On the 16th of February 2016, the
leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) adopted Senator Ali Modu
Sheriff (aka SARS), a two-time ANPP Governor of Borno state, a former ANPP
senator, the former Chairman of the All Peoples Congress (APC) Board of
Trustees and the indisputable founder of Boko Haram as its Acting National
Chairman.
Modu-Sheriff is also the
erstwhile godfather and sponsor of Governor Shettima Ali, the present APC
Governor of Borno state (until they fell out), he is a man that has a very deep
and profound relationship and association with Idris Deby, the President of
Chad and he is a man whose son is married to the daughter of President
Muhammadu Buhari.
Many have argued that his allegiance is
more to the Republic of Chad than it is to Nigeria, that he is an agent of the
Chadian intelligence agencies and that he is a Chadian citizen who often
flaunts his Chadian passport. I cannot confirm the veracity of these assertions
but one thing that I know is that most of Modu Sheriff's funding and stupendous
wealth emanates primarily from the Republic of Chad and that that country is as
much a home to him as is Nigeria.
Yet it is not his connection with Chad
that give me cause for concern. Rather it is his role in the establishment of
Boko Haram. The truth is that appointing him as our Acting National Chairman is
like appointing Jack the Ripper as the leader of the Conservative party in
Victorian England.
Kudos must go to the elders in the PDP
Board of Trustees, a number of State Party Chairmen and a number of key
individuals in the PDP Ministers Forum for taking a courageous and noble stand
by rejecting and resisting the imposition of this abominable monstrosity.
What Ali Modu Sheriff stands for and
represents is utterly repugnant to every fiber of my being. Yet I have no
objection to his being a member of the PDP simply because politics is a game of
numbers. It is a game in which everyone, no matter how big or small, counts. If
you want your party to grow and make progress you must accept the good, the bad
and the ugly.
To this end when he left the APC and
joined the PDP sometime back, I was one of those that gladly welcomed him into
our ranks and defended him in the public realm. This was at a time when others
criticized the party for accepting him.
There is however a world of difference
between accepting him as one of the many leaders of the PDP and appointing him
as the Acting National Chairman. Others may seek to justify such a course of
action but I cannot, in good conscience, do so. To me it is a matter of
principle. If we accept this then on what moral grounds did we condemn or
oppose the APC or the APC-led Federal Government during the course of the last
Presidential election?
If we are comfortable with the likes of
Ali Modu Sheriff leading us then on what basis did we criticize and oppose
President Muhammadu Buhari for appearing to support Boko Haram when he said
''an attack on Boko Haram is an attack on the north''? If we insist on Ali Modu
Sheriff being our National Chairman then we may as well go and apologize to the
APC for all our past criticisms and condemnations and join them.
On what basis can we accept as our
National Chairman a man who established, encouraged, supported and nurtured an
organisation that later metamorphosised into Boko Haram? This is a terrorist
organisation whose ultimate objective is to turn Nigeria into an Islamic
fundamentalist state by the use of terror and the force of arms?
On what basis can we accept a man to
lead us whose Commissioner of Religious Affairs when he was Governor of Borno
state, one Alhaji Buji Foi, was the de facto operational commander of Boko
Haram. The man was later murdered by those closest to him after investigations
into who and how Boko Haram was founded commenced.
On what basis can we accept as our
National Chairman a man who helped to create an organisation that wishes to
establish sharia as the norm in our country, repeal all our criminal and civil
laws, ban all our civil liberties and human rights, proscribe the teaching of
western education in our schools, turn our women into 6th century sex slaves
and abrogate the secularity of our state.
On what basis can we accept as our
leader a man who supported a group that wishes to suspend our constitution,
wipe out the Christian faith and the practice of moderate Islam in our country
and create an evil ISIL-type empire in our nation?
I really do wonder whether those
that made this decision have lost all sense of rationality? I wonder whether
they have lost their ability to see reason properly and to exercise their
discretion in a logical, responsible and lucid manner?
I wonder whether they have lost their
fear of God? I wonder whether they have forgotten the evil that was visited on
our people, and is still being visited on them, over the last seven years by
Boko Haram? I wonder whether they know at whose instance it was that Mohammed
Yusuf, the erstwhile leader of Boko Haram, was killed by our security forces
whilst in police custody in 2009 just so that he wouldn't live to tell the
whole world who gave him the funds to set up his murderous cult?
I wonder whether they have forgotten
the terrible havoc that Boko Haram unleashed on our citizens? I wonder whether
they have forgotten the tears, wailing and suffering of the bereaved. I wonder
whether they have forgotten the slaughter of the innocents. I wonder whether
they have forgotten those that were beheaded, those that were chopped to pieces
and thrown down wells like dog meat and those that were burnt alive?
I wonder whether they have forgotten
the savage and bestial rape, murder and abduction of the Chibok girls and all
the other little girls that suffered a similar fate in recent times? I wonder
whether they have forgotten that our nation is still at war with the
bloodthirsty barbarians that committed these atrocities?
Since when did we, as a political
party, lose our memories and jettison our moral compass in this way? Since when
did we become so callous, shameless and insensitive? Since when did greed and
the lust for power and money determine and motivate our every course of action?
Since when did we throw away caution, decency and principle? Since when did we
become so barbarous and uncivilized?
Since when did so few make a decision
that will affect the lives and fortunes of so many in a profoundly negative
way? Have we forgotten about the priests and servants of the Living God that
were crucified by Boko Haram at their own church alters? Have we forgotten
those that had their homes, schools, churches, mosques and properties pillaged,
robbed and burnt to the ground by this group of godless Phillistines? Have we
forgotten that the international community, through the International Terror
Index, has rightly described Boko Haram as the ''most deadly terrorist
organization in the world''?
Have we forgotten those gallant young
military officers that were killed at the war front whilst fighting this evil
plague, all in their quest to keep us safe, to secure our borders and to
protect our property and people? Does all that count for nothing? Is this the
way to pay them back for their great sacrifice and their noble courage? Are we
prepared to throw away all decency and morality just to seek favor with a
handful of misguided mortals and in a futile attempt to win political power?
Simply put has the leadership of the
PDP gone completely mad or are they working for elements outside the PDP? Are
they suggesting that you need a godless Haramite to run the affairs of the
party before we can ever win power at the center again? Where is the patience
and fortitude that is required from true leaders? Where is their faith in God?
Where is their sincerity of purpose? Does the leadership of the PDP really
believe that it has kept faith with the founding fathers of the party, those
that trusted them with power and those that bestowed them with leadership?
There were so many other people that
they could have chosen to lead our party from the north-east. There were people
like Mohammed Wakil, Nuhu Ribadu, Bala Mohammed, Wilberforce Juta, Aliyu
Modibbo, Ahmed Gulak and so many others that could have been appointed. These
are all committed people with impeccable records of public service, high moral
standing and good character.
Instead of doing so the leadership of
the party chose to impose the most controversial, intellectually-challenged,
morally-depraved and despicable character that they possibly could to lead us
and when asked why they did so we were told that it was because ''he has plenty
of money to spend on the party'' and no less than ''5 private jets'' to lend
out to those who needed a free plane ride. Evidently we have sold our
birthright and heritage, not just for a mess of pottage like Esau, but rather
for a free ride on a private jet.
This is what a party that was once led
by successive groups of seasoned and formidable intellectuals and great men of
power, vision, courage and good character has been reduced to. This is what the
party that was founded and once led by giants like President Olusegun Obasanjo,
Chief Tony Anenih, General Ibrahim Babangida, General Aliyu Gusau, Alhaji Adamu
Ciroma, General T.Y. Danjuma, Vice President Abubakar Atiku, President
Umaru Yar’adua, President Goodluck Jonathan, Chief Bode George, Col. Ahmadu
Alli, Chief E.K. Clark, Professor Jerry Gana, Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, Chief Ken
Nnamani and so many others has degenerated to? What a pity! What a
monumental tragedy!
This is a party that once boasted
of having in its ranks many promising and dynamic bright young stars that were
collectively capable of shaking the very foundation of the civilized world and
creating new frontiers and greater hope for the future of our people and our
beleaguered nation. How are the mighty fallen.
What on earth has happened to us?
As the Book of Galatians in the Holy Bible asks, ''who has bewitched us''? Over
the the course of the last 17 years, in terms of the quality of party
leadership, the PDP has gradually descended into the unceremonious cesspit of
mediocrity. Worst still, with the recent appointment of Ali Modu Sheriff as our
Acting National Chairman, we have chosen to spit in the wind, sleep with the
dogs, dance on the graves of our fallen heroes, piss on the blood and bones of
the slaughtered innocents and wallow in the filthy pool of compromise, deceit,
doublespeak and shame.
As a consequence of this
calamitous decision we have, literally overnight, become a shell, nay a shadow,
of what we used to be. Unfolding events will prove my assertion true. I have no
doubt that time will eventually prove me right and vindicate me.
The bitter truth is that this
arrangement is an affront against the Living God and it cannot stand. Yet if it
does stand the party will pay a heavy price for it because it will inevitably
lead to the end of the PDP as we know it.
Imposing Ali Modu-Sheriff is an insult
to all those that have fought for, led, served, defended, supported and risked
everything for the party, at every level, over the last 17 years. Only the
deeply malevolent can be comfortable with such an arrangement.
It is evil. It is godless. It is
indefensible. It is shameful and as long as it stands the PDP does not have the
moral standing or authority to criticize or condemn others. Those that made
this decision behind closed doors and without proper or wide consultations have
murdered sleep.
They have not only betrayed the
confidence that the rest of us bestowed upon them but they have also prepared
the coffin for our great party and dug its grave. It is a tragedy of monumental
proportions and I have little doubt that God will judge them for what they have
done.
Fani-Kayode, former Aviation Minister, was the spokesman of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation for the 2015 general election.
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