My column today is a prayer, being the last day of a year patriotic Nigerians will never forget in a hurry.A friend told me last week that 2011 is a year that witnessed the killing of Nigerians the most. I can't really argue with him because all the indices are there that many Nigerians died needlessly this year and we can only pray to God to please, in His infinite mercy, stop this carnage in 2012.To attempt to figure out what really happened will be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Even those in government are as confused as an average layman in Oyingbo Market on the reason for the killings, from Borno to Yobe, Akwa Ibom to Bauchi, Niger to Oyo. That of Abuja cannot even be explained.From the absurd to the ridiculous, many things happened this year that made Nigerians shudder with fear.Vehicles worth N2 billion were burnt in Akwa Ibom in the build-up to the April general elections; 10 members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) killed in Bauchi because of the outcome of the polls; robbers blew banks with grenades and killed customers and bankers with reckless abandon; members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) went on the rampage, killing dozens unlucky to have been around when they wanted to take over some garages, especially in Ibadan, Oyo State; hell on Lagos/Ibadan Expressway almost on a daily basis because of the indiscipline of a few; road crashes leading to the death of hundreds of Nigerians; Lagos floods that killed scores; Baba Suwe's (Babatunde Omidina) oyagbe ti (refuses to excrete) drama with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA); Obasanjo/Babangida 'fool at 70' drama; the Hamza al-Mustapha home movie on Abacha and Abiola; sack of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs. Farida Waziri and other tragi-comedy plays.But, none is as deadly and incinerating as the operations of Boko Haram.Call it 'Invasion of Nigeria by Boko Haram' and you will not be off the target.Nigerians went through Maitatsine, Zango Kataf and other attacks in the past but the Boko Haram wahala has defied solution.President Goodluck Jonathan even said on Sunday after the St.Theresa Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger State bombing which killed scores of worshippers that Nigerians must live with the Boko Haram threat for now.So far, the sect has proved elusive, escaping from security agents' net. Although Senator Ali Ndume is being tried for his alleged relationship with Boko Haram and its spokesman, Ali Sanda Umar Konduga, has been jailed, nothing has been heard of the brains behind the group.While other countries made some inventions to move the world forward, Nigeria invented the death machine. It is as if killing is running out of fashion, with bombs flying all over the place.Since January, it has been killing, killing and mass killing. No end to the tragedy. Even last Tuesday night, a couple, Philip and Simi Francis and their daughter, Nera, were butchered in Jos.The insecurity is so bad now that one cannot really differentiate between Nigeria and Iraq.The bombers even took the battle to the doorsteps of the military, invading Airforce and Army barracks, and killing officers. Bombing of police stations has now become a pastime.If the bombers are already succeeding in achieving one aim, it is to set Christians against Muslims. That was why Muslim leaders, led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar III, condemned the sect, assuring Christians that Muslims were not against them. But, are Christians, whose loved ones were taken away callously, moved by the message'Last Thursday, eight men of God ' Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, Pastor E.A. Adeboye, Bishop Mike Okonkwo, Bishop David Oyedepo, Rev Felix Omobude, Evangelist Uma Ukpai, Rev. Mercy Ezekiel and Pastor Wale Adefarasin ' in a strong-worded statement under the auspices of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (CPN), said: 'Nigerians awoke on Christmas morning to the news that Boko Haram had struck again, this time they had bombed St. Theresa's Catholic Church in Madalla, near Abuja with the loss of up to 40 lives, including children. As the day progressed, there were reports that four other bombs, targeting Christians, had exploded in Plateau and Yobe States. Casualty figures were not yet available at the time of writing. We are deeply concerned that Boko Haram sect members and their apologists continue to wage war against Christians, in furtherance of their Islamisation agenda, especially Christians in the North-Eastern States where Boko Haram members first unleashed their terror. There is no end to the wanton destruction of lives and property by this terrorist group. We note with dismay that public condemnation of the atrocities committed by Boko Haram have come mainly from members of the Christian community. We believe that when Muslim clerics, political leaders and leaders of thought from Northern Nigeria publicly condemn and denounce the activities of Boko Haram, it will go a long way to quelling this threat to our future peaceful coexistence. We have hitherto exercised restraint in our public statements on these matters. However, we cannot continue to do so indefinitely and are determined that in the year 2012, if these unprovoked attacks continue, and Christians remain unprotected by the security agencies, then, we will have no choice but to defend our lives and property and take our own steps to ensure our safety and security'. As I was imagining how Boko Haram could pity helpless Nigerians by stopping the bombing and ensure a peaceful and killing-free 2012, I stumbled on a report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) on how Brazil has overtaken Britain as the world's sixth largest economy. The latest World Economic League Table shows Asian countries moving up and European countries falling back.CEBR Chief Executive, Douglas McWilliams, said Brazil overtaking the UK was part of a growing trend.'I think it's part of the big economic change, where not only are we seeing a shift from the West to the East, but we're also seeing that countries that produce vital commodities - food and energy and things like that - are doing very well and they're gradually climbing up the economic league table'.Another report based on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) data had earlier predicted that the Brazilian economy would overtake the UK in 2011.Brazil has a population of about 200 million, more than three times the population of the UK and its economy grew by 7.5 percent last year. The Latin American country sells more to China than it imports. Its Gross Domestic Product is $2.52 trillion (N403 trillion); its main exports are iron ore, coffee, oranges and other agricultural produce. Brazil's exports last year totalled $201.9 billion (N32 trillion) and its main export partners are China, the United States (U.S.) and Argentina.Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world, after Russia, Canada, China and the U.S., the largest country in South America and the third largest in the Americas.Economic reforms have given the country new international recognition and it is one of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries. The foundation for today's prosperous Brazil was laid on September 7, 1822 by Emperor Pedro I when he declared independence from Portugal.He said: 'By my blood, by my honour and by God, I will make Brazil free. Independence or death'.Today, Brazil is far ahead of Portugal just like the U.S. is ahead of Britain, despite the fact that the U.S. got its independence from the latter on July 4, 1776.One of my younger brothers, Segun, is based in Brazil and he travels a lot to North America, Asia and Africa for his businesses. He once told me (and still insists) that the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Export is probably the busiest of all the ministries in the South American country.Brazil makes billions of dollars every year from agricultural products which Nigeria has neglected for years.Many countries have already planned how 2012 will be comfortable for their citizens. In Nigeria, mass burials are being done on a weekly basis.Are we going to continue like this from tomorrow, January 1, 2012'After the Supreme Court judgement last Wednesday, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) said: 'What happened in this year's 2011 elections eclipsed all the other elections in the depth and scope of forgery and rigging. Initially, there were high hopes that after 2003 and 2007, a semblance of electoral propriety would be witnessed. The new chairman of INEC, Professor Jega, was touted as competent and a man of integrity. He has proved neither. The country now is in an emergency situation. Law and order can break down at any time. Those in charge of the country should be warned that promises and sweet words are no substitute for practical action'.God, save us in 2012.
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