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ojeremen   ojeremen S.Ojeremen's TIGblog
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They dreamt of a Nigeria that would lead the black nations
Related to country: Nigeria

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

I would rather limit myself to my message to Nigerians by saying I do hope that Nigerians would remember the dreams of our founding fathers. Our founding fathers, the Azikiwes, the Awolowos, and the Tafawa Balawas. They dreamt of a beautiful Nigeria; united, peaceful and prosperous. They dreamt of a Nigeria, where Nigerians would be their brothers keeper. They dreamt of Nigeria whose leaders would be of integrity both morally and financially; they dreamt of a Nigeria where people would go into politics to serve but not to be served, to give but not to take. They dreamt of a Nigeria where there would be development and a Nigeria that would take its proper place in the comity of nations. They dreamt of a Nigeria that would lead the black nations of the world, a Nigeria that would inspire other nations of Africa and, indeed, the black world. They, and those of us who worked closely with them had hoped that those taking over from us would be responsible, dependable, and reliable. But, today the situation is different. Things are happening in Nigeria and the ugly things that are happening are not in our character, the norms and values that we inherited from these founding fathers have been thrown over board.

We are no longer decent, politics is chaotic and the nation is unsecured. There is no more respect for elders or constituted authority. Simply put, a revolt looms large in the horizon. In 1961 or 1962 there was a report that Nigeria would become in 15 to 20 years one of the industrialised nations of the world together with two other developing countries - India and Brazil. The other two have joined the industrialised nations of the world. India is a leader in the fields of computer technology. Brazil too is manufacturing aeroplanes, cars and so on, but Nigeria is still lagging behind because of bad leadership. So my appeal to Nigeria is, let us try to reclaim our past and lost glory by imitating our past founding fathers.

Maitama Sule

August 19, 2008 | 7:02 PM Comments  0 comments

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ojeremen   ojeremen S.Ojeremen's TIGblog
S.Ojeremen's profile

Nigeria go for GOLD
Related to country: Nigeria

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

If there were any doubts about the Nigerians making it to the Olympic Finals, worry no more. The Dream Team overpowered the Belgians and knocked the stuffing out of them 4-1 to roar into the finals and play for the gold.Displaying power, creativity and team work, the Nigerians play with confidence as they knocked the ball with precision and deadly intent.

Great news, indeed no shaking'. I'm very excited for this news. I hope we can make up another Atlanta Gold for Nigeria because we need to celebrate, as 9jarians, a little bit.

August 19, 2008 | 9:41 AM Comments  2 comments

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ArnoldYasin   ArnoldYasin Arnold Mol's TIGblog
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BESA…When Muslims Saved Jews - IslamOnline.net - News
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

By Dina Rabie, IOL Staff


“They came in as guests. They were given Muslim names, they were living with Muslim families,” Gershman told IOL.

CAIRO — Norman Gershman has become accustomed to the reactions from people who see his photos and read his stories about Muslims sheltering Jews and saving their lives during the Holocaust.

“I had people say ‘Muslims save Jews! How is that?’” the American Jewish fine art photographer told IslamOnline.net in a telephone interview.

Gershman has been engaged in a 5-year project that honors stories of Albanian Muslims’ heroism in saving thousands of Jews, who either lived in Albania or sought refugee there, during World War II.

The “BESA… a code of honor” project began when he was seeking out photographs of righteous, non-Jews who helped Jews during the Holocaust, in New York.

Gershman was amazed to find among them Muslim names that he was told belongs to Albanians.

His quest then took him to Yad Vashem, the holocaust museum in Jerusalem, where he found more Albanian names.

“I traveled all through Albania and Kosovo where I met the rescuers’ children, who are in their sixties or even older, the rescuers’ widows, and in some cases the rescuer himself.”

After more than four years of collecting stories and shooting black and white photos, Gershman’s first exhibition was held last November at Yad Vashem.

The exhibition then went the UN headquarter in New York before starting a world tour.

A full length documentary is in progress along with a fine art book of the heroic profiles of Muslims saving Jews in Albania and Kosovo.

The premier of the film worldwide is expected in 2009.

“I am proud and happy to show this story to the world,” Gershman says



Qur’anic BESA


Albanian Muslims saved Jews from the Nazis “to go to paradise.”

People usually ask Gershman about the title he chose for the fruit of his painstaking five-year efforts.

“BESA is a tribal Albanian culture that goes back to thousands of years,” he explains.

“What BESA says is that if some one knocks on your door you have an absolute obligation – no matter who that person is – to save their lives.”

There is no any evidence that any Jew was turned over to Nazis in Muslim-majority Albania.

There were ten times more Jews in Albania after WWII than before.

“In fact, Albania is the only Nazi occupied country that sheltered Jews,” says Gershman.

“They came in as guests. They were given Muslim names, they were living with Muslim families.”

From the saviors’ tales, Gershman found that Albanian Muslims considered BESA a manifestation of the Islamic teachings of keeping the promise and protecting the weak.

“I remember that some of them said ‘there is no BESA without the Qur’an.’”

Gershman believes that to Muslim Albanians, the idea of not saving Jews from the Nazis was inconceivable.

“They did this in the name of their religion. They absolutely had no prejudice what so ever.

“I asked them ‘why did you do this? What was in the Qur’an that you did this?’ They would only smile.

“Some of them said ‘we have saved lives to go to paradise.’”

Message to West

Gershman believes the Albanian Muslim heroism is of extraordinary significance.

“In one way it’s a small story because we are not talking about hundreds of thousands of people being saved. But it’s an important story,” he insists.

“It says that there are good people in the world, and they come from every religion.”

Gershman says believes that the stories of Albanian religious tolerance left a legacy that runs in the face of stereotyped portrayal of Muslims.

“My message to the Western world is that there are so many good people in the world and so many of them are Muslims,” he maintains.

“If you see my pictures and the stories, there is no question that these are good people.

“I defy if anybody sees my pictures, especially in the West, and say that these people are militants or supporters of violence.”

The Jewish American, who has studied Sufism, says Islam is not what many Westerners think.

“To me Islam is poetry, is science, is to be with the divine. Islam is beauty.”

http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout&cid=1218650239931&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss

August 17, 2008 | 4:57 PM Comments  0 comments

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Ulmster   Ulmster <:3)~*'s TIGblog
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mba mey dan grace [Flickr]

<:3)~* posted a photo:

mba mey dan grace


August 15, 2008 | 6:08 AM Comments  0 comments

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Ulmster   Ulmster <:3)~*'s TIGblog
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baby.... [Flickr]

<:3)~* posted a photo:

baby....


August 15, 2008 | 6:08 AM Comments  0 comments

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Ulmster   Ulmster <:3)~*'s TIGblog
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CIMG1239 [Flickr]