#I cannot stress enough that my country is actively doing genocide

[that-disabled-radfem]

Today (October 4) is Canada's National Day of Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG).

Indigenous women and girls are at a disproportionate risk for violence. Indigenous women are women are over-represented among Canada’s murdered and missing women. (They are also disproportionately incarcerated and involved in the sex trade.) This is a significant, persistent, and deliberate pattern of systemic racial and sex-based human rights violations.

Because Canada is Canada, the government decided to do an inquiry report to look into this crisis that we already knew was a crisis. This report called Canada's MMIWG crisis "genocide." This is neither exaggeration nor understatement. 

Despite this report, and the concrete actions it listed that the government could take to address the MMIWG crisis, the Canadian government has taken only symbolic action to protect Indigenous women and girls nation-wide.

Because today is the day of action, here are some actions you can take.

First, educate yourself. Read the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

Among the calls for justice in the report are eight actions all Canadians should take: "1. Denounce and speak out against violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people. 2. Decolonize by learning the true history of Canada and Indigenous history in your local area. Learn about and celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ history, cultures, pride, and diver- sity, acknowledging the land you live on and its importance to local Indigenous communities, both historically and today. 3. Develop knowledge and read the Final Report. Listen to the truths shared, and acknowl- edge the burden of these human and Indigenous rights violations, and how they impact Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people today. 4. Using what you have learned and some of the resources suggested, become a strong ally. Being a strong ally involves more than just tolerance; it means actively working to break down barriers and to support others in every relationship and encounter in which you participate. 5. Confront and speak out against racism, sexism, ignorance, homophobia, and transpho- bia, and teach or encourage others to do the same, wherever it occurs: in your home, in your workplace, or in social settings. 6. Protect, support, and promote the safety of women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people by acknowledging and respecting the value of every person and every community, as well as the right of Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people to generate their own, self-determined solutions. 7. Create time and space for relationships based on respect as human beings, supporting and embracing differences with kindness, love, and respect. Learn about Indigenous principles of relationship specific to those Nations or communities in your local area and work, and put them into practice in all of your relationships with Indigenous Peoples. 8. Help hold all governments accountable to act on the Calls for Justice, and to implement them according to the important principles we set out."

If you are Canadian, please write to your elected officials and demand that they act on the report's Calls for Justice. (Amnesty International provides some templates for letter writing: 1, 2, 3, 4)

If you are not Canadian, I would encourage you to write to your government and call on them to take formal action against Canada to make our government take action to protect Indigenous women and girls. 

Please stop letting us get away with being 'the good guys' just because we're next to the States. The countless deaths and disappearances of Indigenous women and girls have not been enough to force Canadians to act. We need international backlash.

I encourage you to educate your friends and family on this issue. Too many Indigenous women and girls go without justice everyday.

(And because I know Tumblr is full of Americans and this isn't just a Canada problem, I'm linking this report on MMIWG in the US.)

#mmiwg #missing and murdered indigenous women #National Day of Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls #I cannot stress enough that my country is actively doing genocide #tw violence against women

[pastadoughie]

incase 1 of you needs 2 hear this :

a)

ai art is shitty and explotative, and while i dont think that neural networks are bad as a concept, they can be done ethically, but at this point every single large company that has ai shit is doing it in an extremely shitty way. art that is posted on the internet isnt yours to steal and make profit off of. you do not get to take the art of unconsenting random internet users, throw it into a shredder, and sell 7.99 a month subscription packadges for people to be able to eat some of the dust it spits out.

while i previously was more lax on people on reposting my art so long as they credited me, i ask that you not fucking repost my art, under any circumstance if you are on a platform that is scraping art, or on a site that is not properly set up to deal with scraping. the only acception to this is commisions where you have explicitly asked me.

this includes tumblr.

b)

reposting without credit is always bad, even if you dont know who to credit. you should under no circumstance be posting artwork that isnt your own without giving people a way to see the artist, and you need to link it in a way that is ACTUALLY USEFUL, give multiple links to multiple platforms, do not use 3rd party link shorteners, include mirrors and archive captures, provide a plain text spelling of usernames for every platform you link to, ask for explicit permission of the artist, opt out of any ai generation tools. or if you are on a platform that does not allow for this do not post it at all, and you have to have all of this very clearly visable and easily readable

if that is too much effort for you then you shouldnt be posting it. with literally zero exceptions.

c)

biological sex is not real and people can do whatever the fuck they want with their own bodies, even if you deem it as "self harm". under no circumstance should you take away peoples bodily autonomy, someone could literally be sawing their arms off for funsie wunsies and i would still say they need to have freedom and privacy, and it is ultimatly THEIR call what they do with themselves.

gender is similarly also not fucking real, people can dress however they want, fuck whoever they want, and use whatever words to describe themself with that they want. and if you think that boys wearing dresses or some shit is somehow harming you then you are ligitimately fucking pathetic. if i fucking ran a political campain saying everybody wearing a scarf was a pedo and a rapist and we need to ban scarfs forever would you fucking vote for me? are you that scared of people being able to? do what they want? jesus.

d)

genocide is bad. regardless of who does it.

regardless of the scale of cruelty, there is nothing that a group of people from a certain state, ethnicity, religeon, ect, can do that justifies murdering civilians. there is never a justification for genocide.

implying, under any circumstance, that someone is somehow evil for their background, appearance, religous beliefs, country of origin, sexuality, gender, ect. is shitty or worthy of violence because of that is, and i cannot stress this enough, fucking disgusting. nazi shit. even.

e)

i do not support zionism. i do not support antisemitism. i do not support racism.

also the iof is actively commiting a genocide. you should donate to a relief fund for people currently suffering from this, as well as call your house and senate members. as have i.

f)

people often times claim that people they dislike, largely minorities, are pedos or rapists or something of the sort. this is something that has been happening for, and i cannot stress this enough. all of fucking history. people were fucking saying these exact points, verbatim, to argue in favor of SLAVERY okay? if you are spouting the exact same shit as fucking nazis and colonizers and slave traders, then consider, you are a horrible fucking person.

you have to be EXTRODENARILY SKEPTICAL when accusing a minority of a serious crime, and spreading information about it. because if a bigot can just say "oh theyre a pedo" and you believe them at FACE VALUE then guess what? you are just as much of a bigot as they are. minorities are people, and people do terrible things, but just like you should be doing with EVERYBODY, you should be actually looking into things before you accuse someone of being a shit person, and often times, you are not knowlagable enough about someone to make those kinds of claims anyway.

#the beast speaks #retchid opinions

[cosmos-philia]

Ramblings on my country’s current state

I can’t believe this is already time for the Holidays, and the end of the year’s time off and celebrations. I’m glad, and thankful, that most people I love are still here with me, despite the many collective, personal, and professional losses that occurred in my life. In most people’s lives, I suppose.

Before rambling a bit on things, first I’d like to share some good piece of news. I have done all my medical check-ups, and recently received a non-malignant minor mass diagnosis in my left breast. Because of the fact that in my family, the majority of women either had some type of women’s health related cancer, treated it and got better; or died from these sorts of conditions, I was quite worried. Aside from the increasing levels of vaccination rates in Brazil (in spite of the government’s omissions and clear genocide attempt), that is the best ending-of-the-year news I personally could ask for.

That being said, I just couldn’t try to say goodbye to 2021 without expressing more of my thoughts about it, particularly from the viewpoint of someone who is actively doing her best to survive and protect the people she loves under Bolsonaro’s rule. 

I have been even worse mentally before this nasty timeline, for I have lived within an abusive home during most of my life. Even so while I write this (in order to tend to a sick relative, I had to let go of my job as a teacher at a regular school, and started tutoring private classes remotely from mid-2020’s until the present moment, which was a dark time because until then, I’ve almost achieved my goal of getting away from the abusive people I still “have” live with). However, nothing has prepared me to survive this pandemic chaos whilst Bolsonaro had assumed the presidency. Nothing! And I live in the Global South, you guys...Lack of safety, unwritten night curfews, etc. is not far from our reach, even amongst a middle-class family where I come from.

Before the militia, the military forces, the mass media, and the nazi-inspired entrepreneurs of the extreme “free-market” ideology combined impeached Dilma Rousseff, our first democratically elect woman president, Brazil still had its share of many cumulative issues on all social spectrum; nonetheless, we were improving real living conditions for most people, especially for workers and the poor. The country I knew once then, it simply doesn’t exist anymore.

After the lawfare of the impeachment farce, and the legal and criminal prosecution of Lula (who was going to run for presidency after Dilma, both of them representatives of the Workers’ Party here), things began to escalate even further. Bolsonaro had already an advantage; Temer, Dilma’s Vice-President and the one who betrayed her for the sake of implementing a crusade against workers’ rights and people’s access to education, done most of the damage to urban existence way before our militia guy took over. From then onwards, everything else went downhill; first they started with attempting at genocide before the pandemic, with the native peoples around here.

Even with many territorial disputes, Brazil was up until then recognized as one of the few nations whose native peoples still existed in plenty, and weren’t mostly wiped out. Jair Bolsonaro was able to finish what the colonization and imperialistic conflicts could not entirely. Afterwards, they came for the rain forests. Then, for the flora and the fauna of other important Brazilian biomes, such as Pantanal. I remember it as if it was happening in front of my eyes today; during my presential classes, I witnessed days going black due to the forest fires. Guys, I cannot stress this enough: I live in São Paulo. The Amazon Forest, which is located in its Brazilian part in Amazônia state province, is miles and miles from here...Almost the distance between The UK and The Russian border of Europe. This all happened before the pandemic would begin, imagine that.

Of course 2020 would hit in here as well. If one were observant, and responsible, it was all a matter of looking what was already happening in China, in Italy, and then in the USA right after, and taking action. But we weren’t under the influence of a normal politician, even a horrific, right-wing one. Donald Trump might be just awful, and clearly draws inspiration and support from extreme right’s movements. Jair Bolsonaro, on the other hand, is the embodiment of what the media has called “Alt Right”, a fancy term for someone who is blatantly obvious a fascist in all facets.

We, Brazilians, were already deprived of our labor rights, our access to education (particularly high education), even our retirement laws were stripped from us. Seeing the native peoples’ and the forests’ burn broke my mind, my heart. Later on, the beginning of the pandemic times would tear me soul apart, too. Anyone with little to almost no common sense would get that it would be an impossibility to expect some kind of responsible act from them. What we could not anticipate were acts of direct commands to fully disseminate the disease and to contaminate all; the more, the better. If we hadn’t had a good public health system (which was under the government’s attacks, of course), our total death numbers and chronically ill patients of Covid-19 would definitely surpass America’s.

I try to manage my health, my sanity, by focusing on what I can do to improve my personal situation, the circumstances of the ones around me, and, surely, what I can actively do to contribute to the community. Nevertheless, the overral state of severe famine, unemployment, lack of stable career prospects, along with all I wrote about earlier, profoundly devastates me. Constantly. Good thing that Brazilian folks are more prone to getting the vaccine shots, though. Because that’s pretty much one of the few good news on our collective endeavors to share – even if it is an extremely relevant one in this ongoing Covid context.

Just imagine what we could have done with a good public health system, and the equal distribution of vaccines around the world. If only we’d had that.

That being said, there are days more difficult than others, and despite my efforts to remain realistically pragmatic (neither denying the negative impact of things, nor wanting to dwell on them in an entropy state), observing the regular citizen’s reactions to the pandemic’s ongoing altering conditions depresses the fuck out of me. We have already conquered so much, on simply being able to go outside when needed, or to tend to close friends & family with masks on, maintaining a safe distance between us. I understand that different from me, many folks relax by hanging out in large crowds. It’s terrible we can’t do it yet in their perspective, and I truly, truly get it. Still, normalizing agglomerations now continues to be outright unethical. Not addhering to using masks, too. This is not too much to ask for. Nor too hard to accomplish, considering everything we already went through, everyone we already lost.

Expressing sadness in here feels more of a crime than many horrific things I mentioned before. There’s a difference between wanting to rebuild a life responsibly, and living as if nothing has happened at all. More than the usual, I sense an on-growing hedonism in Brazilians, which is indicative of poor coping mechanisms, unethical behaviour, false perceptions of reality, and lack of social organization in order to provide collective solutions to our problems.

#pandemic tag #current state of affairs #brazil #brazil under bolsonaro #being a brazilian equals suffering #sharing personal thoughts #do not reblog

[technology-and-ethics]

Has social media hurt the development of politics? Or did it bring people closer to politics? - Could both be true?

The debate about social media and politics boils down to this simple question that does not have a simple answer. For example, can we blame social media for the rise of right-wing politics? Can we praise social media for bringing attention to movements like #blacklivesmatter, #metoo and the Hong Kong protests? Is it possible to do both? Praise and Blame? Every innovation does have negative effects. 

I think that social media has brought me closer to politics as I was not really interested in politics until I started reading a lot about things that happened around the world on social media. Most of the posts were centered around American politics since a lot of American activism happens on social media. I saw how biased news stations can be especially when telling the stories of minorities. I read about things that were not important enough to mention on the TV news stations or local newspapers in the town I live in. Social media made me gain interest in politics because I also felt like on social media there were people from the same background as me debating about politics. Maybe that is why I became more invested in American politics, too. I found politicians like AOC, who in a way has the same background as me – she is from an immigrant and working class family. Not a lot of the politicians, who have higher authority in Germany have such a background. It is hard to accumulate an interest in politics when there is no representation for you.

It seems that a problem politics on social media has caused some people to be “worn out” as the article by Anderson and Auxier suggests. Social media can be draining we all experience that when we spend too much time on social media especially around negative or stressful posts. While I believe that social media bring people closer to politics I also believe it is more hurtful. Since you can put away newspapers, close/change stations or programs on the TV and Radio you cannot escape social media posts that easy because even if yourself do not choose to see something, someone in your friend list might, the explore page might put it to the forefront because it is popular, it might come up in an add etc. It is more connected and does not focus on your own interests. “Some 55% of adult social media users say they feel ‘worn out’ by how many political posts and discussions they see on social media […]” (Anderson and Auxier). What I find worse is that: “At the same time, users are less ambivalent about seeing these types of posts today than in the past. Today, 29% of social media users say they don’t feel strongly one way or another about encountering political discussions […]” (Anderson and Auxier). People have become too used to political posts on social media and they begin to become indifferent. Even the political discourse that people were able to have and drew people to social media is now no way near as positively seen: “Americans who use social media sites are also more likely today than in 2016 to describe the political discourse on these platforms in negative terms. Seven-in-ten now say they find it ‘stressful and frustrating’ to talk about politics on social media with people they disagree with [...]” (Anderson and Auxier). Social media might have brought people closer to politics at first but now the opposite is the case. It seems to put off people and make them more indifferent.

Could we consider this as “social media hurting the development of politics”? Maybe in a way but we cannot only blame social media for making people feel indifferent. Social Media is not the only platform to give us political news but since we spend so much more time on social media it might speed this process up. In the article  “What Makes People Stop Caring?” written for the BBC the author Wen introduces a study series from Sweden, which shows that “we not only become numb to the significance of increasing numbers, but our compassion can actually fade or collapse overall as numbers increase” (Tiffanie Wen). She clarifies further: “[i]n fact, Slovic’s research suggests that as statistical numbers associated with a tragedy get larger and larger, we become desensitised and have less of an emotional response to them. This in turn leaves us less likely to take the kind of action needed to stop genocides, send aid after natural disasters or pass legislation to fight global warming” (Tiffanie Wen). So the more we see on social media the less we care or keep it in mind.

The European commission’s report about Technology and Democracy names four pressure points of democracy that social media can negatively influence in the future if nothing is done. These four pressure points have the potential to hurt the development of social media or have already done some damage. The first pressure the report names is “attention economy”, which simply means that our attention and engagement is the product for advertisers because of  this algorithms that recommends content for example on YouTube will recommend content that is for example extremist to keep the interest of those, who search for this kind of content (“Social Media Influences Our Political Behaviour and Puts Pressure on Our Democracies, New Report Finds”). While sites like Facebook use their algorithms for “‘microtargeting’: highly personalised advertisements being directed at users based on their own personalities. If used politically, microtargeting has considerable potential to undermine democratic discourse—a foundation of democratic choice” (“Social Media Influences Our Political Behaviour and Puts Pressure on Our Democracies, New Report Finds”). Second, there is the “choice architecture” that utilizes techniques to make people share and engage as much as they can (“Social Media Influences Our Political Behaviour and Puts Pressure on Our Democracies, New Report Finds”). Third, we have “algorithmic content curation”, which means that an algorithm decides what we see, so it can either encourage discourse or stop us from seeing certain content (“Social Media Influences Our Political Behaviour and Puts Pressure on Our Democracies, New Report Finds”). It could also take problematic content to the front pages of their sites because there is more response and bury content that has less emotional effect but is informative (“Social Media Influences Our Political Behaviour and Puts Pressure on Our Democracies, New Report Finds”). At last, we have “misinformation and disinformation”, which is quite self explanatory and causes people to believe less in facts and more in emotional messages (“Social Media Influences Our Political Behaviour and Puts Pressure on Our Democracies, New Report Finds”). Now this article names pressure points that social media is pressing on and these could cause problems in the future. It does not tell us if social media has hurt the development of politics. So how can we tell if social media has hurt the development of politics already if we only have articles that speak about the future? I think this is hard to answer but I will try with something that caught my eye about some American politicians. I believe that “how strong social media can influence and hurt the development of politics in a country” depends on what kind of government you have. For example, American presidential nominees need a lot of support to have the chance of becoming president. Social media is a tool that they have to use to reach voters. If they can gain a lot of support there then they have a chance to win. Trump and before him Obama used social media for this. Furthermore, Trump already had a large fan base since he was an actor and in reality shows. There are many celebrities, who have become politicians in America like Arnold Schwarzenegger. The more your chance of election depends on your popularity or presence the more social media has the chance to influence the outcome. That is where I believe that social media can hurt the development of politics a lot. In Germany, we do not have this “popularity vote” for high positions but we have “popular vote” that we can do for parties that should represent the area we live in. As I mentioned in a last post, the party AfD is active on social media and has gained a lot of voters through their campaign on social media. So they get voted in such election and gain more and more power in the government. All the other things that were introduced in these articles could in the future make it easier for people who know how to use social media to get noticed be it negative or positive.

Anderson, Monica, and Brooke Auxier. “55% Of U.S. Social Media Users Say They Are 'Worn out' by Political Posts and Discussions.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 2 Sept. 2020, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/08/19/55-of-u-s-social-media-users-say-they-are-worn-out-by-political-posts-and-discussions/. Accessed 09.03.2021.

“Social Media Influences Our Political Behaviour and Puts Pressure on Our Democracies, New Report Finds.” EU Science Hub - European Commission, 27 Oct. 2020, https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/news/social-media-influences-our-political-behaviour-and-puts-pressure-our-democracies-new-report-finds. Accessed 09.03.2021.

Wen, Tiffanie. “What Makes People Stop Caring?” BBC Future, BBC, 1 July 2020, https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200630-what-makes-people-stop-caring. Accessed 09.03.2021.

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[upshotre]

Again, Obasanjo Writes Buhari Says Killings Can No Longer be Treated With Nonchalance

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has written another letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, expressing worry over incessant killings across Nigeria. According to him, the issue of killings can no longer be ignored or treated with nonchalance. He said it can not be swept under the carpet or treated with cuddling glove. The elder statesman in the letter also warned that Nigeria is tipping towards a dangerous cliff and only the president could forestall such a looming disaster. He was however quick to add that the President cannot handle the situation stressing the need for a joint effort to tackle the menace. If we do not act now, one or all of these scenarios may happen. We must pray and take effective actions at the same time. The initiative is in the hands of the President of the nation, but he cannot do it alone.   He, therefore, urged the government to open up discussion, debate and dialogue as part of the consultation to proffer solutions to the problem of insecurity confronting the nation. Read full statement below… OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT, GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI I am constrained to write to you this open letter. I decided to make it an open letter because the issue is very weighty and must be greatly worrisome to all concerned Nigerians and that means all right-thinking Nigerians and those resident in Nigeria. Since the issue is of momentous concern to all well-meaning and all right-thinking Nigerians, it must be of great concern to you, and collective thinking and dialoguing is the best way of finding an appropriate and adequate solution to the problem. The contents of this letter, therefore, should be available to all those who can help in proffering effective solutions for the problem of insecurity in the land. One of the spinoffs and accelerants is the misinformation and disinformation through the use of fake news. A number of articles, in recent days, have been attributed to me by some people who I believe may be seeking added credence and an attentive audience for their opinions and viewpoints. As you know very well, I will always boldly own what I say and disown what is put into my mouth. But the issue I am addressing here is very serious; it is the issue of life and death for all of us and for our dear country, Nigeria. This issue can no longer be ignored, treated with nonchalance, swept under the carpet or treated with cuddling glove. The issue is hitting at the foundation of our existence as Nigerians and fast eroding the root of our Nigerian community. I am very much worried and afraid that we are on the precipice and dangerously reaching a tipping point where it may no longer be possible to hold danger at bay. Without being immodest, as a Nigerian who still bears the scar of the Nigerian civil war on my body and with a son who bears the scar of fighting Boko Haram on his body, you can understand, I hope, why I am so concerned. When people are desperate and feel that they cannot have confidence in the ability of government to provide security for their lives and properties, they will take recourse to anything and everything that can guarantee their security individually and collectively.   For over ten years, for four of which you have been the captain of the ship, Boko Haram has menacingly ravaged the land and in spite of government’s claim of victory over Boko Haram, the potency and the activities of Boko Haram, where they are active, remain undiminished, putting lie to government’s claim. The recent explanation of the Chief of Army Staff for non-victory due to lack of commitment and lack of motivation on the part of troops bordering on sabotage speaks for itself. Say what you will, Boko Haram is still a daily issue of insecurity for those who are victimised, killed, maimed, kidnapped, raped, sold into slavery and forced into marriage and for children forcibly recruited into carrying bombs on them to detonate among crowds of people to cause maximum destructions and damage. And Boko Haram will not go away on the basis of sticks alone, carrots must overweigh sticks. How else do you deal with issues such as only about 50% literacy in North-East with over 70% unemployment? Herdsmen/farmers crises and menace started with the government treating the issue with cuddling glove instead of a hammer. It has festered and spread. Today, it has developed into banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery and killings all over the country. The unfortunate situation is that the criminality is being perceived as a ‘Fulani’ menace unleashed by Fulani elite in the different parts of the country for a number of reasons but even more, unfortunately, many Nigerians and non-Nigerians who are friends of Nigeria attach vicarious responsibility to you as a Fulani elite and the current captain of the Nigeria ship. Perception may be as potent as reality at times. Whatever may be the grievances of Fulanis, if any, they need to be put out in the open and their grievances, if legitimate, be addressed; and if other ethnic groups have grievances, let them also be brought out in the open and addressed through debate and dialogue. The main issue, if I may dare say, is poor management or mismanagement of diversity which, on the other hand, is one of our greatest and most important assets. As a result, the very onerous cloud is gathering. And the rain of destruction, violence, disaster and disunity can only be the outcome. Nothing should be taken for granted, the clock is ticking with the cacophony of dissatisfaction and disaffection everywhere in and outside the country. The Presidency and the Congress in the US have signalled to us to put our house in order. The House of Lords in the UK had debated the Nigerian security situation. We must understand and appreciate the significance, implication and likely consequences of such concerns and deliberations.   No one can stop hate speech, violent agitation and smouldering violent agitation if he fans the embers of hatred, disaffection and violence. It will continue to snowball until it is out of control. A stitch in time saves nine, goes the old wise saying. With the death of Funke, Chief Fasoranti’s daughter, some sympathetic Nigerian groups are saying “enough is enough”. Prof. Anya, a distinguished Nigerian merit Laureate, has this to say “We can no longer say with certainty that we have a nation”. Niger-Delta leaders, South-Eastern leaders, Middle-Belt leaders and Northern Elders Forum have not remained quiet. Different ordinary Nigerians at home and abroad are calling for different measures to address or ameliorate the situation. All the calls and cries can only continue to be ignored at the expense of Nigerian unity, if not its continued existence. To be explicit and without equivocation, Mr President and General, I am deeply worried about four avoidable calamities: abandoning Nigeria into the hands of criminals who are all being suspected, rightly or wrongly, as Fulanis and terrorists of Boko Haram type; Spontaneous or planned reprisal attacks against Fulanis which may inadvertently or advertently mushroom into pogrom or Rwanda-type genocide that we did not believe could happen and yet it happened. similar attacks against any other tribe or ethnic group anywhere in the country initiated by rumours, fears, intimidation and revenge capable of leading to pogrom; violent uprising beginning from one section of the country and spreading quickly to other areas and leading to the dismemberment of the country. It happened to Yugoslavia not too long ago. If we do not act now, one or all of these scenarios may happen. We must pray and take effective actions at the same time. The initiative is in the hands of the President of the nation, but he cannot do it alone. In my part of the world, if you are sharpening your cutlass and a mad man comes from behind to take the cutlass from you, you need other people’s assistance to have your cutlass back without being harmed. The madmen with serious criminal intent and terrorism as core value have taken cutlass of security. The need for assistance to regain control is obviously compelling and must be embraced now. A couple of weeks ago at a public lecture, I had said, among other things, that: “In all these issues of mobilisation for national unity, stability, security, cooperation, development, growth and progress, there is no consensus. Like in the issue of security, government should open up discussion, debate and dialogue as part of consultation at different levels and the outcome of such deliberations should be collated to form inputs into a national conference to come up with the solution that will effectively deal with the issues and lead to rapid development, growth and progress which will give us a wholesome society and enhanced living standard and livelihood in an inclusive and shared society. It will be a national programme. We need unity of purpose and nationally accepted strategic roadmap that will not change with whims and caprices of any government. It must be owned by the citizens, people’s policy and strategy implemented by the government no matter it’s colour and leaning. Some of the groups that I will suggest to be contacted are: traditional rulers, past heads of service (no matter how competent or incompetent they have been and how much they have contributed to the mess we are in), past heads of para-military organisations, private sector, civil society, community leaders particularly in the most affected areas, present and past governors, present and past local government leaders, religious leaders, past Heads of State, past intelligence chiefs, past Heads of Civil Service and relevant current and retired diplomats, members of opposition and any groups that may be deemed relevant.” The President must be seen to be addressing this issue with utmost seriousness and with maximum dispatch and getting all hands on deck to help. If there is a failure, the principal responsibility will be that of the President and no one else. We need cohesion and concentration of effort and maximum force – political, economic, social, psychological and military – to deal successfully with the menace of criminality and terrorism separately and together. Blame game among own forces must be avoided. It is debilitating and only helpful to our adversary. We cannot dither anymore. It is time to confront this threat headlong and in a manner that is holistic, inclusive and purposeful. For the sake of Nigeria and Nigerians, I pray that God may grant you, as our President, the wisdom, the understanding, the political will and the courage to do what is right when it is right and without fear or favour. May God save, secure, protect and bless Nigeria. May He open to us a window of opportunity that we can still use to prevent the worst happening. As we say in my village, “May God forbid bad thing”. Read the full article