Our
view
Nigerian
riots not surprising
Organizers of the Miss World beauty pageant
have moved the competition from the Nigerian
capital Abuja to England after vicious riots
erupted leaving at least 200 people dead.
The riots broke out when a newspaper article
said that the prophet Mohammed would probably
have married a Miss World contestant. Organizers
claim that the pageant is not responsible
for the deadly riots.
First of all, what were these people thinking
having the Miss World beauty pageant in
Nigeria? Come on! Just months ago a woman
was sentenced to death by stoning in Nigeria
after being found guilty of adultery. That
should send a clear message that a beauty
pageant oozing with Western civilization
is not welcome in such a place.
Furthermore, a number of northern Nigerian
states have implemented new Sharia-based
penal codes, which allow for not only death
sentences but also torture and other inhumane
punishments.
Why would anyone think that Nigeria would
be an appropriate place for the Miss World
beauty pageant? Anyone could have predicted
that the show would not go as smoothly as
planned. In fact, people did predict that
the show would not go smoothly, and that
the pageant should not be relocated. Organizers
refused and are now paying the consequences.
Now, 80 Miss World contestants have been
waiting in a London airport hotel since
Sunday as the Miss World organizer searches
for a place to host the show that is supposed
to occur on Dec. 7. Many of the possible
sites are not available.
Aside from the whole Miss World pageant,
the editors of the newspaper with the article
that said that Mohammed would probably have
married a Miss World contestant should be
ashamed of themselves. Their irresponsible
journalism indirectly caused the deaths
of more than 200 people.
Taken at face value, the Mohammed statement
is laughable and the journalists probably
never imagined that those words could have
incited such a reaction but they did and
people are dead because of them. The riots
in Nigeria should serve as a reminder to
all journalists that no matter how insignificant
some words may seem, they have the power
to bring out emotion and rage. The journalist
should have been more responsible with their
words.
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