“We have all summoned courage. They have deceived us to take our inheritance. We are going to get our inheritance back.
I want to say one thing: they have started again. I want to
reveal one secret here. They have started subtle moves to make Nigeria an
Islamic nation. But God will not allow it.
This was done in 1984 but it failed. I cannot run away. I am Ayo
Fayose. If you hit me, you hit trouble. If I hit you, you will be in trouble.
Nigeria is a free nation
and this nation will not be taken for an
Islamic nation. Today, I decree the return of a PDP government in 2019″-
Governor Ayo Fayose, Port Harcourt, 26th February,
2016.
Ayo Fayose’s words give cause for concern and I must confess that I share his views. Ever since my
TED EX lecture in 2014 which was titled ”the Rise Of Islamic Fundamentalism In
Nigeria” my greatest crime, in the eyes of my detractors, is that I have fearlessly
and continuously stood up to and spoken out against the evil of islamic fundamentalism and the cancer of islamist terror in our country.
Whether it be Boko Haram and
its numerous facilitators and sponsors, the Fulani militias and herdsmen, the
APC hidden agenda of islamisation of Nigeria or elements within the core
northern ruling class who have often promoted and, in some cases openly
supported and funded, terror and the cold-blooded murder of our compatriots, I
have always stood against it.
This does not mean
that I am anti-Muslim because I am not. I believe in religious diversity and I consider it to be a privilige to live in a plural, multi-religious
and multi-ethnic nation where people of all faiths are respected and are allowed to live their lives freely.
As a matter of fact I
believe that our diversity is our strength and that there is nothing more
beautiful than a true Muslim or a true Christian practicing their faith in accordance with their traditions. We are,
after all, all children of Abraham and what binds us together is our faith and
belief in one God that created the universe and that rules in the affairs of
men.
What I will not accept though is the implementation of a
terrorist agenda and the destruction of the lives and way of life of others by
a small minority of religious zealots and ethnic bigots.
I will not accept the fellowship of those that have been
brainwashed and utterly possessed by the Salifist/Wahhabi philosophy which was
covertly exported to much of the Sunni Muslim world by sinister and clandestine
forces that reside in Saudi Arabia. I cannot abide those that kill in the name
of God and that use the great faith of Islam to oppress others and force them
to do their will.
Those of us that are not Muslims are not slaves in this
country and neither can we ever be. Those of us that are moderate Muslims in
this country and that do not share the abominable views of the Islamic
fundamentalists and the islamists cannot be slaves either.
Yet that does not mean that a misguided few will not attempt
to impose their will on the rest of us. To this extent I wholeheartedly concur
with Ayo Fayose’s view that there are covert moves by some extremists that are
in the corridors of power to quietly and secretly islamise our country and that
they are attempting to do so with contempt and impunity.
If anyone doubts that this is the case or believes that it
cannot happen they should read the history of Turkey and find out how what was
once a christian nation was eventually transformed into a full blown Muslim
state.
The truth is that Fayose has said nothing new. I have said
it many times before. I saw this coming and I warned Nigerians against it but
no-one would listen. Now the scales are slowly falling from their eyes.
Two events in the last few days, more than any others in
recent times, have confirmed this fact. Firstly there was the horrendous
massacre of over 300 people in Agatu, Benue state, a christian community, by
hundreds of well-armed Muslim Fulani militias and herdsmen.
In their usual way when it comes to atrocities committed by
the Fulani militias, our government refused to comment on or react to the ugly
incident for many days and up until there was a national and international
outcry.
Secondly there was the abduction of a 14 year old Christian
girl by the name of Esse from her home in Bayelsa state to far away Kano where
she was kept from her parents, forced to convert to Islam, married off to an
old man against her will and hidden in the Emir of Kano’s palace.
All efforts by her parents to see and free their daughter
have failed and to make matters worse officials of both the state and Federal
government have refused to intervene and rescue the little girl from the
slavery and torment of her abductors.
I wonder how much more shame, injustice and indignity we
have to suffer as a faith and as a people before we react to such
wickedness and injustice? We have even
been denied the right to protest because when we do so we are accused, quite
wrongly, of being anti-Islam.
Well I am not anti-Islam but I am anti-injustice. I am not
anti-Islam but I am anti-wickedness, anti-ethnic and religious domination,
anti-slavery, anti-fascism, anti-religious extremism and bigotry,
anti-pedophilia, anti-Boko Haram, anti-Boko Haram sponsors and anti-armed
Fulani militias and herdsmen.
I am anti-anything that brings blood, sweat and tears to my
people and anti-anyone that kills, steals and destroys my nation and my
compatriots.
I am anti-the dark forces from hell who have plagued our
people with their unadulterated violence and their religious and ethnic
intolerance over the years and who erroneously believe that they own Nigeria.
The days of remaining silent out of fear of reprisals and
insults or in the name of political correctness are long over. If I am the only
voice left in Nigeria to do so I will continue to speak out and stand against
this evil.
I will also speak out against the notoriously indifferent,
lukewarm, cowardly and stoic disposition of those amongst us who appear to be
happy to be the victims and who are ready to accept this barbarity and live
with it.
No matter what I will not bend from this course, I will not
flinch and I will not compromise. I will not run away from my calling and doing
that which the Living God has called me to do.
I would rather we redefine Nigeria than sit by silently as
my people and those that share my faith are slowly and systematically turned
into slaves by a tiny minority.
The situation in our country today gives cause for concern
and raises many questions about precisely where we are heading. The assertion that Fayose has made compels us
to ask, whither Nigeria?
And there are many
other troubling events that give us cause to ask the same question.
Consider the following. Thousands of IPOB members and
Biafrans are regularly slaughtered by our security agencies. We must ask,
wither Nigeria?
 |
| Shia Muslims are murdered |
Thousands of Shia Muslims are murdered in cold blood and
regularly tormented by our Armed Forces. We must ask, whither Nigeria?
Thousands of Middle Belters and southerners are regularly
raped, abducted and butchered by Fulani militias and herdsmen. We must ask,
whither Nigeria?
Thousands of ordinary working class northerners are
regularly massacred by Boko Haram. We must ask, whither Nigeria?
Yet all hope is not lost and we must not despair. I am glad
that President Muhamnadu Buhari has said that our country will not join the
military coalition of Islamic nations that Saudi Arabia is putting together.
This is a welcome development that has allayed the fears of
many but it is clearly not enough and he must go further.
The next step that he must take is to properly address the
agitation for Biafra and attempt to make life a little easier and better for
the people of the east.
He must acknowledge the fact that self-determination is an
inalienable right and that the only way to forge national unity is by consensus
and the enthronement of equity and justice and not by state-sponsored tyranny
and the spilling of blood.
He must accept the fact that when you beat a child for
long enough one day he will stand up,
say ‘’enough is enough’’, rise up in his own defense and beat you back.
It is time for us to stop beating those that call themselves
Biafrans and to stop regarding Biafra as a dirty word. It is time for us to
enter into a meaningful dialogue with them rather than subject them to insults
and opprobrium.
 |
| Mr. Nnamdi Kanu |
It takes nothing from Nigeria if and when we make these
concessions. As a matter of fact the contrary is the case: it would simply
confirm our humanity and reaffirm our sense of justice and decency.
Whether those that hold the levers of power in our
pathologically conservative and obsessive ruling class wish to acknowledge and
accept it or not, today’s reality is that Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, rightly or
wrongly, has become a hero to millions
of young Igbos all over the world. His name is etched in their hearts and
memories.
Like Che Guevera and Fidel Castro of old he brings the hope
of a new and better life to an aggrieved and abused people and a new
generation.
He is viewed by the majority of his kinsmen as the
emancipator of an oppressed region and the champion of their collective
aspirations and dreams. Simply put he has been transformed and elevated into the status of a living symbol: a symbol of
the their deep yearning for liberty and
freedom.
We can be rest assured that the seed that he has planted in
the psyche of the Igbo youth is here to
stay. As each day passes it grows bigger
and stronger and it becomes more and more
irresistible.
The appropriate response to the agitation for Biafra is not
the forceful establishment and implementation of an insidious and relentless
religious and ethnic agenda which is designed to hold Nigeria together by force
because this will not work.
Instead it is a
display of maturity, understanding, moderation, equity and fair play in all
matters touching and concerning governance and the running of the Nigerian
state.
A better understanding and appreciation of this most basic
of all principles will bring more stability to our country and more joy to our
people. Indeed it is the only way to
guarantee our peace and it may well buy a
united and indivisible Nigeria many more years.
Permit me to end this contribution with an insighful and timely word from Mr. Babatunde O.
Gbadamosi who is an.outstanding public commentator from an illustrious and
distinguished lineage. On 28th February he wrote the following on his Facebook
wall:
“The “Fulani Cattle Rearers” is a remix of the Serbian
Vigilantes that Slobodan Milosevic used to intimidate the rest of Yugoslavia,
until the Croats and the Albanians decided to fight back. Today, Yugoslavia is
dead and buried, and Croatia is one of the success stories of Europe. If some
people think they can intimidate the rest of us, the arms dealers are looking
for customers, and the same people that sold them guns will sell to everyone
else”.
I am a man of peace
and I abhor violence yet this is indeed
food for thought.
By Femi Fani-Kayode
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