WAWA*, Islamic Law Edition

Hurray for Sharia in Nigeria. Islamists in the north of the country used to clash with Christians and sentence their own to stoning. But now that they've settled into power, they've settled down to the business of governing:

State officials are using Islamic exhortations on cleanliness to encourage recycling of the plastic bags that choke landfills and gutters. One governor, citing the Islamic duty to care for the indigent, recently instituted a monthly stipend for disabled beggars.

I don't know if there's any message here, other than Nigeria is just impossible to figure out. It turns the crazies sane and the sanes crazy.

I just finished Martin Meredith's chapter on Nigeria in the 90's this morning: It was impossible to navigate. And Meredith's book, is one of the best book of narrative history I've ever read. But even he can't make a straightforward story out of the place.

*"West Africa Wins Again"