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Sunday 22 January 2012

Attacks in Nigeria -- January Week 3 (N.A)




                An Islamist group went on a firing spree and killed more than 100 people in Abuja, Nigeria. Eight government buildings were attacked on this Friday evening. Ironically, all of these buildings were security building, such as police stations or police headquarters.  These attacks were a way of setting an example to the government to tell them to stay out of their way. These attacks were said to be led by a sect who goes by the name, “Boko Haram.” He used violent means to impose his version of Islamic law in Nigeria and countries around it. The Nigerian government doesn’t seem to be taking much responsibility to abrupt Boko Haram’s acts, which has been going on for well enough over a year now. The government didn’t take any actions even after Boko Haram warned the newspaper agencies that he would invade the major cities and continue what he and his men have been doing.
                Indirectly, this reminded me of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey. In the novel, Kesey explains how the combine controls every action taken by the patients. Boko Haram and his men are trying to control the city and the government has no control over them due to Boko Haram’s influence. The patients, in this case are the Nigerians being attacked, are being affected so that the radical islamists can get through the government and get what they want. This general involves the Nigerians suffering rather than the government directly. As long as Boko Haram’s islamist group has control, similar to the asylum in Kesey’s novel, there won’t be peace in Abuja.

1.  1.       A. In Kano, where state authorities declared a 24-hour curfew, shellshocked residents stayed in their homes.
          B. Shellshock: behavior or conditions resulting from battle/war-stress. The word shellshock, when split into two words, simply means an upsetting event (shock) which is occurred due to war (shells are another word used for explosive material)
          C. The school had trouble sending the students back home since they were shellshocked after the recent attacks nearby. (Really couldn’t see a better way to relate that word to Woodstock.) 

    2.   A.  “Unless somebody goes in to negotiate,” he said, “we are in for a long siege.”
          B. Siege: An operation where a group takes full control of a certain location and blocks off supplies in an attempt to get their opponents to surrender.
          C. During an intense game of Capture of flag, our team were able to successfully siege the enemy defenses and taking control of the flag.

     3.   A.  Kano is a major political and religious center in the predominantly Muslim north.
           B. Predominantly: for the most part. Originates from the word dominate, which means to have influence or power over another body.
           C. Predominantly, students at Woodstock do not have a say in issues or matters. In the end it is up to the school to make the decisions.

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