“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 privilege 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-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? 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.
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.
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