Murder Is No Solution To Systemic Injustice

There is no justification for the murder of any police officer - as happened in Brooklyn, NY on December 20, 2014. Such an act only becomes an excuse for hateful supporters of oppression to shout louder in their quest to repress others. We should not want a society where, by killing others that we dislike, we all become blind to the direction of the hand of justice. 

The killer of the 2 NYPD police officers who we now know were both wonderful individuals was, as we also now know, a mentally ill man with documented evidence of multiple psychiatric hospitalizations who was able to get his hands on a gun. One of the murdered cops was a recently married man whose wife is now a widow even before she experiences the joy of marriage to the love of her life. The other, a recently certified Christian Chaplain was a father of two. 

The same people who always tell us after every mass murder that the only issue at stake is mental illness now prefer to deny that mental illness played a part in these murders. They want us to believe that the only issue here is revenge killing by a man with some race-propelled vendetta against police officers.  Here is the truth: the only issue here is the infinite availability of guns in our society. We should stop giving cover to the NRA and their supporters whenever these senseless but avoidable tragedies occur. 

Now, we have two good men who will not be at the table with their families this Christmas. As a society, we should all bury our heads in shame. May their souls rest in perfect peace. 

The Police Versus Society

If you are over 10 years old, male, poor and/or a member of a racial/ethnic minority group anywhere in the world and have never been abused, lied against, killed by a police officer or known someone who has, you should count yourself very fortunate and pray that this continues to be the case.  

The composition of people demonstrating across the United States in reaction to the (in)action following recent police murders are teaching us what some people don't want us to learn: that this is not just a racial matter; it is instead a matter of humanity and a question of what kind of world we want to live in. Those who prefer to maintain the unintelligent argument that the victims of police bullets die because they resist arrest need to ask themselves what arrest attempts or orders 12 year-old Tamir Rice of Cleveland resisted from a cop who came out of a cruiser shooting at him and killing him within 2 seconds of the cruiser arriving where the child was. What orders did Akai Gurley resist when he walked innocently into the hallway of his NYC housing with his girlfriend and was immediately murdered by a police officer without even as much as word spoken between him and the cop? 

The time for making excuses for police officers should be history. We do not pay or arm them to kill us. They should protect us from criminals; not be the criminals. We shouldn't have to fear the police more than we fear criminals.  For as long as our society (indeed our world) continues to make excuses for irresponsible, self-absorbed, empty, blood-hungry and racist police officers, for so long shall we continue to be victims of their abuses. Enough is enough!

Professor J.F. Ade Ajayi (May 26, 1929 - August 9, 2014): An Iconic Scholar Departs

My cousin is an esteemed Professor of Law and Dean of Postgraduate Studies in one of Nigeria's most respectable universities.  About a week ago, he and I had a fond conversation about Professor J. F. Ade Ajayi, a scholar who was clearly in a league of his own.  Two days after that conversation, I received a text message from a dear friend of mine who is a Professor of Agriculture also in one of Nigeria's top universities.  It was a brief text but the message was resounding: "The great Prof. Ade Ajayi, the icon who was your professor has died.  He was 85 years old.  May his soul rest in peace". 

As one of the greatest historians that have ever walked the face of this earth, Professor Ade Ajayi was a scholar in every description of that word.  There were no bounds to his knowledge of African history and his devotion to the teaching and advancement of historiography as a focus of the academic discipline of History around the world was without parallel.  He was not only a very handsome man but he was graceful, quiet, humble and polite beyond compare.  Yet, even other Professors who worked with him knew that the stage belonged to him - and they reverenced him.  So also did he command the respect of historians all over the world who had any interest in African history.  It is impossible for Wikipedia to fully capture the essence of Professor Ade Ajayi but I am confident that I speak for thousands when I say that those of us who knew him, and studied under him, will never forget who he was and what he meant to our individual development.

One of the greatest blessings of my life in academics was to have had the privilege of being Professor Ade Ajayi's student at the Ibadan School of History (in the University of Ibadan) over three decades ago.  Thanks to his contributions to scholarship and his presence there, the quality of scholarship that came out of Ibadan made the Ibadan School of History the most highly regarded Department of History of any university anywhere in Africa.  Never a man to engage in trivialities, Professor Ade Ajayi walked and worked with a mission and maintained the kind of commitment to purpose that would be expected of anyone who knew what the cause of his life was. 

Having lived his life and done his job, the great Professor J. F. Ade Ajayi is now at rest.  He is being eulogized by world leaders and scholars.  That is a very good thing.  I hope, however, that the classy and committed life that he lived would serve as a reminder to African leaders and scholars (and indeed all of us) that we each have a responsibility to our world - and that the works of our hands live beyond our years. 

Adieu Professor J. F. Ade Ajayi.  Rest well sir, and thank you for giving of yourself as much as you did to a society and world that needed your presence and your God-given skills.

Taking Advantage of the Vulnerable

Evangelical pastors and so-called healers everywhere need to stop lying to their congregations about politics, health, and even about Christianity. Some things are matters of life and death. I have been reading too many lies coming out of Nigeria about the Ebola virus. It is not easy to contract Ebola and the so-called cures being claimed by so-called healers are deceptive and propelled by insensitivity and the desire for fame and wealth, I think. One of those claims is asking people to drink warm salt water daily to prevent Ebola. Nigerians are already being killed in large numbers daily by high blood pressure and other diseases that are made worse by salt. Now their evangelical pastors and other so-called healers are telling them to consume more salt! Incredible stuff!

Nigeria's Ineffectual President: A study in incompetence

When a father keeps silent for 3 weeks following his children's abduction, and makes no move to find his abducted children until his hands are forced by the concerns and outrage of strangers, it is right not just to question his competence as a parent or his leadership of his family but also his judgment, his heart and/or his sanity.  This is about President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria, a man who does not seem to understand or even care that, at various points in any responsible presidency, the president is the father of his nation.  Nobody expects any president to be able to prevent every bad thing from happening in his country but people have a right to expect that the symbolic father of their nation would care about their plight and act as one who is interested in them - even if he is not.


There is no paucity of apologists for President Jonathan but only a few facts about his presidency are in dispute.  Even most of his vocal supporters acknowledge in moments of truth that he is incompetent as a leader.  Clearly, he lacks vision and obviously lacks a demonstrable sense of compassion - as his handling of the abduction of over 200 Chibok girls has shown.  The Chibok girls and their families deserve better, and Nigeria deserves better than the leadership of an ignorant, ineffectual president being hand-held by sycophants who mean no good to their country and its people.  #BringBackOurGirls.

Re: In Nigeria, gay no longer means happy - Prof. Patience Akpan

http://www.punchng.com/columnists/medals/re-in-nigeria-gay-no-longer-means-happy/

In Nigeria, gay no longer means happy - Prof. Patience Akpan

http://www.punchng.com/columnists/medals/in-nigeria-gay-no-longer-means-happy/

Letters As Distraction

Over the past month or so, a public feud has erupted between Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria's former president, and the incumbent, Goodluck Jonathan. The battle defining the feud has been waged with letters on the pages of Nigerian newspapers. In every case, each letter has taken on a life of its own, with supporters of either camp taking sides in a battle the backstory of which most of them probably know nothing about. Such is the stuff of which grand distractions are made.

While those Nigerian leaders are busy throwing mud, many events are happening across Africa that would normally require the large presence of Africa's giant. After all, "to whom much is given, much is expected".  But not this time, and not in the near future. Iconic Mr. Mandela is dead and buried without the Nigerian President on any ceremonial podium to give a speech despite Nigeria's role in the anti-apartheid era; war is raging in the young West African nation of South Sudan; Mali is in trouble; Egypt is in turmoil; the Democratic Republic of Congo is in tatters; corruption continues to ravage Nigeria at levels never before known; the national unemployment rate is at 22% and going higher, security in many parts of Nigeria is at crisis levels due to kidnappings and armed robbery - not to mention murders on religious grounds. To maintain respectability, a country has to rise to its calling. Instead, Nigeria is lowered to the stature of its woefully poor leadership.

So, while Nigerian leaders are busy showcasing their manhood through letter writing, the country is increasingly a no-show in the international scene where reputations are built and solidified and Nigerians are distracted from matters of major personal and national significance. Nigerians ought to demand more from their leaders. This is a responsibility of citizenship. It is also a responsibility that no generation of Nigerians has ever seriously taken up. Those who are fortunate enough to find themselves in positions of authority over others must know that with authority comes responsibility. Unfortunately, this is knowledge that Nigerian leaders have rarely, if ever, demonstrated.