Showing posts with label times. Show all posts
Showing posts with label times. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
NEW YORK TIMES BOKO HARAM IS NOT NIGERIAS PROBLEM
NEW YORK TIMES BOKO HARAM IS NOT NIGERIAS PROBLEM
OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
In Nigeria, Boko Haram Is Not the Problem
By JEAN HERSKOVITS
Published: January 02, 2012
GOVERNMENTS and newspapers around the world attributed the horrific Christmas Day bombings of churches in Nigeria to "Boko Haram" - a shadowy group that is routinely described as an extremist Islamist organization based in the northeast corner of Nigeria. Indeed, since the May inauguration of President Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from the Niger Delta in the countrys south, Boko Haram has been blamed for virtually every outbreak of violence in Nigeria.But the news media and American policy makers are chasing an elusive and ill-defined threat; there is no proof that a well-organized, ideologically coherent terrorist group called Boko Haram even exists today. Evidence suggests instead that, while the original core of the group remains active, criminal gangs have adopted the name Boko Haram to claim responsibility for attacks when it suits them.The United States must not be drawn into a Nigerian "war on terror" - rhetorical or real - that would make us appear biased toward a Christian president. Getting involved in an escalating sectarian conflict that threatens the countrys unity could turn Nigerian Muslims against America without addressing any of the underlying problems that are fueling instability and sectarian strife in Nigeria.Since August, when Gen. Carter F. Ham, the commander of the United States Africa Command, warned that Boko Haram had links to Al Qaeda affiliates, the perceived threat has grown. Shortly after General Hams warning, the United Nations headquarters in Abuja was bombed, and simplistic explanations blaming Boko Haram for Nigerias mounting security crisis became routine. Someone who claims to be a spokesman for Boko Haram - with a name no one recognizes and whom no one has been able to identify or meet with - has issued threats and statements claiming responsibility for attacks. Remarkably, the Nigerian government and the international news media have simply accepted what he says.In late November, a subcommittee of the House Committee on Homeland Security issued a report with the provocative title: "Boko Haram: Emerging Threat to the U.S. Homeland." The report makes no such case, but nevertheless proposes that the organization be added to Americas list of foreign terrorist organizations. The State Departments Africa bureau disagrees, but pressure from Congress and several government agencies is mounting.Boko Haram began in 2002 as a peaceful Islamic splinter group. Then politicians began exploiting it for electoral purposes. But it was not until 2009 that Boko Haram turned to violence, especially after its leader, a young Muslim cleric named Mohammed Yusuf, was killed while in police custody. Video footage of Mr. Yusufs interrogation soon went viral, but no one was tried and punished for the crime. Seeking revenge, Boko Haram targeted the police, the military and local politicians - all of them Muslims.It was clear in 2009, as it is now, that the root cause of violence and anger in both the north and south of Nigeria is endemic poverty and hopelessness. Influential Nigerians from Maiduguri, where Boko Haram is centered, pleaded with Mr. Jonathans government in June and July not to respond to Boko Haram with force alone. Likewise, the American ambassador, Terence P. McCulley, has emphasized, both privately and publicly, that the government must address socio-economic deprivation, which is most severe in the north. No one seems to be listening.Instead, approximately 25 percent of Nigerias budget for 2012 is allocated for security, even though the military and police routinely respond to attacks with indiscriminate force and killing. Indeed, according to many Nigerians Ive talked to from the northeast, the army is more feared than Boko Haram.Meanwhile, Boko Haram has evolved into a franchise that includes criminal groups claiming its identity. Revealingly, Nigerias State Security Services issued a statement on Nov. 30, identifying members of four "criminal syndicates" that send threatening text messages in the name of Boko Haram. Southern Nigerians - not northern Muslims - ran three of these four syndicates, including the one that led the American Embassy and other foreign missions to issue warnings that emptied Abujas high-end hotels. And last week, the security services arrested a Christian southerner wearing northern Muslim garb as he set fire to a church in the Niger Delta. In Nigeria, religious terrorism is not always what it seems.None of this excuses Boko Harams killing of innocents. But it does raise questions about a rush to judgment that obscures Nigerias complex reality.Many Nigerians already believe that the United States unconditionally supports Mr. Jonathans government, despite its failings. They believe this because Washington praised the April elections that international observers found credible, but that many Nigerians, especially in the north, did not. Likewise, Washingtons financial support for Nigerias security forces, despite their documented human rights abuses, further inflames Muslim Nigerians in the north.Mr. Jonathans recent actions have not helped matters. He told Nigerians last week, "The issue of bombing is one of the burdens we must live with." On New Years Eve, he declared a state of emergency in parts of four northern states, leading to increased military activity there. And on New Years Day, he removed a subsidy on petroleum products, more than doubling the price of fuel. In a country where 90 percent of the population lives on $2 or less a day, anger is rising nationwide as the costs of transport and food increase dramatically.Since Nigerias return to civilian rule in 1999, many politicians have used ethnic and regional differences and, most disastrously, religion for their own purposes. Northern Muslims - indeed, all Nigerians - are desperate for a government that responds to their most basic needs: personal security and hope for improvement in their lives. They are outraged over government policies and expenditures that undermine both.The United States should not allow itself to be drawn into this quicksand by focusing on Boko Haram alone. Washington is already seen by many northern Muslims - including a large number of longtime admirers of America - as biased toward a Christian president from the south. The United States must work to avoid a self-fulfilling prophecy that makes us into their enemy. Placing Boko Haram on the foreign terrorist list would cement such views and make more Nigerians fear and distrust America.Jean Herskovits, a professor of history at the State University of New York, Purchase, has written on Nigerian politics since 1970.
In Nigeria, Boko Haram Is Not the Problem
By JEAN HERSKOVITS
Published: January 02, 2012
GOVERNMENTS and newspapers around the world attributed the horrific Christmas Day bombings of churches in Nigeria to "Boko Haram" - a shadowy group that is routinely described as an extremist Islamist organization based in the northeast corner of Nigeria. Indeed, since the May inauguration of President Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from the Niger Delta in the countrys south, Boko Haram has been blamed for virtually every outbreak of violence in Nigeria.But the news media and American policy makers are chasing an elusive and ill-defined threat; there is no proof that a well-organized, ideologically coherent terrorist group called Boko Haram even exists today. Evidence suggests instead that, while the original core of the group remains active, criminal gangs have adopted the name Boko Haram to claim responsibility for attacks when it suits them.The United States must not be drawn into a Nigerian "war on terror" - rhetorical or real - that would make us appear biased toward a Christian president. Getting involved in an escalating sectarian conflict that threatens the countrys unity could turn Nigerian Muslims against America without addressing any of the underlying problems that are fueling instability and sectarian strife in Nigeria.Since August, when Gen. Carter F. Ham, the commander of the United States Africa Command, warned that Boko Haram had links to Al Qaeda affiliates, the perceived threat has grown. Shortly after General Hams warning, the United Nations headquarters in Abuja was bombed, and simplistic explanations blaming Boko Haram for Nigerias mounting security crisis became routine. Someone who claims to be a spokesman for Boko Haram - with a name no one recognizes and whom no one has been able to identify or meet with - has issued threats and statements claiming responsibility for attacks. Remarkably, the Nigerian government and the international news media have simply accepted what he says.In late November, a subcommittee of the House Committee on Homeland Security issued a report with the provocative title: "Boko Haram: Emerging Threat to the U.S. Homeland." The report makes no such case, but nevertheless proposes that the organization be added to Americas list of foreign terrorist organizations. The State Departments Africa bureau disagrees, but pressure from Congress and several government agencies is mounting.Boko Haram began in 2002 as a peaceful Islamic splinter group. Then politicians began exploiting it for electoral purposes. But it was not until 2009 that Boko Haram turned to violence, especially after its leader, a young Muslim cleric named Mohammed Yusuf, was killed while in police custody. Video footage of Mr. Yusufs interrogation soon went viral, but no one was tried and punished for the crime. Seeking revenge, Boko Haram targeted the police, the military and local politicians - all of them Muslims.It was clear in 2009, as it is now, that the root cause of violence and anger in both the north and south of Nigeria is endemic poverty and hopelessness. Influential Nigerians from Maiduguri, where Boko Haram is centered, pleaded with Mr. Jonathans government in June and July not to respond to Boko Haram with force alone. Likewise, the American ambassador, Terence P. McCulley, has emphasized, both privately and publicly, that the government must address socio-economic deprivation, which is most severe in the north. No one seems to be listening.Instead, approximately 25 percent of Nigerias budget for 2012 is allocated for security, even though the military and police routinely respond to attacks with indiscriminate force and killing. Indeed, according to many Nigerians Ive talked to from the northeast, the army is more feared than Boko Haram.Meanwhile, Boko Haram has evolved into a franchise that includes criminal groups claiming its identity. Revealingly, Nigerias State Security Services issued a statement on Nov. 30, identifying members of four "criminal syndicates" that send threatening text messages in the name of Boko Haram. Southern Nigerians - not northern Muslims - ran three of these four syndicates, including the one that led the American Embassy and other foreign missions to issue warnings that emptied Abujas high-end hotels. And last week, the security services arrested a Christian southerner wearing northern Muslim garb as he set fire to a church in the Niger Delta. In Nigeria, religious terrorism is not always what it seems.None of this excuses Boko Harams killing of innocents. But it does raise questions about a rush to judgment that obscures Nigerias complex reality.Many Nigerians already believe that the United States unconditionally supports Mr. Jonathans government, despite its failings. They believe this because Washington praised the April elections that international observers found credible, but that many Nigerians, especially in the north, did not. Likewise, Washingtons financial support for Nigerias security forces, despite their documented human rights abuses, further inflames Muslim Nigerians in the north.Mr. Jonathans recent actions have not helped matters. He told Nigerians last week, "The issue of bombing is one of the burdens we must live with." On New Years Eve, he declared a state of emergency in parts of four northern states, leading to increased military activity there. And on New Years Day, he removed a subsidy on petroleum products, more than doubling the price of fuel. In a country where 90 percent of the population lives on $2 or less a day, anger is rising nationwide as the costs of transport and food increase dramatically.Since Nigerias return to civilian rule in 1999, many politicians have used ethnic and regional differences and, most disastrously, religion for their own purposes. Northern Muslims - indeed, all Nigerians - are desperate for a government that responds to their most basic needs: personal security and hope for improvement in their lives. They are outraged over government policies and expenditures that undermine both.The United States should not allow itself to be drawn into this quicksand by focusing on Boko Haram alone. Washington is already seen by many northern Muslims - including a large number of longtime admirers of America - as biased toward a Christian president from the south. The United States must work to avoid a self-fulfilling prophecy that makes us into their enemy. Placing Boko Haram on the foreign terrorist list would cement such views and make more Nigerians fear and distrust America.Jean Herskovits, a professor of history at the State University of New York, Purchase, has written on Nigerian politics since 1970.
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Sunday, November 6, 2016
New Buzzword “Li Fi” 100 Times Faster Than “Wi Fi”
New Buzzword “Li Fi” 100 Times Faster Than “Wi Fi”
Li-fi will deliver web access a hundred times quicker than ancient wi-fi, providing speeds of up to 1Gbps (gigabit per second).
“We’re currently concluding a couple of pilot jobs at intervals completely different firms wherever we will use the VLC (visible light-weight interaction) technology”, Deepak Solanki, corporate executive of Estonian school firm, Velmenni, suggested IBTimes GB.
With a a hundred times speedier web delivery, Li-Fi (Life fidelity) works at a 1GB speed per second by victimization associate semiconductor diode bulb, web and photo detector as a supply. therefore Li-Fi may be a blessing for all the web savvy folks and can even be a way cheaper choice.
The term was initial introduced by prof Harald Haas of Edinburgh University and is currently being tested in Europe. The laboratory tests confirmed a speed of 224GBps with Li-Fi. the info was received by a computer code by flashing semiconductor diode lights on and off – making a code. Today, professionals took Li-Fi out of the analysis for that initial time, screening it in offices and skilled things. Li-Fi was created on the market in an exceedinglyn workplace atmosphere wherever employees we tend to ready to access the web in a industrial setting.
Just like Wi-Fi, Li-Fi too uses similar 802.11 protocols, however it uses actinic ray communication rather than the oftenness waves.
You will realize a lot of edges than pace. Specialists, however, dont believe that this might phaseout WiFi. Radio signals would like permissions and were restricted, and so the semiconductor diode light-weight technology can be explored. for example, it cannot be deployed simply outdoors underneath direct daylight as that may interfere with the signal. Li-Fi may be a set of optical wireless communications (OWC) and may be a complement to RF communication (Wi-Fi or Cellular network), or replacement in contexts of knowledge broadcasting.
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