Riots break out in north as Jonathan wins by landslide

A bunch of cry babies the rioters are. You had more then 1 christian as President before. Why don't the Muslim North ask to be part of Niger

Iam a devout christian of the Hausa/Anghan tribe from southern Kaduna ,presently living in the southern part of Nigeria.Most of my safety is being enquired by muslims.

the reaction from the north where innocent niajas where killed convinced us that we made the right decision and voted in the right person. if we had voted in Gen Buhari, we might have been enslaved by the north.

Nigeria 2011, a Concise Summary of Jos 2008
By
Stephen Lonewolf

By now the reports of the riots all over the North in response to the resounding victory of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan are no longer news- if at all the major usual suspects reported it all.

In November 2008 there a peaceful election for seat of Chairman or Mayor (for the benefit of my American – North American friends), of a Local Government Area. Now whether it was free fair or credible was in the jurisdiction of the law courts to decide – but on the night of the morning preceding the fateful vote, a group of so called ‘disgruntled elements’ ditched that peaceful, lawful option and recourse, arose on cue (albeit planned and rehearsed…) at about 2am on Saturday / Sunday and set about attacking houses and churches, killing and maiming. By Sunday retaliations began and Jos once again appeared on the maps for the wrong reasons.

Jos is a sleepy former mining colony of the colonial British with a near temperate weather had before the incidents of 2001 and the years following was the most peaceful and cosmopolitan town in Nigeria with only a few commercial centres rivalling it for a harmonized mix of Nigerians living together in true federalism.

The tin exploited from the Plateau‘s plains, it is said, contributed to the World War 11 effort enabling the Allies to win the war. Today the gouged out craters collect water and pose serious risks to an ever expanding town and cityscape, no one remembers the story of the tin mined from the Plateau , the tampering of the culture by the colonial British in order to subjugate the proud warrior spirited natives who would not be easily cowed into submission like the Northerners- who were translocated from the hot and oppressive North to become labourers in the mine fields and were obliged to stay on in the slums and shanty towns the colonial forces had created once the mining ended….the natives remained in their fertile localities and produced food and trade items which complemented a vastly heterogeneous society…thus the process of disenfranchisement began.

The roots for the conflict,which metamorphosed into a small internecine strife over the soul of the city, was set by the British as revealed by a number of British historians and former ‘company men’ , most notably Harold Smith, who unable to bear the depravity of one of many of their actions any longer, spilled countless beans, but vast amounts of damage had already been inflicted – the British, as well as practically all the major news outlets in the West, allowed (whether knowingly or not) elements of the Northern ‘fourth realm of the estate’ to infiltrate and subjugate their platforms and by rote had full grasp and control of news dissemination at the drop of a hat.

It has been with this sledge hammer of biased reporting the Plateau has been bludgeoned with from time immemorial – that being as far and as adequate as the negative reporting would portray the Plateau and the surrounding region as stone age for ‘depriving settlers the right to be citizens’ and as victimised the ensconced Northern elements portrayed by their kith and kin who controlled the airwaves via the popular vernacular news channels or insidiously through the foreign reporters who always slant the news in favour of the Northern elements –as a favour or for incentive one wonders.

Following the violence of November 2008 in ‘protest’ of the so called ‘stolen mandate’ by the Northern elements in Jos ( North ) it seemed they vowed to continue this campaign in two fronts – through more violence and secondly and more insidiously through the Northern plants or moles in the ‘respected ‘vernacular and English versions of international news reporting which portrayed them as victimised ‘minorities’ amidst a hostile and primitive natives who were so impoverished and so vehemently detested and envied the more ‘well to do’ settlers that they ostracized the former and denied them citizenship…

The events leading to and now finally the emerging local news reports of the vicious aggression being carried out on peaceful and innocent Nigerians, their homes and churches ( and mosques) has lent very very heavy credence to the adage- ‘truth cannot be suppressed’.

If there was any where in Nigeria where other Nigerians were made to feel like second class citizens that would be Northern Nigeria which is rife with religious persecution, religious intolerance, abuse of the girl child and trampling upon of women rights…and fraught with the slightest excuse for the host of wandering street urchins fathered and left to roam the streets like robots awaiting the one single command – “go out, kill and burn…”

Preceding the 2011 vote many Northern elements did not hide their vehement opposition to the candidacy of the President elect on grounds so flimsy kindergarten children would navigate successfully the ‘quagmire’ and have a solution before lunch time– regardless of his position as the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces these Northern elements called him names , disrespected him and stopped short of ousting his tenure because the structures in the military for that dirty task were neutered – for lack of a better word.

What possibly could have elicited this violence witnessed today, 18 April 2011, in only Northern Nigeria… following the obvious fact that the sitting President would beat his main and viciously supported supported contender for the number position? What possibly would churches and other places of worship have to do with an entirely political affair settled conclusively, freely and fairly in the eyes of the local and international community? I had a phone conversation this evening with a bosom childhood friend in Kaduna, where some of the worst violence took place, he had subsequently been witness to some of the worst violence of the Kaduna Years on Edge could not understand neither comprehend why the violence and if anything it had to do with an election…I could feel the pain and consternation in his voice.

The answer is that it is simply a summary and commencement to the cries we on the Jos Plateau and Plateau have been making since 2001 – we are under attack by intolerant co fellow-citizens who feel it nothing to sponsor mercenaries from neighbouring countries to infiltrate sleeping villages and slaughter women, babies, children and defenceless old people in their beds (Dogon na Hawa, circa March, 2010)!

I had cause to send a write up to the US State Department, the Vatican, Pope Benedict Ratzinger in the wake of the massacre of the Dogon na Hawa village which the Northern Nigeria controlled Western news outlets reported as ‘a reprisal’ for a similar incidence on their kith and kin – attacks which have continued inspite of the natural law of vengeance which demands blood lust be sated having carried out a revenge. I have always contended that in the case of the United States of America – a nation that prides itself in its settler tradition, Jos would never get a sympathetic hearing because the cable news couch potatoes had the mantra drummed in their ears that the conflict in Jos was about resources – land and economic which the settlers being adept at manipulating, incurred the wrath of the natives who were always in a drunken stupor and were lazy- Jos Crisis 101. These same Americans will probably be ignorant of the fact that the botched 2009 Christmas Eve bomber Mutallab was a Northerner who came from a very well to do background…and not a primitive, native from Jos!

The West especially the US has continuously swallowed the bait, line sinker and fishing rod…now April 2011 a minority from the land of the sweet Brent crude oil (sweet Brent ought to catch a few Western ears!), a new comer, a novice, a non Northerner has broken the jinx of the North who probably by British colonial default were brainwashed into thinking ruling Nigeria was a God given right and privilege!

The events of today and God forbid following, must show the problem of Nigeria for what it is and rather for whom they are – should the international community fail to see it for what it is then it will be rather unfortunate- the elections were adjudged free fair and credible …why are churches (and mosques) being burnt? Why are non Northerners of differing religious leaning being targeted?

Here, as always, I cast the blame squarely on these Northern vernacular reporters in most foreign radio stations where it is obvious the mother stations or their employers have absolutely no idea the content that is being dished out to the millions of Northern layabouts who walk around with the radio sets glued to their ears- zombies awaiting the activation code. Penultimate Saturday / Sunday into these vernacular radio stations were awash with updates of how the main opposition candidate was leading all spheres- the North (the only sphere of their narrow imaginations) and when reports to the fact that despite the main opposition candidate’s victory in the sequestered North – the ‘hated’ minority man from Niger Delta…home of the sweet Brent crude oil, was said to have won or even rather was said to be winning, the ‘activation code’ was triggered, and standing to be corrected I have not heard the retired General on air to the effect of gracefully explaining to the teeming supporters that he had lost , again, and it was ok and everything was going to be okay. I deliberately delayed this article so that I could follow the BBC Hausa morning breakfast show to catch the reactions of the General and vernacular radio service to the riots in the North ( it has always been North- Jos North, Nigeria North same patterns, same modus operandi…). The General expressed ‘regret’ and stated neither he nor his supporters had anything to do with the riots- my understanding of leadership is taking responsibility for the actions of your followers, while the BBC had a reporter explaining the reason behind the violence given by an orphan as this- he had no one to depend on and the General had promised jobs would be available and now that the General had lost…

If and when Ocampo, the UN Human Rights Raporteur ever gets around to coming to Nigeria I would certainly make a case for some of these media provocateurs- both local and foreign to honour invitations for possible encouragement, inciting and crimes against humanity.

The truth cannot be suppressed- this is Summary of Jos 2008 and following Years.

I have found you have to take careful aim at the skinny's or your POA may drift a bit to the left or right and you will hit the one standing next to him...but, that is not so bad, at least you hit something.

Are you sure that you've got your Names, right? Are you sure that this is NIGERIA, you're talking about? Cause it sounds a lot like Madison Wisconsin.
They had an Election. One side won BY A LOT! And when they tried to actually do what they were ELECTED to do, the other Party RIOTED in the streets, and took over the Capitol Building.
It's uncanny how much in common, there is, between the RADICAL MUSLIM, and the RADICAL LIBERAL DEMOCRAT.
If you don't like it? BURN IT DOWN!

Response to be matured: It's great that Nigerians exercised their rights and elected a Democratic President. However, until the Muslim vs. Christian issue is resolved and also the oil well burning terrorists are stopped, Nigeria will never be a peaceful place to live or visit.

Isn't this something that MUST be stopped?

Muslims rioting? How shocking!

Mulsims have a way of "killing people" if they do not get their way. They do not play well with others. Nothing will please them but an Islamic state even if this is themost fair election in Nigeria's history. The vote was not even close.

Just have to love those peace loving Muslims, they don't get their way and it is riot, bloodshed, and burn...

This story speaks for itself. It's not about democracy it's about one group dominating another.

Wow, Nigerian Muslims at just like Democrats when they lose elections. No wonder liberals are more sympathetic to 19 highjackers than they are to their victims and fellow countrymen.

COMING TO A COUNTRY NEAR YOU, NOT SO PEACEFUL

America elects a Muslim President with no experience or leadership skills and there is no uproar or even a negative reaction from Christians in the mostly Christian nation. Islam clearly is many centuries behind the times.

Does this mean that the Muslims do not want a democracy?

The rioters must be union members, this looks like what the unions are doing in Wisconsin

..the extreme slow voting-procedure never can produce such high numbers of voters¨¨ Experienced Nigerians tell us, that the whole elections are just a farce to "confirm" to the Westerners and the Worldmedias, that the country is a "democracy" and continues to produce oil in a "peaceful" environment. The REAL POWER seems and remains still to be in the hands of artificiel as "baba" stigmatized former head of state Obasanjo.

Goodluck Jonathan is going to
need good luck to survive
as President.