Today is a day of victory for Nigeria's Amina Lawal..

31 Year Old Amina Lawal will go to bed tonight with a huge weight lifted off her shoulders. The Sharia appeal court in Katsina, north of Nigeria today granted Lawal an appeal to spare her life.

She was sentenced under the sharia penal law in March last year after she gave birth to a child while being divorced. The man believed to be Wasila (her daughter's) father denied their relationship and the charges against him were dropped. Today I think women's groups and human rights organisations are rejoicing.

Its been a long road for Lawal and I think that its time for the media to pack away their camera's and put away their writing pads to allow Lawal to raise Wasila like any other normal child. I do think that the amount of international attention Which the case attracted will also draw some emphises on the Sharia law itself.

The law was put into place in 12 Northern muslim states in Nigeria. I'm not an expert about the in's and out of the law but yesterday i spoke to an Islamic Youth movement and they were also against the death by stoning sentence. When I asked them why, they said well, according to the kur'an there needs to be four witnesses to the act and there werent any in Amina's case.. I"m not an expert in these issues so I wont deeply into them.

This is a victory for women...

This is also a victory for southern Nigerians who have been battling the Hausa-Fulani north and their plans to islamicize the whole country. Amina Lawal was simply a pawn used by the northern caliphate to challenge the rule of southern President, Olusegun Obasanjo, and forcing him into moving against Sharia. This would then provide them an execuse to destabalize the country.They (the north) know that the implementation of Sharia law is illegal under the present costitution of Nigeria. But because they've ruled Nigeria for more than two-thirds of Nigeria's 43 year history, they think that the leadership of the country is their birthright. All these problems stem back to colonialism and the balkanization of many African nations into strange geographical entities called states.

firstly, let me welcome you to the family, its always so encouraging to have some-one new added! about your post my brotha, may I ask, are you nigerian by descent? if so it would be so informative for the rest of us if you could share our insight with us.

much love and respect

lo'

firstly, let me welcome you to the family, its always so encouraging to have some-one new added! about your post my brotha, may I ask, are you nigerian by descent? if so it would be so informative for the rest of us if you could share our insight with us.

much love and respect

lo'

Thank you mkaya lo' (what does that name mean?). Yes I am a Nigerian born but raised mostly in the U.K and the U.S. So I have the perspective of the three cultures. I will try to share any insight I have as soon as I have something to say.

my brotha, in a nut shell, "mkhaya" means "homie, homeboy, some one from the same village/town or neighbourhood as you." in Zulu (which is what i am) lo' is short for love...simple name. let me ask you something, the 419 scams, I know in South Africa we are bombarded with e-mails asking for some sort of financial assistance or some story about gaining wealth quickly or something.. ( and hence entry into the syndicate) and a number of people have fallen for it. As a nigerian Born person, and knowing that the scams are linked to Nigerians, does it bother you at all? and of course, other members are MOST welcome to add their views on this one...

my brotha, in a nut shell, "mkhaya" means "homie, homeboy, some one from the same village/town or neighbourhood as you." in Zulu (which is what i am) lo' is short for love...simple name. let me ask you something, the 419 scams, I know in South Africa we are bombarded with e-mails asking for some sort of financial assistance or some story about gaining wealth quickly or something.. ( and hence entry into the syndicate) and a number of people have fallen for it. As a nigerian Born person, and knowing that the scams are linked to Nigerians, does it bother you at all? and of course, other members are MOST welcome to add their views on this one...

Yes it bothers me...a lot. Nigerians around the world now carry stereotypes as scam artists and fraudsters. Believe you me, the 419 situation inside the country is a whole lot worse that it is outside, it's just that most Nigerians don't fall for it. It sad that the conditions in my country has deterioated so badly that scaming people of the hard earned money is becoming a national past time. The leaders of the country legitimized 419 with the antics with nations treasury, the people are only copying what they see the President, the Legislative bodies, the Police, the Judges etc doing. You have to understand that the people are really suffering and will do anything just so they can feed themselves and their families. Does it make 419 right? Hell no! But it does provide motivation to creat these scams. The only thing that might make me smile a little is how ingenious some of these scams are. It also makes me wonder how stupid or greedy some of the people for fall for these scams truly are.

Sorry it took so long for me to reply. Bye.

Could'nt resist adding a simple note to the whole 419 thing. You have to understand a system to be able to beat it. Unfortunately, the scamming stereotype is a black thing we all labelled with the same brush so to speak. In this part of the world as a black man the assumption is I automatically have to know where to buy the best weed, can dance and I put K in kool.
I guess it boils down to one thing instead of feeding the stereotype we challenge and change things. I guess as a people we are too accomodating which is not a bad thing in itself but it can be viewed as a weakness by those who seek to put us down.
On the other hand we can play up to the stereotypes and wear the biggest and baddest bling blings, have the latest and most expensive rides and gear whilst supporting other people's progress in terms of businesses, amassing wealth and basically creating a solid power base for their communities.
Well i guess I dont want my son to grow up in a world where he has no one to look up to. Where are my African Entrepreneurs in the UK and US at?!!