Islamic militancy which targets non-Muslims, often Christians, is deeply rooted in the historical discord that exists within Islam itself. Prophet Mohammad preached peaceful co-existence particularly with Christians. Muslims who promote wanton violence in the name of their religion are simply misguided about its true teachings.

If those crusading for a separate state are doing so because of the failures of previous governments to serve the needs of Nigerians adequately, that is not a good enough reason to seek secession. The grievance is shared across Nigeria. Moreover, the idea of a separate nation based on religious and ethnic calculations is unworkable.

Now that Nigerians have Buhari, how far his government goes will depend on how far Nigerians purge themselves of the counter-productive practices of the better-forgotten Jonathan years. Things will not work if business continues as usual. Things do not work that way - they never have!

Maybe President Zuma and his xenophobic countrymen are right, after all. Why would a Nigerian close his barber shop in Karmo ghetto to go operate the same in Soweto? Why would a second degree holder prefer to travel to Johannesburg to be a cabbie when that line of business would have been more profitable in Lagos?

Nigerians are already looking beyond the March 28 presidential election, which the opposition All Peoples’ Congress and its presidential candidate General Muhammadu Buhari are expected to win.

The recent diktat by Nigeria’s first lady that her husband’s political opponents be stoned is yet another red flag that the bungling government in Nigeria is not sincere in conducting violence-free elections.

Recent gains in the fight against Boko Haram have justified growing calls for appropriate sanctions for those found complicit in playing politics with an insurgency that has claimed more than 13,000 lives, placed hundreds in captivity, displaced thousands and virtually grounded the economy of Nigeria’s northeast.

Six years of the Jonathan presidency have pushed the country to the precipice. The way it looks, Nigeria might take a dangerous plunge if Jonathan remains in office beyond May 29, 2015. Another four years under the present dispensation is an open invitation to chaos.

Nigeria’s president Goodluck Jonathan is surrounded by discredited men who are doing his re-election campaign more harm than good.

In the wake of the attacks on Paris, hypocrisy has won and the world is basking in a warped victory. Bigots have been celebrated and their right to offend defended, without any critical view of the excesses of Charlie Hebdo magazine. It is such attitudes that fuel Muslim anger.