"Not All Southerners Fly the Confederate Flag" - Charisma News

The Confederate Flag of the Southern States

I am a son of the South. I was born in Louisiana, spent my childhood in Alabama and attended high school in the suburbs of Atlanta. I grew up eating grits, drinking sweet iced tea and attending big family reunions where the old people sat on wide porches and fanned themselves while the kids ran barefoot in the Georgia red clay.

I'm not apologizing for my upbringing, or for my Southern drawl. There are so many things I love about Southern culture: the warm hospitality, the fact that strangers say, "Hey!" to each other on the street, the way little kids politely say, "Yes, Ma'am" and "No, Sir" to their elders, and of course the fried chicken, cornbread, biscuits, gravy, barbecue, slow-cooked collard greens and sweet potato pie—foods that were invented in the South and made famous at big church dinners.

But I want to make something clear to all my friends who might be tempted to stereotype: In all my years I never saw a Confederate flag in my house, never saw a Confederate decal on my dad's car and never once heard anyone in my family defend slavery, segregation or racism. Even though I had a great-great-great-great grandfather who died in the Civil War—in the Battle of Kennesaw—no one in my family ever told me I should honor that legacy.

For me, the Confederate flag is an ugly reminder of the South's biggest mistake. It is nothing to be proud of. The Confederate flag is something that should be put in a museum to warn us that people sometimes collectively practice injustice.

To a black person, the Confederate flag is a threat. It says: "We don't want you here." It has no business flying on any government property. And if you put it on your lawn or on the back of your truck, you are sending a message of hate.

I am sure the reason no one in my family flew a Confederate flag or defended a "Southern heritage" viewpoint was because we were Christians, and we knew that Christianity and racism are polar opposites. Some of my ancestors were Methodist preachers who advocated for the abolishment of slavery long before the Civil War.

I grew up knowing that it was a sin to say the N-word, and I never heard my parents say it, not even once. When schools were desegregated when I was a teenager, I made black friends, discovered black music and tried to learn every dance I saw onSoul Train on Saturday afternoons. I was never afraid of black culture; I embraced it.

And after I was filled with the Holy Spirit at age 18 (on Southern Baptist property, mind you), I began to visit black churches and discovered the richness of the black Pentecostal experience. Today I feel more at home in some black churches than I do in some white ones. Some of my closest friends are black (both Northerners and Southerners) and they helped me celebrate when my oldest daughter adopted a baby from Africa two years ago.

Today, my black grandson (who bears my name) lives in South Carolina—only a few hours from Charleston, where nine brave black Christians were shot and killed on June 17 while they were having a Bible study at Emanuel A.M.E. Church. The gunman, 21-year-old Dylann Roof, is a troubled white kid who apparently got his inspiration from white supremacist teachings.

Roof recently posted a photo of himself on his web site waving a Confederate flag—prompting protesters and South Carolina legislators to call for the removal of the flag from state capitol property. When I heard Gov. Nikki Haley call for the flag to come down this week, I joined a chorus of Southerners who said, in unison, "Why hasn't it already been mothballed?"

Some people may protest, saying, "It's only a flag," or "It only represents our heritage." I disagree. The Confederate flag is an idol. It represents the evil force of racial hatred that has torn this country apart for more than a century and is still wreaking havoc on our cities today. If this symbol has the power to inspire a young man to blow away nine people with a 45-caliber Glock handgun, it may inspire others to commit even worse acts of terror.

Take the flag down. Put it in a museum and remind everyone who sees it that the South lost the Civil War because God is on the side of those who fight for justice.

J. Lee Grady is the former editor of Charisma. You can follow him on Twitter @leegrady. He is the author of The Truth Sets Women Free and other books. You can learn more about his ministry, The Mordecai Project, at themordecaiproject.org.

"THE CHANGE THAT NIGERIANS VOTED FOR IS UNDER SERIOUS ASSAULT"

Nigerians from all the walks of life voted for a change of government, a new vision and direction for their beloved country of Nigeria on March 28, 2015. Muhammadu Buhari was elected by the majority of the Nigerian voters because of his track record and for his promise to end Boko Haram insurgency, national insecurity as well as the menace of the official corruption and the state resource mismanagement in the governance of Nigeria that have now resulted in the worst economic crisis that Nigerians last saw in the 1980s under the then President Shehu Shagari.

The opposition party, the APC that won the presidential election was made up of the conventional opposition politicians that have fought the PDP since the beginning of this political dispensation in 1999 and the disgruntled politicians that left the PDP for the APC. These politicians with different political agendas, goals and visions for Nigeria worked together and against the PDP, their common enemy at that time. Now that the common enemy was defeated, there is nothing again that these politicians have in common today except the ongoing internal fight to control the legislative arm of the government between the agents of change and the anti-change agents.

The battle for the control of the leadership of the two chambers of the national assembly will eventually determine the outcome of this change agenda that Nigerians voted for and the legacies of the presidency of Muhammadu Buhari. A divided house will not stand. Political change and progress can never happen in the midst of conflict and power tussle within the leadership of the same governing political party. The APC as it stands today is not driven by any political ideologies, but by personalities, politics of ethnicity, geopolitical zone and self-interest.

President Muhammadu Buhari

Alhaji Bola Tinubu

Dr Bukola Saraki (Senate President)

Alhaji Abubakar Atiku

"PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN IS NOT THE HERO OF THE NIGERIAN DEMOCRACY"

The defeated President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria.

The revisionist historians of Nigeria have attempted since Tuesday of this week to rewrite the true account of the recent history of the Nigerian democracy since General Muhammadu Buhari won the presidential election by calling the outgoing Nigerian  President Goodluck Jonathan, the true hero of the Nigerian democracy.

President Goodluck Jonathan is not, will not, cannot and will never be the real hero of the Nigerian democracy for the following reasons. Firstly, the Ekitigate scandal that was directly engineered and supported with the federal might from the Aso Rock villa was an electoral fraud by this federal government of Nigeria against the constitutional rights of the voters of Ekiti State of Nigeria. This development cannot make Goodluck Jonathan, the hero of our democracy in Nigeria.Secondly, the invasion of the All Progressives Congress (APC) office in Lagos by the federal government through the DSS violated the constitution of Nigeria. Thirdly, the bribing of the Yoruba Obas, Afenifere elders and Gani Adams of the militant OPC with the Nigerian tax payers money and contract by this President cannot be a democratic practice in all reality.

Fourthly, the use of the Nigerian military to intimidate opposition politicians across Nigeria during presidential campaigns and in Imo and Rivers States of Nigeria in violation of the recent court order that banned the use of the Nigerian military to conduct the elections in Nigeria was an anti-democratic act in all ramifications and the violation of the rule of law. The highly divisive utterances that came out of the mouths of Mama Peace, Asari Dokubo and many supporters of this President that were allowed to go on unchecked by this President can never make him the real hero of the Nigerian democracy, Fifthly, the use of the military and security agents to rig the presidential election in the South-South and South-East regions of Nigeria by preventing the APC supporters from voting and by manipulating the votes to reflect 100% voting turnout and pattern for this President will never be make him the true hero of democracy in Nigeria today, tomorrow and in the future.

"Nigeria's Buhari builds unassailable lead in historic vote" - Reuters

(Reuters) - Muhammadu Buhari, an ex-general who first seized power in Nigeria three decades ago in a military coup, closed in on a historic election win on Tuesday which would mark the first time an incumbent has been ousted via the ballot box in Africa's most populous nation.

According to a Reuters tally from 34 of Nigeria's 36 states, the 72-year-old Buhari had 14.6 million votes, testament to the faith Nigerians have put in him as a born-again democrat intent on cleaning up the country's notoriously corrupt politics.

That support compared to 11.3 million for President Goodluck Jonathan, whose five years at the helm in Africa's biggest economy and top oil producer have been plagued by corruption scandals and a Boko Haram Islamist insurgency.

One of Jonathan's redoubts in the oil-producing Niger Delta is yet to report but the gap is so large it is hard to see the leader of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), which has run Nigeria since the end of military rule in 1999, closing it.

Buhari took power in a coup in December 1983 but was ousted in another military takeover led by General Ibrahim Babangida in August 1985. He has since run in several elections and declared himself a convert to democracy.

Bar some technical glitches and the killing of more than a dozen voters by Boko Haram militants in the northeast, the election has been the smoothest and most orderly in recent history - a factor that appears to have played in the outcome.

"There are probably lots of reasons why the PDP might have lost, but I think the key one is that the elections just haven't been rigged," said Antony Goldman, a business consultant with high-level contacts in Nigeria.

"THIS IS HOW PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN OF NIGERIA WILL BE REMEMBERED BY HISTORY"

President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria

The Nigerian history will remember President Jonathan Goodluck of Nigeria as the President that publicly supported, promoted and defended official corruption, corrupt state officials and resource mismanagement in the governance of Nigeria. The Nigerian history will remember this President as a lawless leader that has no respect for the due process and the rule of law in the governance of Nigeria. This President tried and attempted to destroy the Nigerian democracy through his personal ambition and openly engineered by supporting vote rigging and anti-democracy practices in Nigeria like the Ekitigate scandal.

This President will be remembered as a sectional leader and a religious bigot that used the Nigerian tribal militant groups (Niger-Delta and OPC) and their leaders as well as the Christian groups and the popular Nigerian pastors to do his dirty job for him in the governance of Nigeria under his presidency. This President will be remembered as the President that left Nigeria economically worse in 2015 than the Nigeria that was handed over to him in 2011. The Nigerian Naira under this President is at its worst level today in its decades of existence as the Nigerian national currency.

The President will be remembered as the President who depleted the Nigerian foreign reserves and excess crude oil accounts in the midst of the years of the highest global oil boom in the history of Nigeria and under the direct watch of his administration. This President will be remembered for creating more foreign debt for Nigeria despite the huge oil boom and revenue. This President will be remembered as the leader that refused to protect Nigerians in the North-East region from the daily menace of the Boko Haram terrorist group that led to the death of over 15,000 Nigerians and also displaced another 2 million other Nigerians internally. These are the legacies that this President will be leaving for Nigeria and Nigerians for many decades to come.

"4 reasons you should care about Nigeria’s election" - Washington Post

ABUJA, Nigeria — On Saturday, Africa’s most populous and oil-rich country will go to the polls. The election looks to be the tightest in the 16 years since military rule ended in Nigeria – and it appears likely that the contest between President Goodluck Jonathan and former military dictator Muhammadu Buhari could devolve into violence. 

Here are four reasons why the elections are critically important for the country and the region

.1.The results may affect the terrifying Boko Haram insurgency.

Nigeria is in the middle of an unfinished counterinsurgency campaign against the Islamist extremists, who have become famous for their acts of brutality, including kidnapping schoolgirls and attacking churches, schools and the police and army. Now, the tide appears to be turning. Militants are on the run. Their territorial control in the country’s northeast has dwindled, thanks largely to the cooperation of the armies of Chad and Niger, which have launched offensives after the rebels crossed into their territories. A fleet of private military contractors are also helping to fight Boko Haram. But what will become of the anti-Boko Haram campaign after election day? Many here believe that President Jonathan will lose interest in the effort if he’s elected, leaving the rebels to strengthen as they have in the past. If Buhari wins and redoubles focus on the fight, he will still have to transform a military with systemic flaws including poor training.

The next chapter of the Boko Haram fight will be the hardest. Now that militants have fled their former areas of control, they will have to be rooted out of their hideouts in and around the Sambisa Forest – a formidable task. It’s much easier for Boko Haram to wage guerrilla attacks from the forest than to occupy territory. That fight will go on for some time – and will be a massive charge for whomever is elected.

2. What happens in Nigeria doesn't necessarily stay in Nigeria

What happens in Nigeria will resonate across the region. It is the largest economy on the continent, and an exporter of film and music to its neighbors. As President Obama said this past week, Nigerians “won your independence, emerged from military rule, and strengthened democratic institutions.” If Nigeria’s elections devolve into violence or result in deep political division, the financial engine of West Africa will slow. The continent’s biggest oil-producer will be disrupted. Neighboring countries, whose own economies are linked to Nigeria’s through imports and exports, will suffer. And political uncertainty will no doubt creep across borders.

3.The elections could provoke violence. Lots of it.

There’s a good chance that things will not go well. After Nigeria’s 2011 election, nearly 1,000 people were killed in three days of rioting. Supporters of Buhari, who also ran that year, were accused of carrying out protests which “degenerated into violent riots or sectarian killings,” according to Human Rights Watch. Flaws in the electoral process fueled allegations that the elections were illegitimate. According to International Crisis Group, the polls were “riddled with malpractices, logistical deficiencies and procedural inconsistencies.”

This time, those same challenges exist, but the contest appears to be far closer – what many consider a recipe for postelection violence. Already, Buhari’s party has said that if Jonathan is declared the victor, it will set up a “parallel government.” There will almost definitely be legal challenges, no matter the result. Many Nigerians are already arguing that millions have been disenfranchised by the ongoing fighting, which has left them displaced and without voting credentials.

In Nigeria’s history, an incumbent has never lost a presidential election. The ethno-religious regional divide in Nigeria is already pronounced between the mostly Muslim north (and its Buhari supporters) and the Christian south (and its Jonathan suporters). Disputed elections could worsen that tension, playing on the idea that the next president will marginalize the area outside of his power base.

4. Nigeria badly needs a good leader.

The next president of Nigeria faces a series of enormous challenges, even beyond Boko Haram. Oil production, which accounts for 70 percent of Nigeria’s economy, is no longer as profitable as it once was. The wealth that has been generated here has not been shared – rather it has been concentrated in the oil-rich south, from which Jonathan hails. Nigerians are outspoken about the failings of the country’s corrupt public institutions. Billions in oil revenue, for example, have disappeared. The wealthy fly private jets while the bulk of Nigerians continue to struggle financially. Security forces are theoretically allocated billions, but somehow are poorly outfitted.Now, Nigerians will choose between a former dictator who is remembered for detaining his opponents (Buhari) and the incumbent (Jonathan) who many see as responsible for the country’s most recent failings. It’s a choice that could be bitterly divisive.

"NIGERIANS DECIDE THEIR POLITICAL DESTINY TODAY"

'General Muhammadu Buhari versus President Goodluck Jonathan"

Tens of millions of Nigerians will be voting today in the most important presidential election in the history of that country. Firstly, this is the first time in the presidential politics and election in Nigeria that the reelection of an incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan is directly threatened by a formidable candidate in the person of General Muhammadu Buhari and by a unified and a widespread opposition political party, the APC.

Secondly, this is also the first time in the presidential election in Nigeria that the main opposition presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari will be running for the fourth time in the presidential election in his attempt to become the President of Nigeria, the same way that the former Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wada did in Senegal and then won the presidency as the main opposition figure.

Thirdly, Nigerian voters will be deciding today between these two candidates that represent two different visions for that country. The incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan has failed woefully to effectively address the issues of chronic official corruption and mammoth resource mismanagement in the governance of that country as well as the deadly Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East of Nigeria that has now killed over 15,000 Nigerians and internally displaced another one million other Nigerians. These all happened under his watch and presidency.

President Goodluck Jonathan has also failed in the area of economy despite the fact that he enjoyed the highest oil boom in the governance of Nigeria and the biggest inflow of the petro-dollar that lasted for almost four years uninterrupted. The Nigerian foreign reserves and excess crude oil accounts are almost gone today. The Naira is at its lowest value in its history. The nation's foreign debt and borrowing are rapidly rising again. The youth unemployment has reached its highest level in decades, the national infrastructures are still outdated and Nigerians do not enjoy the constant supply of electricity, good and affordable health care, functioning public education as well as efficient social services.

On the other hand,  General Muhammadu Buhari has the history and the reputation of publicly fighting the menace of official corruption, resource mismanagement and religious insurgency in Nigeria. He did all these things as the military ruler of Nigeria for those 20 months that he was in power between 1984 and 1985. General Buhari also campaigned across the length and the breadth of Nigeria promising to end official corruption, Boko Haram insurgency, to create jobs and to build a national economy that will work fairly for all Nigerians without leaving tens of millions of Nigerians behind.

The political stakes in this election are so high that the future of Nigeria as a nation depends on its outcome. The whole world is watching Nigeria today and hoping that her democracy will not fail. Nigeria now has the largest economy and population in Africa. The global expectation is that this presidential election will not be stolen and it will be allowed to be free, fair, transparent, credible, all-inclusive and violent-free.