Nevertheless, what is worrisome to me about Americans like Ben Carson and the shameless display of ignorance and arrogance is that they degrade the small incremental gains that Americans have made over time to create the type of society that the writers of the US constitution had in mind, the type that eventually put a Black man in the White House.
It looks like the silly season is up upon us again. And it is that time of the season when politicians stick their feet in their mouths. In the US, Ben Carson beat the all-comers record with his rather silly statement about Muslims and the American presidency. In Nigeria, it has been the Saraki saga. I will leave that alone. For now.
However, for those who did not get the Carson memo, the Black neurosurgeon who is one of the candidates of the Republican Party for the highest office in the land sparked a firestorm recently when he told interviewers on one of the major networks that: “I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that.”
As expected, reactions from both sides of the issue were swift and acerbic. Even his fellow contestants from the conservative right, and of course the liberal-leaning Democratic Party chimed in on the rumpus fermented by Carson’s controversial belief which was expressed in a thoroughly classless manner by someone to whom much has been given. Not even Donald Trump was willing to touch this one with a nine-yard pole! Up until now, Ben has refused to recant his foolishness, and has even doubled down on them.
After quite a few years of sojourn in the land of the brave and the free, I am quite familiar with the problem of cognitive myopia which a good number of Americans suffer. The American love of country is unquestionably unparalleled. However, many Americans will agree with me that that they can still use some measure of humbling on issues such as race relations and religious tolerance, as Ben Carson just reminded us. And it is remarkably important to note that it was another Black man in America, Martin Luther King Jr. who at the height of the civil rights struggle admonishingly told his countrymen and women: “We must learn to live together as brothers, or we are going to perish as fools.”
Therefore, I wasted no time dumping on one of my American friends who came knocking sometime last week with his usual asinine questions about Africa, and Nigeria. This time, he wanted to know “why you Africans can’t just get along?; and why are you people always killing each other?…. bla, bla, bla.” And when he touched on Boko Haram and what the new Nigerian administration was doing to rescue the girls, I knew I had had enough, and it was time to set him straight by reminding him of the idiotic Ben Carson remark on television. I told him how Carson made all Americans look – uglier than the hateful Boko Haram. I told him that with a world view like that, America risked forfeiting its moral position in the world.
I reminded my friend that though Nigeria is a construct of colonialism, her people have managed to create a society where Muslims and Christians have lived harmoniously with each other over time. And that all the problems between both groups often had political underpinning. I told him of a Nigeria where siblings living under the same roof had no qualms with each attending a mosque or a church. Of husbands and wives who believed differently. And even patronised each other’s religious ceremonies, allowed each other space to believe what and how they wished. And even prayed for one another. On Boko Haram’s violence, I told my friend that the sect is a foreign import and a grim fall-out from the West’s meddlesomeness and unconscionable destabilisation of countries such as Iraq and Libya.
Satisfied that I had exacted my pound of flesh, I regaled him with the story of this new Nigerian President who is a very religious Muslim with a Vice President who is a tongue-talking, Bible-thumping Pentecostal preacher! Can you beat that for religious tolerance? I told him that among the President’s immediate staff are Christians and Muslims.
Juxtapose this scenario with the vituperations of a Ben Carson who is aspiring to the office of the leader of the free world who could not as much as grasp a concept as elementary and fundamental as that of the inalienable right of every individual to choose to believe as they will. I again reminded him that America still has a lot to learn from Nigeria. With a shrug and like a deer caught in the headlights, all my friend could mutter was: “I think so…”
I told him how the rest of the world often showed America great respect with little or no reciprocity. The average American’s view on race and religion was very stone age and needed an upgrade. And that Americans like Carson who are still in large numbers were out of touch with rest of us.
I reminded him that like cartoonist Scott Adams, I respectfully decline the invitation to join the Ben Carson hallucination. Hallucinations about the unfair profiling of Muslims is not a past time I will love to indulge. In closing, I told my friend that the likes of Abraham Lincoln; Martin Luther King, Jr.; John F. Kennedy and other American heroes would have died in vain if some of us did not have the privilege to know that the opinion of the likes of the Ben Carsons of this world does not reflect the idea that is America, which we have been fortunate to experience.
Nevertheless, what is worrisome to me about Americans like Ben Carson and the shameless display of ignorance and arrogance is that they degrade the small incremental gains that Americans have made over time to create the type of society that the writers of the US constitution had in mind, the type that eventually put a Black man in the White House.
To compound matters, Ben claims to be a Christian, the more reason why his statement is befuddling. A poor representation of all that Jesus Christ lived and died for; Ben Carson reminds us of White extremists. But the last time I checked, Ben is black. Therefore, I recommend a trip to Nigeria for Ben. Perhaps, a visit to churches that are absorbing, feeding and working to rehabilitate internally displaced persons (IDPs) of diverse religious persuasions; a country where Ben will find a former state governor, who is a practicing Muslim with a wife who is an avowed Christian will help change his psychology.
On a personal note, I am using this medium to extend an open invitation to Dr. Carson and other Americans like him to our next familiarisation tour of Nigeria where they will see mosques and churches coexist side by side with no problems whatsoever. I believe that the problem with Americans like Ben is that they are among the sizable percentage of his countrymen and women who still see the world through their own short-sightedness and prejudices.
On this trip, I promise to show Ben Carson what it means to be a Christian in Nigeria. I will also show him the good deeds of eminent Muslims like Aliko Dangote, a Muslim entrepreneur who employs Nigerians of different religious beliefs. Maybe, Dr. Carson can learn a thing or two from Aliko. Finally, I will love the opportunity to educate Americans like Ben Carson (and my friend) about Nigeria. And that her challenge today is not religion. But corruption – a war we, the people of Nigeria have decided take up head on; a war which we are humble enough to admit that we do have a few things to learn from America.
Let me say that putting a Muslim (Or, a Christian) in charge of the nation is not on the list of our problems. On that note, I believe that it is Ben Carson and Americans like him who have quite a few things to learn from Nigeria. If only they will humble themselves.
That is my story. And I stand by it.
PREMIUM TIMES
END
Another one who is living in denial — the part of Nigeria where the Muslims seems to live in peace with their neighbors is the Southwest area of Nigeria, and in the Edo and Yoruba speaking area in particular. All other places in the north have witnessed attacks and macheteing to death of children, women and males by Muslims of non Muslims. Jos and Southern Kaduna are places where such attacks are prevalent. I will not even mention the churches that were destroyed on daily basis in Kano State, Nassarawa and Borno States.
My friend your article is littered with lies if not outright falsehood.
Thanks,
Michael