News
Sadly Racism Had Its Roots In Scripture – Reno Omokri
Many sub Saharan Africans use the term half caste innocently to refer to persons whose parents come from different races. Unawares to them, every time they use that term, they are feeding into a racist stereotype that sees us as inferior. The appropriate term is mixed race.
The phrase ‘half caste’ is derogatory and originated in Colonial India, where they have a deep seated caste system, which you are born to, as well as Australia, where the colonialists met a native Aboriginal people, and treated them rather harshly.
If you go to America and use that term, nobody will understand what you mean. It is a hurtful slur. Why? Because the word caste is from the Latin castus, meaning pure. When it was used in the 19th Century, it was meant to donate that the mixed race individual was only half pure. The purity in their eyes came from White Anglo Saxon blood. Therefore, when you use the term half caste; you, as a Black African, are accepting that your blood is not pure. Please can we as a people avoid it.
But beyond European colonialism, where do we get our ye earliest records of racism? The answer is surprisingly from Scripture.
Where did Moses find God? The answer is Ethiopia. He was married to a Black Ethiopian woman. Numbers 12:1-2. And her Black African father was Moses’ mentor in the way of God. And Moses obeyed him like a student even after leading the children of Israel out of Egypt-Exodus 18:24.
Now, when the Old Testament (what the Hebrew call the Tanakh) uses the term Ethiopia, it is actually referring to Africa. As at the time the King James Version of the Bible was translated in 1611, there was no nation called Ethiopia. Rather, the African continent was called Ethiopia and Black people were referred to as Ethiopes.
The modern nation of Ethiopia only became known by that name in 1945. Prior to that, Ethiopia was known as Abyssinia. And till today, Ethiopians do not refer to themselves as Ethiopians. They call themselves Habesha.
In Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, Romeo upon seeing Juliet for the first time proclaimed as follows:
“O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright. It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear.”
That word Ethiop, referred to a Black person.
The original word used in Numbers 12:1 which is translated Ethiopian is Cush. Cush is Hebrew for Black. There are two types of races mentioned in the entire Old Testament. Cushitic people (Blacks) and Semitic people (Hebrews and Arabs). No other race is mentioned.
Have you not asked yourself why Moses’s children never rose to prominence in Canaan, or the promised land, despite their father being a Founding Father of the Ancient Israelite nation?
Aaron’s children, who were their cousins, were very prominent, and held High Priestly positions, as did their lineage, till today.
We know that Moses had two sons, Gershom and Eliezer. We see this in 1 Chronicles 23:15.
When Moses left Ethiopia (as Black Africa was then called) for Egypt, He dispatched his wife and children to go and live with their grandfather Jethro in Midian. They only joined their father in the wilderness after the Exodus. We see this in Exodus 18:2-6.
That is the last time they were mention in Scripture, except for when their lineage was traced in 1 Chronicles 23:15.
But why? Why would the children of such a prominent man have to be sent away from him to live with their grandfather, and only visit their father in the wilderness. The answer to that lies in Numbers 12:1. That verse says in the NIV:
“Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite.”
The KJV says:
“And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.”
The reason Gershom and Eliezer faded away, is because of the racism in the Israelite nation against them.
Reno Omokri
#TableShaker.
Aloy Ejimakor, lead counsel for Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has accused the Department of State Services (DSS) of denying the agitator access to his legal team and visitors, in violation of existing court orders.
Ejimakor expressed growing concern over Kanu’s health and wellbeing following the DSS’s latest refusal to allow his legal team to see him. The incident occurred during a routine visit to the DSS headquarters in Abuja on October 14, 2024, as part of a court-ordered visitation schedule.
“We were blocked from seeing Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in direct violation of subsisting court orders,” Ejimakor revealed in a statement. He further noted that Kanu has been denied visitors since his last court appearance on September 24, 2024, when the IPOB leader demanded that Justice Binta Nyako recuse herself from his case due to a lack of confidence. Although the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, overruled the recusal, the DSS has consistently blocked access to Kanu since then.
Ejimakor raised alarms about the DSS’s actions, suggesting that they may be related to Kanu’s successful bid to have Justice Nyako step down, even though her recusal was later overturned. He added that previous attempts to enforce court compliance through legal applications have been ignored, leaving the impression that the DSS is acting above the law.
“The DSS should remember that court-ordered visitations are meant for Kanu’s relatives and lawyers to ensure his wellbeing. Now that access has been completely denied, one must ask: What is the DSS hiding? Is Mazi Nnamdi Kanu hale and hearty?” Ejimakor questioned.
This latest development has fueled ongoing tensions, as the legal battle surrounding Kanu’s trial intensifies, with the DSS facing increasing criticism for defying judicial orders and infringing on Kanu’s rights.
Three kidnappers suspected to have attempted to kidnap the wife of a member of the Delta State House of Assembly have been killed by the police in a fierce gun duel.
According to the information on PUNCH Metro, it was gathered that the hoodlums had failed in an attempt to kidnap the woman on September 2, 2024, at the Okoloba Junction, Jakpa Road, Uvwie, where the suspected kidnappers killed two policemen and the driver, Mr. David Imela, during the incident.
However, the police spokesperson, Bright Edafe, confirmed this to the PUNCH Metro on Sunday in Asaba, the Delta State capital.
He said, “Following the failed attempted kidnap of the wife of one of the members of Delta State House of Assembly where the suspected kidnappers murdered two Mobile Policemen and the driver, the Commissioner of Police, Olufemi Abaniwonda, immediately ordered a water-tight deployment around Warri and its environs as well as narrowing the roads and blockage of all exit points.
“Police operatives of the Ebrumede Division led by the DPO CSP Iwok Ndifereke strategically deployed and created an artificial hold-up at the DSC Roundabout and sighted the vehicle as described with a matching registration number.
“On noticing the traffic and sighting the policemen, the hoodlums opened fire on the team which the team equally responded professionally owing to the busy nature of the area.”
He said the hoodlums immediately abandoned the vehicle shattered with bullets and escaped with bullet injuries while three AK-47 rifles and their operational vehicle with registration no. WWR-436-GZ were recovered.
According to Edafe, the CP who was not satisfied with their escape, directed that the DPO Ebrumede should go all out and ensure the suspects were arrested and brought to book.
“Armed with available information and exhibits found in the abandoned vehicle, on October 3, 2024, the DPO Ebrumede Division, CSP Iwok Ndifereke, led operatives to their hideout in Agbarho where the police engaged the suspects in a fierce gun duel.
“The policemen who prepared for the battle ahead overpowered the hoodlums, three of the suspects sustained serious gunshot injuries while others escaped and another AK-47 rifle was also recovered.
“The suspects were taken to the hospital where they were confirmed dead. A manhunt for the other fleeing members of the gang is ongoing,” he said.
Edafe said Olufemi also commended the bravery the DPO and his men displayed during the operation and urged other officers and men of the command to emulate them.
The Ogun State police command on Monday said that its Igbeba Division, Ijebu-Ode, arrested one Shedrack Olawale Olayemi, who had been on the police wanted list for armed robbery and alleged rape of some female students of Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun, in July.
The spokesperson for the state police command, SP Omolola Odutola, disclosed this in a statement sent to journalists on Monday.
Odutola said that Olayemi was picked up after an intelligence report revealed that the 33-year-old alleged armed robber and rapist was sighted at the university area, Ijagun, where he has been trying to conceal his identity.
The statement said, “The divisional police officer of Igbeba Division has arrested a wanted notorious suspect for armed robbery.
“Following a tip-off, that one Olayemi Olawale Shedrack, aged 33 was sighted in Ijagun, trying to conceal himself among other citizens, but his identity was immediately confirmed by intelligence, and the police were contacted. In swift action, he was apprehended.
“Olayemi Olawale Shedrack has been on the police search for armed robbery and rape. He was fingered as the prime suspect for an alleged crime of armed robbery and rape in which he participated actively on the 21st of July, 2024, where he and his cohort broke into a female Royal Villa accommodation area in Tai University of Education Ijagun, where he robbed harmless female students of their luxury educational devices, including laptops, iPhones, sports wristwatches and cash, and further had unlawful carnal knowledge of the innocent female student and has since fled.”
The police said that a preliminary investigation has commenced, and the suspect has been immediately taken to the Igbeba police station for interrogation and will soon be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for discreet investigation and prosecution.
