Judicial Backwaters - Guantanamo Countdown

WITHOUT PREJUDICE

The poor cannot be innocent

A saying once ascribed to a prominent law professor and defence lawyer in America suggested “everyone is innocent until declared broke”.

This opens the subject of the backwater of American justice where the privileged and the rich can get away with anything if they have the representation and resources that can bamboozle the judges, the jury and the legal system.

Too many examples exist as to how rich and famous Americans have walked free from murder, child abuse and fraud charges with just a dent to their egos.

If one were to commiserate, it would be for those who have no means of getting real justice in the land of liberty and freedom because the equality of man in America is only there when you are equal to the system by being able to pay your way out of the clutches of the law.

The equality of certain death

In fact, I would go on to say the only equality of opportunity in America of today is the equality of the certainty of death. Some might delay it by being of means, those who have not, arrive there quicker. It is a sad fact of life as exemplified by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

One profession that brings home the bacon every time is that of the high-profile lawyer as they argue and settle marital, criminal or civil matters. In a quest to help healthcare organisation that crumble under the strain of class-action suits, Mr Bush has clipped the wings of Tort cases which really make lawyers so rich at the expense of the claimants.

Abyss of injustice

Spare a thought for the aberration, anomaly or abomination that is Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. It is amazing that this place has been leased in perpetuity from Cuba which has suffered decades of sanctions and bad blood with America. Sometimes international treaties and diplomacy make no sense but there we are with an aberration.

It is an anomaly because people are in detention created by the US government but outside the jurisdiction of American courts and justice; because we have allowed the bastion of human freedom and democracy to assign untrammelled powers to their president to protect the American people.

Protecting the American People however includes the ability to take America from the safety of the high moral ground to the moral valley illustrated by the despicable state of affairs that feeds our disgust from the pictures and videos of Abu Ghraib Prison.

The abomination of justice is where those who do not have a strong ally or country to defend them and demand their rights are kept as enemy combatants outside the reach of even the Geneva Convention.

No voice for the voiceless

It pains me that whilst Britain has successfully extracted their citizens from Guantanamo Bay, they have not spoken up for those who are kept outside justice, outside review, outside care, outside concern and outside reach of their people in that utterly forsaken place.

It is a luxury of American royalty that men who are going to live full and fulfilled lives having extricated themselves from the travesty of war and the defence of the realm and now hold the power to send others to their untimely deaths as martyrs to a cause that is defeating reason and purpose as days go by.

If any of them had attended one funeral of any of all those killed in the cauldron of terror call Iraq, I might even find one word of praise for them.

As well run as Abu Ghraib?

However, Mr Rumsfeld says Guantanamo Bay is a well run detention centre, I am wont to believe him, but can I really do that?

The detention centres in Iraq produced those stomach churning pictures and the British soldiers meting out “justice” to the teenagers, as the cameraman in seemingly sexual ecstasy urges them on – are situations open to public and press scrutiny.

One commentary contends that Guantanamo Bay served as the incubator for those activities.

We cannot have one standard for our convenience and exculpation then have another for those who are not like us.

Here lies the unjust

The unknown unknown of Guantanamo Bay requires that the people there know if they would get justice somewhere on earth, and if America cannot give it to them, then it is really time to close Guantanamo Bay and let the wild bunch lose.

Mr Rumsfeld is a smart man; he is probably a fair man too, but nay a just man.

We should call to notice that all in leadership who have the power to send men to war should ensure that their epitaphs include the phrase “he/she was a just man/woman”; God have mercy on your souls, if fortune obliterates that legacy.

"The defendant wants to hide the truth because he's generally guilty. The defense attorney's job is to make sure the jury does not arrive at that truth." Alan Dershowitz

Handbags at dawn

Political theatre

Our politicians in the Netherlands always seem to do something to amuse us that I find that I do not miss going to the cinema or the theatre.

I cannot remember when last I heard anything from the Minister-President who is supposedly the head of government but hardly a powerful figure.

The headlines and the moral gutter seems to be dominated by other politicians as my chauvinism allows for it all to be referred to as the washing of dirty lingerie.

The government council in Rotterdam seems to be the breeding ground for the politics of separation masquerading as a push for greater integration.

Agreed, the events on Rotterdam were birthed from the activities of certain Muslim leaders who questioned our national values as Dutch and challenged our history of tolerance by calling homosexuals pigs amongst other unmentionable tripe.

The birth of the Fortuyn phenomena

This gave rise to a movement championed by Pim Fortuyn who eventually became the leader of the Liveable Netherlands (Leefbaar Nederland - LN). Some of his utterances lead to his being expelled from LN.

This lead to his creating a party list in his name and all the other circumstances that lead to his being murdered just 9 days before the elections that his party excelled in.

Beyond that nutshell of history, a scion of the LN context dominates the council in Rotterdam as Leefbaar Rotterdam (Liveable Rotterdam).

Rotterdam happens to be the source of the citizens’ code which included the use of Dutch as a common language – this was digested by our Minister of Immigration and Integration (Ms Verdonk) and regurgitated as requiring that Dutch be spoken in public places.

Alas! That kite got caught in low-lying tram cables, the opprobrium it raised had her backtracking faster than a bullet leaves the muzzle of a gun.

Another immigrant saga

More recently, since it is immigration and integration that takes up all political capital; an immigrant girl who was just about to start her final examinations was seized by the immigration police, her family given a sum of money and they were thrown out to their land of origin – Kosovo.

The girl by sleight regained access to the Netherlands and returned to her school to take exams and finish her course. Immediately, she was apprehended again, called a fraud in a situation that might have the minister censored for abuse of process.

It so happens that this girl mastered the Dutch language (model immigrant), excels in her class (model student) [5] but is from Kosovo (model immigrant) and political victim.

Handbags at the cabinet

So, the Education Minister wades into the matter in her blogs indicating that allowing the young girl to complete her education before deportation is a common-sense approach to a bungled activity with the proviso that it was not her call.

I detest somersaulting ministers is the retort that comes from Ms Verdonk who agreed with the point that the issue is not the call of the Education Minister but questioned the logic of her commentary. [2]

Surely, it is not difficult to see the logic, however, just like Pim Fortuyn threatened to slam his handbag on the table; the next cabinet meeting might just draw blood as Gucci bags hit Louis Vuitton bags with the Minister-President ducking and diving.

Even in an elevated state of good conduct, I could easily give up on a show at the Royal Ballet Company to watch these matrons have it out at each other.

Maybe I am just human.

References

[1] Expatica's Dutch news in English: Verdonk's folly

[2] Expatica's Dutch news in English: Ministers in war of words over Taida

[3] Liberal Netherlands grows less so on immigration | csmonitor.com

[4] Dhimmi Watch: Holland: right-wing protest banned

[5] An example of why the Netherlands suck - The Net is Dead

Beware of dog - recruiter alert

What to do…

I am beginning to wonder if my temperament and demeanour is suited to certain interviewers, interview techniques or job prospects.

My CV is generally supposed to present me as an expert in a field of expertise where the simplicity of installation obfuscates the complexity of implementing useful solutions.

For instance, in my last project, the “Customer Solutions Architect” had spent the best part of 7 months installing a Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003 environment which worked but was completely unmanageable.

Any administrator would have cried in frustration with simple day-to-day activities. A person with my experience and expertise would consider all stake-holders affected by any solution offered.

This comprises of the business, their requirements, the users, the administrators and any prevailing political and organisational influence that impacts the effectiveness of the solution.

My pitch sits squarely in realising solutions for the enterprise with due consideration of all resources provided and expected benefits. It means that one has to be authoritative, candid, truthful, realistic, resourceful and always honest.

Illiterate pimps

Starting with the interviewers, these are sometimes recruitment consultants in recruitment firms who usually have one thing in mind; the mark-up they can earn off your contract fee.

In some cases, there has been close to a 50% mark-up; it hasn’t really bothered me, because what is not negotiable is my fee at the first time of asking.

That is beside the point; it is when they have not taken time to read my CV that irks me the most. I used to be a director of a company called NextStep Limited in Nigeria then I got a call asking if I could offer programming expertise in NeXTSTEP software.

Then after 12 years of IT experience (I now have 18) of which 7 then were at a senior technical specialist level, sometimes in management, I get a call asking if I am interested in a trainee position. I have no problem with being a trainee if I am working on the launch controls at NASA.

However, apart from recruitment consultants, there are professional recruiters employed by organisations to sift prospective employees with bizarre questions and mind games.

Bouncers in the bank

The biggest bank in the Netherlands was recently on a recruitment drive which they co-sourced to an agency that was to weed out ineligible candidates along with agreeing certain terms of remuneration.

Having passed that hurdle, I met up with this male and female team of recruiters whose first onslaught was to refuse to interview till I had agreed to take a salary 15% below what had been agreed with the agency.

Evidently, this was on the paper sent to them by the agency well over a week before, and it could have been discussed with the agency who would have sought my consent or advice about going further or not.

In the circumstances, they blamed their lack of preparation on the agency where they should have paid more attention to the detail of the client to be interviewed.

Then the interview starts with “Give us an example of relationship building” – you must be kidding me.

Now, if I had only been working in IT 2 years, I would probably still be learning about how to get things done.

After 18 years, with the roles I have held and the beneficial things I have done in the organisations I have worked for … if my whole career has not been about building, maintaining and nurturing relationships, my career must have been a farce.

OK, maybe I am being a bit melodramatic, but after the salary haggling that would not have been worthy of a sub-continental marketplace or bazaar, I do not think I was in the mood for unimaginative recruiters.

They were like bouncers, you either have an invitation and we let you in, or you are going nowhere regardless of your relationship with the host.

They interview to an organisational mindset if there is one, or are just probably incompetent and answerable to no one especially when they can cover up their lapses.

At the poker table without chips

One other reason why I probably was not considered could be the fact that I decided to carry on the interview on the prospect of a better position, which they did not have to offer.

Interviewing with people who have no latitude on the one hand and then cannot recognise the skill you offer could as well be a dead-end.

So then, to another interview that is for the role of a specialist and I get the question “How do you set up a user?” – That is definitely taking the biscuit. Having worked in global enterprises, some sites have had well over 40,000 users along with their computers under my management.

They probably have not read my CV and if they had, maybe those questions are just to tug at my intellectual arrogance and the brooding “expertise complex” that beclouds the ability to deal with fundamental issues.

The truth be told

Aspects of a CV can sometimes look like they are too good to be true, then, ask for references; there is not reason to purvey falsehoods, the IT world is too small to get away with lies and sloppy work, you soon get found out.

Though it is gratifying when 10 years ago, was I walked into an interview they placed my in a room and I had to do a technical test. I then was hired within hours of that interview – I learnt that people doubted my abilities and I was baited with the test in which I attained the best ever score.

Beyond a good professional relationship with my manager which lasted 4 years including his taking over to another posting he had, we are still very good friends. Do I have to cry from the hilltops that I really am what my CV says I am? I am beyond exasperated.

At least, 80% of the work I have done in the last 10 years has been through networks formed off working with colleagues, managers or agencies – every now and then, I get a call asking about my availability for a project they have at hand.

I can fix that

All is not lost, I realise that I interview best when I am hired to fix something. At least the last few projects have involved my going in sort things out, mentor people and implement working solutions.

When people have questions, problems or appalling catastrophes requiring first a confident understanding of the issues and a good idea of how to chart from the rotten and bad through the acceptable towards the ideal coupled with availability in terms of both my expertise and time, I always get the job.

Probably, my wealth of expertise is also becoming a burden, I thrive in teams where I have something offer, something to share and something to learn. However, the mentoring aspect is gaining more significance when I embark on projects.

Projects are however, short-term, longer term contracts probably require that one be ensconced in management. This calls for a radical career re-alignment assessment; am I ready for that? 

Muzzle the dogs

Recently, it appears, I am not doing well with jobs that are mundane, routine and easy-going or barely anticipate problems, not because I am not qualified, but because I first have to outrun the dogs to get to the main door.

Sometimes the dogs make so much of a raucous the man of the house is forced to come out to calm the commotion and see who is trying to get in. Alternatively, I might just get Pedigree Chum laced with sedative, feed it to the dogs and walk right up to the door.

This is where; Mighty Mix and the dog food offer might be better appreciated than it has been in Kenya.

Once that happens, well, it is another notch to my CV.

The box bores me

A weekend hermit

One of the reasons I get out of town in the weekends is that is prevents me from spending a good 60 hours indoors.

One easily exhibits hermit tendencies that could see one get in from work on Friday night and the next time one steps out is Monday morning as work beckons.

Everyone once in a while there is a social event that punctuates the weekend and it should be an activity one indulges in more often.

My guest room which doubles as an office sees more of me as the resident guest than any other person; in fact, no guest has ever stayed in the ‘guest’ room.

It is apparently my very private area in my apartment, a gold-fish bowl if viewed from outside.

No fear though; being on the seventh floor, with the next building some 100 metres away and a vista of a disused but occupied harbour, it is good enough privacy.

TV un-entertainment

I could not help but note the variations on the same theme offered as entertainment on television recently.

The English-speaking channels get a lot of traffic from BBC 1 & 2, BBC World, CNN, Discovery Channel and National Geographic; we also have a few Dutch channels which offer spoken English with Dutch sub-titles.

At first we had Come Dancing where a professional dancer pairs up with a celebrity in a dancing competition – that had really good and popular viewing.

We now await Just the Two of Us which would be an accomplished singer in a duet with some celebrity yodeller who probably gets taught to convert a bark into a meow – I dread the impact on my ears.

Then today, a new game show named Petrol Heads did not live up to its billing. Whilst, it was funny and probably a bit comical, I doubt if it would catch on.

Top Gear meets Have I Got News for you? I neither see the motor expertise nor the contemporary wit.

I should do more with my weekends; short of seeing all the ice drama at the Turin Olympics, it appears entertainment can not be found on a television near you.

Like they say – Get out a bit more.

The people are high on opium - IV - Rejoinder

A reader wandered into my blogosphere and left comments that require a robust response to the obvious fact that he had not followed the thread that lead to the contents of the blog he commented on.

I intersperse his comments with my replies.

Hatred at bliss?

Should I say, Hatred at bliss? How pathetic. Should I ask whether it’s Islam you hate? Or the people practicing the religion, because your post does not directly point to what actually is your problem with your revelation.

I would not know what you mean by this, but it is obvious that you have not taken time to read my other instalments before drawing your conclusions with this.

Earlier I had commended both the pragmatism and tolerance of my grandfather and the humility of my uncle.

I do not think reading that, you would have justifiably been able to make the crude judgments you arrived at.

Using an umbrella, as you expressed yourself in your excerpt "Another instalment on my Muslim heritage when I witnessed another face of Islam that included stuttering, possessions and prophecy - as at that time - it was the strangest thing to witness."

My experiences are mine to recount

Indeed, this is a personal experience of mine; your view of my experience is patently of no significance. I recount my tale from my vantage point of close observation.

Just to educate you. A woman that chooses to wear the black veil or whatever did so at her own will especially in a community like Nigeria. I am sure you would be the first to raise your voice when it comes to Freedom of dressing?

I do not need educating in this matter; I have lived in both the North and South of Nigeria where I have seen lots of women in Purdah.

The lady mentioned was indeed free to wear whatever she wanted, but there was considerable concern when we were in mechanical workshops. Thankfully, there were no mishaps.

Health and safety issues in the West would have barred her from attending those classes without having all clothing properly bound to the body.

In no place did I condemn her dressing; in fact, I said she was both honourable and pious.

A model example for civil unrest

Religious debates have been done in an intellectual way, and have never ever caused riots in foreign exposed lands. A preacher like Ahmed Deedat, is a perfect model example to that. Ask the South Africans.

I do not know who your reference is, but I have simply stated my observations to which you really cannot draw any particular inference.

However, debate is fine, but debunking the basis of other people’s faith rather than reinforcing the validity of yours is hardly peace making. Winning the argument is not everything in religious service. [1][2] See references

I have however, heard some of his ideas bandied around by some Muslim colleagues when I was at school.

You probably have a good idea of why he was refused entry into both Nigeria and France on the basis of the possibility of causing civil unrest if he was such a perfect model.

In Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, the prevalence of epilepsy varies from approximately 0.53% to 3.7%, depending on the part of the country and its respective development and available health care facilities. Linking it with Islam and making conclusions to what you did not actually partake in, is quiet ridiculous, don’t you think? I don’t remember seeing any occurrences of such in Muslim congregations.

This is where you really have completely missed the plot. This event had nothing to do with epileptic fits. I was at a Muslim religious meeting and not just one girl went into the ‘epileptic’ fit – many did and it was very much like analadura church.

Your not having witnessed it does not mean it does not happen and there were at least 20 from my class who witnessed the events I recounted. [3] See reference.

Only two days ago, I conversed with one of my then classmates who is a friend of 20 years standing and raised these issues just to ensure my recall was true to the events.

Sharia Law ONLY for the adherents

Shariah has been hypocritically introduced in Nigerian and hence, most Nigerians are not well educated in that relation, so I don’t blame you for yet another hating judgement.

When I was in primary school in Kaduna, I attended a Sharia court and saw the proceedings. I have nothing against Sharia law for the adherents of Islam, but it should not be imposed on non-adherents, even if they live amongst Muslims.

The issue here is whether modern society has adapted to Sharia or Sharia has adapted to modernity. But it is quite within reason that some things that could have been the norm centuries ago might not sit well in our society of today.

For instance, we no more impose the death penalty in Europe - justifiable as it might seem in other parts of the world.

Kano State in Nigeria has even had the Sharia police begin to act as alternative law enforcement whilst seeking foreign aid for intelligence training. [4] See reference

Baseless attributions

Christianity also has its own wicked past, if we are using an incident to justify an umbrellic conclusion. Between 1450 to 1792 have your forgotten the massacre on "Satan worshipers" & other heretics? by Christians? Perhaps you might want to research more on that.

No, I am living in a contemporary world, trying to judge a current issue on Andalucia (AD 1492) and so on is disingenuous. I remember Al-Qaeda using that in their justification of 9/11 and other attacks.

We in this century cannot be held responsible for those events, just as the Germans of today cannot be held responsible for the actions of the Nazis in the last century.

I was talking of events I witnessed; I was not alive between 1450 and 1792, more so, this is where your poorly constructed commentary begins to show you up. [5] See reference

When you make attributions like this, you should and must provide guide references to support your assertions, commentary like this without references is poor research and not authoritative, your views can so easily be dismissed because of that lapse in quality.

I invite reasoned and researched commentary

Well it’s your blog, and you can write on whatever you feel like writing, I just taught I should add a little comment to clear things out. Religion is not at blame. The human race is evil in nature and hence each individual should be picked out singly and blamed for his/her own crime.

Indeed, it is my blog and I would write what I want to, however, next time you see a Roman numeral after any blog topic I have written, endeavour to read what precedes that blog.

In this case, it was IV. You have every right to comment on my blogs too, but doing with a lot more finesse, understanding and enlightenment.

To be kind, I have not been too impressed by your commentary, maybe next time, you will apply yourself better, but nothing in my blog singled out anyone for blame.

You lost the irony, ignored the satire and befuddled the context apart from the fact that you probably need a bit of schooling about commenting on blogs. Tips on commenting [6]

Anyway, thanks for visiting my blog and finding time to comment therein.

References

[1] The Ahmed Deedat Rebuttal Page

[2] Ahmed Deedat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[3] Religious Experience And Women Leadership In Nigerian Islam – an example of the experience I witnessed.

[4] BBC NEWS | Africa | Crackdown on Nigeria Sharia group

[5] Al-Qaeda | Still out there | Economist.com: Al-Qaeda’s references to Andulica in 1492

[6] Tom Peters - FAQs on placing comments

Aping a fantasy

Take control immediately

Just this afternoon, the long-running concern for my professional reputation was assuaged as the project came to an end.

Having decided to continue with the project, a number of things had to be clearly stated and agreed upon.

I was hired as a resource, I also happened to be an expert in the area of expertise I was resourcing and hence an authority.

Work already done by the supposed solutions architect was below par of a charlatan, it was necessary to completely eliminate interference in matters where the person evidently had no professional skill apart from bullshit - it frustrates projects.

This involved getting project manager to clearly state that I had the ascendant and pre-eminent technical expertise and all other ideas or suggestions should defer to mine.

Next, the relationship between organisation and their client was such that they reviewed all suggestions; first technically, then politically, failing which it just got emotional on the basis of gut feelings.

That untenable situation had to be arrested as it meant straight and reasonable technical activities received undue scrutiny that consequently delayed the progress of the project without commensurate accountability.

Punish ignorance with enlightenment

It meant every brick wall had to be mowed down with technical facts and reasoning one had to be apt at debunking of strange fallacies.

One usually asks why a particular action or solution was offered and then we debated the options towards persuading the actors to a different objective.

In this case, the simple answer was plain ignorance and lack of knowledge, things were done and suggested that had no technical or best practice basis in fact or reality.

Having cleared that away, work continued apace to setting in place my ideas, solution and implementation which was simplified through automation created by my colleague who had genius scripting skills.

Aping a fantasy

When the implementation was fully in place, we visited the client to conduct a battery of tests and to explain the thinking that went into our adaptation for their environment.

As one who usually challenges our every suggestion then said I had implemented the solution just as he would have done it.

I suppose, that is a complement if I ever got one; the idea that I had just implemented what they knew all along; pure and utter fantasy – I was just imitating the same.

The last day included a few finishing touches, handshakes, smiles and commiserations.

Next time, I will have a few more questions to ask before taking on a project. As for payday, that is still a long way off.

How did I ever get mixed up in this stuff?

The people are high on opium - IV

Usher in the lady engineers

And so continues my journey down the annals of the memory of Muslim encounters beyond home.

We usually do encounter ladies taking up engineering courses especially, mechanical and civil engineering which at times is considered physical and quite manly for the fairer sex.

In Nigeria where male chauvinism can be overbearing ladies might not just be the butt of nuisance and sexist jokes, but some men would scheme to cause serious embarrassment to the ladies just to make them both uncomfortable and unwanted.

As it happens, the ladies who take up engineering are usually made of sterner stuff than puny men can throw at them.

They not only excel in academic activity, but also beat the men in craft too.

Whilst I was down in the South for the entrance examinations to secondary school, the aunt who gave me lessons was a budding Electrical engineer.

Overalls without a manicure

In polytechnic, we had a lady who rolled up her sleeves in the mechanical engineering class as she would so soon be under a car, as she would have her overalls caked with precipitation of motor oils; hands that would have a manicurist hire industrial heavy duty tools, she was gutsy.

Then in my class, as I was studying Electrical engineering, there was a lady whose demeanour was such that no one called her by name.

Rather, she had the appellation Haja – inferring she had performed the Islamic pillar of visiting Mecca. What was striking beyond her manner was her mode of dress.

She was covered all over and even wore gloves, and had a scarf whose train was just probably a few inches short of Princess Diana’s wedding train.

Protocols for a handshake

That in particular had us musing to each other, quietly; the danger of the scarf getting caught in the moving parts of the lathe our curriculum including crafting bric-a-brac out of sheet steel like bottle openers.

She never shook hands with men, but I once had the honour of having my hand touched in greeting, a rarity that exuded mutual respect.

Both ladies were lovely Muslim girls, one a tomboy and the other as pious as Mother Theresa. The former mildly secular the latter rather devout and sometimes given to serious religious debate, but both utterly reasonable.

The might of the lecturer

Lecturers in higher educational institutions in Nigeria then could be quite interesting and megalomaniacal without sanction. They could as easily mark you down subjectively as they could score you well for devoting your every waking hour to excelling in their course.

To say they were prone to jealousy if they felt you were not committed to failing all else to barely passing their vocation would be an understatement.

Beyond our tuition fees, lecturers even produced cheap and poorly produced tutorials that they charged for and sometimes set their tests verbatim out of the tutorial.

Woe art thou – if your hard-earned and meagre resources did not augment the salaries of lecturers as they prey like vampire bats on their wards.

Qurani-Biblical Mentors

However, it was lecturers engaged in religious activity that exercised the worst type of abuse of power. Whilst we are used to Christian proselytising, the Islamic version was definitely a new development.

It was not more the Jihad, but a battle of the minds, the war for the will and the fear of failure; all colluding to convert you to other faiths.

Many at school sometimes suffered temporary apostasy as one who held the key of your success and failure called on your service with impunity and left you helpless that resistance meant instant failure; the reality of understanding futility in the face of lawlessness.

One such lecturer lead a Muslim group that met on Saturday evenings sharing the word of the holy book and debating with each other about the parallels with Christianity and the superiority of observed service to quiet faith.

Spiritual Islam – eyewitness account

The whole class was invited to a feast that celebrates the revelation of the Qu’ran; we all graced the occasion as we sat outside in rows listening to the preacher reveal the gems of paradise found in joining the group.

Suddenly, a young girl seemingly had seizures, convulsed and began to stutter as someone took the role of interpreting the “revelations” from god.

By the time we knew what was going on, a good few ‘virgins’ became convulsed in this mass hysteria as we all watched with incredulity.

Never had we seen people of an Islamic persuasion display the manifestation of some form of spiritual possession and activity reminiscent of the white garment traditional Nigerian churches.

Have no hand

We left soon enough as all the leaders of the meeting had to withdraw to receive and decode the message from afar – none said anything about the event – but when we next mentioned it amongst friends – we were in stitches for hours on end.

They would definitely have had our hands cut off from the wrist if we deigned to caricature the lecturer talk less of you know who.