Category World News

Canadians are informed that US President Donald Trump is “trying to break us,” thanks to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s victory in the election. In his trade war, Trump threatened to make Canada the nation’s 51st state. He also targeted the Canadian economy.

Vaibhav Suryavanshi, 14, became the youngest player to reach a century in the Indian Premier League and created a frenzied international scene. Suryavanshi managed just 35 balls to score 100 runs. So who exactly is he?

Nigeria’s Nsukka, Nigeria, has been a crossroads between the two spiritual traditions: Christianity and African traditional religion.

His life was always marked by mystery, says the 59-year-old who was raised a devout nondenominational Christian in Amachi Nsulu, near Aba in southeast Nigeria.

He sped over the course of a year before going missing. “I was found the next morning in the same trench they searched the previous day”, he said.

He suddenly suddenly erupted and became extremely ill, and his parents took him to the hospital, but when his condition did not improve, they sought medical advice from a traditional healer. The dibia (priest and medicine man) attributed his illness to the gods, saying it was a sign of Nwaohia’s inescapable destiny to lead his people in the ancient traditions of the Igbo people.

According to Nwaohia, “the dibia said that I was my grandfather’s reincarnation.” “His return to the earth as a powerful traditional priest was foretold]before he died]”.

In various West African cultures and spiritual practices, such doctrine is not uncommon. But Nwaohia’s mother, due to her deep Christian faith, received the prophecy with doubt and kept it from her son.

In 1983, Nwaohia received the baptismal rites. But on the day of the baptism, he had an accident. He said, “I suddenly veered into the bush and sustained fleshly injuries, but my co-rider was unscathed,” and that was a sign he was heading in the wrong direction.

But back then, Nwaohia was still ignorant of the prophecy, so at age 18, he became a Bible teacher at a church in his hometown.

He sought medical attention after a second road accident, one in which a car accident in 1987, left him with leg injuries that he claimed would not heal despite years of hospital treatment. He then turned to a friend’s counsel and sought medical attention from a doctor. The wounds, the dibia told him, were signs that Nwaohia’s calling to the priesthood in the African traditional faith was due.

Nwaohia, who was 23 years old, explained what the dibia said to his mother. She finally revealed the prophecy she received about him many years ago. He felt his path was now clearer, and he gradually accepted his new spiritual role, despite her reluctance.

“People who identify and follow their true path will thrive, while those who stray will face difficulties until they find their way back”, said Nwaohia, who claims his leg injury healed on its own after he embraced his calling.

In a lavish ceremony that included frenzied dances, rituals of purification and vision, as well as drumming and initiations, he was formally ordained a dibia in 1993. Other spiritualists offered Igbo prayers to Chukwu (the supreme being), Ndi Ichie (the ancestors), and the gods and spirits that control the physical and spiritual worlds, asking for acceptance, guidance, protection and blessings.

Christianity is the number one religion in Nigeria, a country of more than 200 million people. However, according to religious leaders and observers Al Jazeera spoke to, a growing number of young people have been converting from monotheistic beliefs to Indigenous African beliefs in the years since Nwaohia changed his spiritual path.

There is a dearth of data and research on the issue, observers said, but they started noticing the trend in the early 2000s. Some believe pastors who emphasize material wealth over spiritual well-being, which is contrary to the Bible’s teachings, make people consider alternative religious options.

Coexistence or irreconcilable differences?

Portuguese traders and slavers introduced Christianity to Nigeria for the first time in the 15th century. However, the faith was restricted to the coastal areas of the country where they were based. Up until the 19th century when British colonialists arrived, this was in effect. The Christian faith then spread to various parts of Nigeria through the efforts of missionaries and some emancipated slaves.

However, Nigerians had a religious belief system that focused on deep ties to their ancestors, the physical and spiritual worlds, and community-specific deities prior to the advent of Christianity and other monotheistic faiths like Islam.

Today, many converts leaving Christianity face opposition at home. For one, Nwaohia’s mother initially disapproved of his conversion as an insult to her beliefs.

Families of converts also fear the social stigma associated with traditional beliefs. Many people mistrust their ancestors, their divination, and other spiritual practices. Worshippers can face severe discrimination, with beliefs branded “pagan”, “demonic” or “witchcraft”. This reflects colonial missionaries’ influence, according to observers, who viewed indigenous faith as archaic and dangerous spiritually.

However, for adherents of African traditional religion, both beliefs often coexist.

Some people go to church on Sundays, and others go to a dibia’s office for advice, while also engaging in traditional and Christian rituals like funerals or naming ceremonies.

The adherents of traditional faith interviewed by Al Jazeera say all religious divinity is captured in their pantheon, including the Christian God. Many people then combine Christian and indigenous practices.

This approach to religion has become attractive in a society where religious zealotry has caused division and violence, including conflict between Christians and Muslims.

Echezona Obiagbaosogu, 49, a former Catholic priest who now practises both Christian and traditional faiths, recounted the story of a man who remained both a devoted Christian and a rainmaker, even serving on the parish council until his death. Despite these instances of harmonious coexistence, he noted that some zealous preachers claim that the two religions are unrelated.

The search for personal conviction is inspiring a return to the kind of faith many Africans link to their roots. At one point in his priestly career, Obiagbaosogu found himself unsure whether his spiritual path was truly in tune with his inner convictions.

“I felt that maybe my personal relationship with God needed something more from me”, he said, without elaborating on what he felt was missing. In his 16th year as a priest, he embraced traditional religion in 2022 after seven years of internal struggle and finding no solution in Christianity.

He had also faced similar challenges in the seminary where he studied, leading him to start a society for African culture with his colleagues to explore African religious concepts or practices and their place in Christianity.

Obiagbaosogu believes that different interpretations of the supernatural can be found in both Christian and traditional religious practices.

“Humans crown realities and create concepts, and we become slaves to the concepts we create. When you choose to cut yourself off from the ideas, nothing happens, he said.

‘ Easy money ‘

Some people claim that the shift in young people’s attitudes toward traditional African religion has been fueled by their own spiritual beliefs, along with their own perceptions, as well as their desire for easy wealth.

Many young people embrace traditional beliefs thinking it will lead to&nbsp, wealth, some clergy say, due to the belief that alignment with the deities and spirits can grant blessings, financial breakthroughs or supernatural aid in personal and economic endeavours.

They are very interested in making money, according to Catholic priest Anthony Oluba, who says the African traditional religion provides them with an easy way to do so.

But some argue that it is in fact Christian churches ‘ emphasis on material wealth that has caused them to want to leave the religion.

The commercialization of some Christian churches and their preference for wealthy people have undermined their religious credibility, according to Kingsley Akunwafor, a tailor and former Catholic.

Clerics&nbsp, demand offerings for miracles and blessings, distracting the Christian church from core responsibilities, including the spiritual welfare of members, said Akunwafor, who requested a pseudonym as he now practises traditional beliefs in secret.

Some clergy are also accused of working for personal gain for the church.

Joel Ugwoke, an Anglican priest, told Al Jazeera he knows a businessman who lost confidence in the institution after he sold a Pentecostal pastor a power generator for the church. The pastor requested that the businessman charge more than the difference so he could pocket the difference without making suspicion.

Chinedu Oshaba, 37, another former Catholic, embraced traditional faith more than a decade ago after witnessing the Church&nbsp, prioritising money over empathy.

Unpaid levies prevented a devoted member from receiving a church burial. With no one to settle her debt, another church of a different denomination&nbsp, eventually conducted her funeral. She was terminated from her membership, according to Oshaba, who claimed.

Many orthodox churches collect monthly or annual levies from members, including to feed priests and bishops, maintain church buildings, and help bury members. Regardless of financial status, all members are honored in the Native faith during burial ceremonies. Oshaba sees this as an advantage over Christian churches, where the bereaved are charged for funeral services, including fees for officiating clerics and church facilities.

Some Christian clerics have observed the trend of more people seemingly moving towards African spirituality. Religious leaders said there are ongoing reforms and discussions about how to appeal to worshipers among various denominations.

Oluba’s Catholic congregation, for instance, appeals to people by providing support with agriculture, through training opportunities and grants, while Anglican priest Ugwoke says he is careful about his approach to church doctrine and how he teaches it.

According to Ugwoke, “I practice what I preach because they [the congregation] focus on me more than what I preach.”

‘ Christianity may be dislodged ‘

In Nigeria, colonialism quickly gained acceptance as a religion in the second half of the country in the 20th century. The spread was sometimes marked by violence, which killed people and displaced the Indigenous peoples who survived.

According to historian Chijioke Ngobili, “When you deceive or conquer one, two, or three generations of a people, there will always be the descendants who will defy you, having known the truth for themselves.”

Now, as social media empowers free speech, more young people are speaking up about the colonial atrocities&nbsp, in Nigeria. Some observers claim that this threatens Christianity’s supremacy.

“With young adherents of Indigenous spirituality potentially becoming future intellectuals, politicians, capitalists and policymakers, Christianity may be dislodged”, said Ngobili, who is also an adherent of traditional faith.

Some churches have reported a lack of young people who frequently take the lead in music and singing during church services. “One church even stopped using musical instruments because its young male members left for Indigenous faith”, said Oluba, the Catholic priest.

Oluba worries that the church will no longer serve as a beacon of morality and conscience in society as more young people leave. Meanwhile, other clerics worry about the young people embracing traditional faith to use it to gain wealth and power through black magic.

However, historian Ngobili contends that traditionalists are not innately dark forces, but rather were brought in by those with bad intentions.

“The bad ones take their vices – such as greed, desire for wealth without work, instant gratification, violence, among others – into the practice of Indigenous faiths”, he said.

He claimed that the improper use of particular potent practices and procedures harms the image of traditional faith, creating societal distrust and strengthening negative stereotypes.

African method of worship

At sunset on a day in January, in his hometown of Amachi Nsulu, Nwaohia gathered outdoors on the grounds of his shrine, preparing to invoke&nbsp, the gods.

Before gulping a mouthful of gin from a bottle, he used his index finger to mark the outermost edges of his eyes with a white kaolin. Then, with a pinch of kola nut between his fingers, he moved slowly between the various figurines of his oracles, decorated in animal blood.

Kola was eaten by our ancestors. Spirits drink”, he said, pouring droplets of the gin.

Nwaohia has spent a lot of time studying what he believes to be the true faith, which closers him to his ancestors and his forefathers, while diligently adhering to the customs he has learned.

The African method of worship sees prayers take place in the morning and at sunset, often accompanied by libations, with hot drinks, kola nut and kaolin. Stones, carved images and trees are considered homes for the gods, and are often used as the representation of their presence.

Then there are annual and seasonal festivals to mark the harvest seasons, as well as masquerade ceremonies. To seek blessings, protection, or guidance, offerings are made at shrines, including kola nut, yams, other food, or sacrificial animals. Blood sacrifices of fowls or goats are performed to appease spirits or mark events.

However, there is no written law that instructs adherents in carrying out specific laws.

Worshippers believe that there is a connection between humans and natural elements like the earth, water, plants and animals, and&nbsp, that certain wrongdoings – including murder, adultery and injustice – are not just an offence against humans but the entirety of nature.

Members typically spend quiet time reflecting and seeking truth and fairness in their own actions rather than gathering in a common assembly, as they do in churches.

However, a lack of mentors can be a challenge for converts. For a faith based on personal meditation, without leaders who guide and give sermons in churches, new worshippers can wallow in confusion.

When added to the shrouded nature of some ritualistic practices, this less organized structure is available for studying and comprehending important doctrines.

Young adherents from Christian homes often bear the brunt, as there is no generational transfer of knowledge.

Oshaba, whose father had already become an African traditionalist before he was born, said, “When I left the church, my father set up my shrine for me and taught me everything.” But most others do not have a guide.

In the most extreme cases, stigma makes new converts less liked by family and friends. For this reason, Akunwafor says he&nbsp, is forced to occasionally attend the Catholic Church to avoid being sidelined by his friends and relatives.

Since converting about five years ago, the tailor has secretly practiced his traditional faith.

“I am very bothered by my inability to practise my faith openly because of wrong perceptions about it, but I’m hopeful that my God will give me confidence eventually”, he said.

Similar to Obiagbaosogu, the transition was difficult. “I lost friends”, he told Al Jazeera. Although our relationship may not have been smooth, I’m making new connections and making new friends.

However, on rare occasions, loved ones do come around. Although his mother was initially upset, the entire family eventually accepted his new role as a traditional priest in Nwaohia.

Canada’s governing Liberal Party led by Prime Minister Mark Carney has won the national elections for a fourth term in a remarkable comeback prompted in part by unprecedented attacks by United States President Donald Trump.

Carney beat opposition Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre on Monday after millions of people voted in snap elections dominated by the big question: Which candidate can better handle Trump, who has slapped tariffs and threatened to annex Canada?

Here is a closer look at the results of Canada’s federal elections and what comes next.

Who won the election?

Soon after 22:00 EDT on Tuesday (02:00 GMT on Wednesday), national broadcaster CBC projected that the Liberal Party was headed to win a majority in the House of Commons to form a government.

Voting was held for the 343-member House of Commons – the lower house of parliament. A party has to win 172 seats (also called federal ridings) to form a government.

It is too soon to say whether the Liberals will cross the majority mark.

How did each party perform?

These are the seat projections for the main parties in Canada:

• The Liberals have won or are leading in 168 seats.
• Conservatives have won or are leading in 144 seats.
• The Bloc Quebecois led by Yves-Francois Blanchet, a regional party in the French-speaking province of Quebec, won or are leading in 23 seats.
• The left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP), led by Jagmeet Singh, won or are leading in 7 seats.
• The Green Party won one seat.

How do the results compare to previous years?

• In the last federal election held in 2021, the Liberals won 160 seats. In the 2019 federal election, the party won 157 seats.
• Conservatives won 119 seats in 2021 and 121 seats in 2019.
• The Bloc Quebecois won 32 seats in 2021 and 32 in 2019.
• The NDP won 25 seats in 2021 and 24 seats in 2019.
• The Green Party won two seats in 2021 and three in 2019.

What are the issues that defined this election?

Trump’s threats of tariffs and annexation were a key issue in this election, experts said.

Arguing that Canada had not done its part in preventing irregular migration and drug trafficking to the US, Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on products from Canada and a 10 percent tariff on Canadian energy.

The US president also threatened to annex Canada. “I think Canada would be much better off being a 51st state,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News in February.

“The most important factor in Canadian politics right now doesn’t live in Canada – it’s Donald Trump,” Daniel Beland, a professor at McGill University in Montreal and director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, told Al Jazeera in February.

Other issues included the affordability of groceries and housing. The Canadian cost of living crisis intensified over former PM Justin Trudeau’s tenure due to inflation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Trudeau was PM since 2015 and stepped down on March 9 this year after facing mounting pressure for months to resign.

In June 2022, the inflation rate was 8.1 percent more than the previous year, the largest yearly change since 1983, according to Statistics Canada. Some Canadians blamed Trudeau for a spike in housing prices due to his pro-immigration agenda. Last year, Poilievre made comments attacking the “massive uncontrolled population growth that put strain on our housing market, our healthcare and our job market” under Trudeau.

Inflation has since gone down and is currently at 2.3 percent. However, prices remain much higher than they were in 2020.

Why did the Liberals win?

While Poilievre, the Conservative leader, enjoyed consistent approval ratings throughout 2024, the Liberals made an unexpected jump in the opinion polls starting February this year, thanks to Trump’s diatribe against Canada.

“In Canadian polling history, at least in this century, it is the first time I’ve ever seen this. To come back from a 25-point deficit is very unheard of, especially for a government that’s been in power for almost a decade,” Philippe J Fournier, analyst and creator of electoral projection model and website 338Canada, told Al Jazeera in March.

At the time, Fournier said the growing popularity of the Liberals could be explained by Trudeau’s decision to step down, Trump’s threats and Canadians’ “discomfort” with Poilievre.

“Poilievre is using the same style and the same language and the same tactics as Trump,” Fournier said, explaining that Trump’s threats to Canada swayed swing voters away from the Conservative leader.

Carney promised to scrap some of Trudeau’s unpopular policies, including a carbon pricing programme, as Canadians faced a cost-of-living crisis.

On the campaign trail, Carney promised to handle the crisis, counter the tariffs, protect workers and take on Trump head-on. “I am ready and I have managed crises over the years … We will fight back with counter-tariffs and we will protect our workers,” he said during the English language debate on April 18. “We can give ourselves far more than Donald Trump can ever take away.”

Trump was the “elephant in the room” and Canadians needed a new candidate to deal with the US president, Bob Richardson, a Canadian public affairs analyst at Hammersmith Consulting, told Al Jazeera.

“We need an adult in the room. We need somebody with experience. We need somebody with economic experience, which [Carney] has a tonne of, having been governor of the Bank of Canada and the governor of the Bank of England… He’s more of somebody who can deal with the situation that Canada has to face over the next two or three years,” Richardson said.

Tari Ajadi, an assistant professor at the department of political science, McGill University, told Al Jazeera that Carney “came across as competent and qualified enough to lead Canada in this uncertain time. Despite being a rookie politician, he was able to run a well-managed campaign.”

He explained that another chief factor in the Liberal win was the collapse of the NDP. “A significant number of those votes went to the Liberal Party, ultimately powering them to a win.”

What were notable wins, losses and surprises?

Poilievre projected to lose his riding

The Conservative leader has been trailing Liberal candidate Bruce Fanjoy from the Carleton seat in Ontario and is projected to lose. Poilievre was first elected for the Carleton riding in 2004.

NDP’s Jagmeet Singh loses his riding

The NDP is so far projected to win 7 seats, giving it 6.3 percent of the vote share. This means the party falls short of the 12 percent share that a party needs to maintain official party status, which is needed for parliamentary privileges such as research funding.

Jagmeet Singh, 46, announced he is stepping down as the leader of the NDP on Monday. He acknowledged that his party did not perform as well as he expected it to.

Singh also did not win his riding. He conceded defeat in his constituency of Burnaby Central in British Columbia, according to reports received by Al Jazeera.

“We’re only defeated when we believe those that tell us that we can never dream of a better Canada, a fairer Canada, a more compassionate Canada,” said Singh.

“These results were quite surprising and point to the competing priorities of Canadians this election: A significant faction of Canadians wanted change, but also were terrified of the threats coming from the United States,” Ajadi from McGill University said.

“This led to a coalescing of votes on the centre and on the left at the expense of the NDP and Greens,” he added.

The election, Ajadi said, saw the strengthening of the Conservative Party on the right, with the party vote share being the highest it has been since 1998.

He said these outcomes imply a “shy Conservative” vote that empowered the Conservatives to a significant seat count, but did not get them enough seats to win the parliamentary minority.

How did party leaders react?

Carney declared victory in a speech during a rally in Ottawa, the capital of Canada. He pledged to put up a strong front in the face of Trump’s threats.

“We have built one nation in harsh conditions despite a sometimes-hostile neighbour. Yes, they have form on this, the Americans,” he said.

His speech also mentioned improving housing and energy. “We are masters in our own home. We will build millions of housing units. We will become an energy superpower. We will provide good careers in skilled trades and one economy,” the Canadian leader said, adding “this is Canada, and we decide what happens here.”

Conceding victory, Poilievre said: “I would like to congratulate Prime Minister Carney on leading this minority government.

“My fellow Conservatives, we have much to celebrate tonight. We’ve gained well over 20 seats. We got the highest share of vote our party has received since 1988,” he said at his election night headquarters in Ottawa.

Poilievre pledged to work with Liberals in countering Trump’s tariff and annexation threats.

“Conservatives will work with the prime minister and all parties with the common goal of defending Canada’s interests and getting a new trade deal that puts these tariffs behind us while protecting our sovereignty,” he said.

What happens next?

After leading the Liberals to victory, Carney will remain in the job as prime minister and form a new government and cabinet. He was sworn in as prime minister after Trudeau stepped down from his position on March 9.

If the Liberals win a majority, Carney would assemble a cabinet and work on a budget plan before the House reconvenes on May 26.

If the Liberals fall short of the majority, they would have to work with other parties to pass legislation in parliament and survive no-confidence votes. In the past, the NDP emerged as the Liberals’ natural partner.

The Conservatives are set to form the official opposition in parliament.

Ajadi from McGill University said Carney would need to reach out to other party leaders to strike some kind of deal, since the next government would likely be a minority one. “A loss of confidence vote in the House of Commons would prompt another election,” Ajadi said.