global map and consciousness. What they lacked in hard power, their inv...

Ya Rasulallah, He whom it is honorable to call Master, for associating with Abu - Zahra honors with an honor unrefuted. Ya Rasulallah, to whom being enslaved to is a rank above all earthly stations, for we are all hitherto enslaved, except the one whom you liberate with your everlasting liberation. Ya Rasulallah, the dispeller of all darkness, and the giver of everlasting light, for your light outshines a million suns. Ya Rasulallah, the fountain of mercy to wretched us, for your mercy alone puts all mothers to shame. Ya Rasulallah, the source of hope in a of pain and anguish, for it is only through you, the multitude find succor. Ya Rasulallah, the bestower of joy to an anguished heart, for every other 'joy' bar thee is a grand illusion. Ya Rasulallah, the only guide in a lost world, for without you we are but sheep without a shepherd, and are lost irrevocably. Accept this litany ya Abu - Ibrahim, for all your servant seeks is your acceptance.

'Every successful story is a tale of adaption, revision and change'.    - Richard Branson The process of growth and evolution can be painful, but life is a journey of continuous growth or evolution, and whoever resists or refuses that impetus, like stagnant water becomes stagnant, and like stagnant water lose purity and clarity, accumulating filth and corruption. Just as the stagnant water becomes polluted and thus pollutes, so does the man who refuses to grow up, he becomes not only a dangerous to himself, but also to his community. You refuse to change yet assume things will change, you have increased in size, but that's all their is to your 'growth', however within lies an adolescent. You get married, or rather get married off, however being the perennial child you are, you fail to make the distinction between wife and mother, thus, projecting motherhood on your victim, and abdicating all expected leadership roles leaving her to pick up the slack, thi...

The Sahel is a band of territory in Africa that stretches the length of the continent, from the Atlantic coast of Senegal and Mauritania in the west to the Red Sea coast of Eritrea in the east. The Sahel acts like a buffer or transition zone between the Sahara Desert to the north and the fertile savannahs to the south. The Sahel was once home to several indigenous African kingdoms. The Sahel literally means "edge" or "border" in Arabic. It includes parts of northern Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Gambia, Sudan, Mauritania and Eritrea. It is a zone of transition, between mediterranean and sub-saharan Africa. Thus, just as it is geographically a transitional zone with a hybridization of sahara and savannah characteristics, so also are its inhabitants who have evolved with the land producing a people heavily influenced by those two tendencies, with geographical closeness determining the degree of socio-cultural affinity. Indeed, the intr...

"There are decades where nothing happens; and weeks where decades happen"      - Vladimir Lenin Nigeria is behemoth saddled with a burden of destiny, a burden of being a beacon and guide for the African continent and other nations of the global south. Factors such as a strategic geographical location, huge landmass (Nigeria is bigger than Germany, France and Belgium combined), a population of two hundred and twenty million (more than France, Germany and Britain combined) serve to make her the epicenter and centre of gravity of the African continent.  To buttress her centrality, Nigeria was at the forefront of support of the anti-apartheid movement, giving sanctuary to activists, financial subsidies and diplomatic support. Nigeria also brought an end to a raging civil war in Liberia and Seirra Leone using mechanisms like the ECOMOG where Nigeria invested the blood of her sons and her treasure to bring peace to sister nations of Africa. Nigeria's successful...