You may read the first part of this article, Femi Fani-Kayode: The Niger Delta Crusaders, Muslim Pilgrims, And The United States Of Nigeria, HERE
Sadly many
in the conservative core north remain unconvinced. For example the
Arewa Consultative Forum issued a statement on the 7th August in which
they stated their total opposition to restructuring and instead of
offering an olive branch of peace and understanding to its advocates who
are predominantly in the south they issued the usual warnings of dire
consequences if the matter is pushed too far.
Worst still a few days ago the Emir of
Katsina publicly admonished all northerners to support the government of
President Buhari insisting that they had a duty to do so. His words.
“President Muhammadu Buhari is trying
his best to rectify the situation and we must support and encourage him.
During this trying period, we as northerners are expected to support
President Buhari and his team instead of joining others to criticize
them.” (The Sun Newspaper, 7th AUGUST 2016).
There are no prizes for guessing who the “others” that he is referring to are because it is self-evident.
What the Emir appears to have forgotten
is that had it not been for a sizeable number of votes from the South
West the President would not have had a hope in hell of being elected.
Simply put, what he is saying is that
Buhari is effecting a clear and simple northern agenda which must be
supported by all true sons and daughters of the North.
He is also suggesting that the feelings and sensibilities of those that oppose him from the South do not matter.
Meanwhile, the tension that is being
generated by the sectional nature of President Buhari’s policies and
government continues to escalate and a face-off is imminent.
Nothing reflects this fact better than
the words and obvious concerns of the Ohanaeze Youth Wing who condemned
the fact that whilst the Buhari administration continues to keep Mr.
Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of IPOB in prison, they are releasing hundreds
of murderous Boko Haram terrorists from detention. Their words:
“Buhari’s Federal Government continues
to jail Nnamdi Kanu and other Biafrans while Boko Haram terrorists are
being released from prisons. It beats the imagination that terrorists
who have been responsible for the death of innocent Nigerians are being
released while unarmed freedom fighters are kept behind bars against
court orders” (Vanguard Newspaper, August 8th, 2016).
They also went as far as to suggest that Mr. Kanu’s continued detention may “trigger a crisis in the South East”.
Not to be left out, the Northern youths,
under the auspices of the Northern Youths Leaders Assembly issued a
statement on the 8th of August threatening to deal with anyone or any
group of people who continue to criticise or try to “tarnish the image”
of President Buhari.
Their words:
“We will no longer tolerate any insults
to the family and members of the President’s cabinet and we will
mobilize all our resources to take on anyone who thinks they can use
their image as a chess pawn in the game playing out in the media. We
hereby warn that the north will no longer tolerate any further attack on
the image, family and character of President Muhammadu Buhari in his
quest to make Nigeria a better place for all” (Vanguard Newspaper, 8th
AUGUST 2016).
Yet the most chilling warning of all
came from yet another militant group in the Niger Delta Area known as
the Adaka Boro Avengers. They went a step further than their brothers in
arms, the Niger Delta Crusaders, by saying
“On the threat by Boko Haram to kill
Christians we are also sending this message to those Northerners who
want to burn and kill Christians in North in the name of the Islamic
religion to commence immediately but they must know that one Niger Delta
soul will be exchanged for 100 Northern souls” (Vanguard Newspaper, 8th
AUGUST, 2016).
These are dangerous words from dangerous
people. We ignore them at our own peril. It is clear to the discerning
that now, possibly more than at any other time in the beleaguered
history of our country, we need prayers to ensure a peaceful resolution
to what is essentially an extremely complicated problem that presents us
with an existential threat.
Only a fool would disregard the fact
that the ethnic and religious polarisation that we are faced with today
is real and that the drums of war are beating in our country.
When one considers all of the above is
it any wonder that yours truly wrote the following words in my column a
couple of weeks ago. I said:
“The prayer is no longer ‘God bless Nigeria’ but rather ‘God break Nigeria’.
It is no longer ‘God defend Nigeria’ but rather ‘God restructure Nigeria’.
It is no longer ‘God deliver Nigeria’ but rather ‘God deliver US FROM Nigeria’.
It is no longer ‘God preserve Nigeria’ but rather ‘God redefine Nigeria’.
It is no longer ‘God remember Nigeria’ but rather ‘God dismember Nigeria’ “-
(‘NIGERIA’S THIRD MAHDI AND THE LAST OF THE AMALEKITE KINGS’, THE SUN NEWSPAPER, NEW TELEGRAPH NEWSPAPER, 25th JULY, 2016).
Clearly things are falling apart. Yet if
the Buhari administration continues to ignore our concerns and
admonitions and if they continue to insist on arresting and locking us
up and attempting to intimidate us simply for our timely counsel and
interventions perhaps they will listen to one of their own.
If they do not wish to hear the truth
about the way forward from us perhaps they would be ready to hear it
from someone who openly supported them and helped them to come to power
last year.
That person is none other than the
distinguished and highly respected General Alani Akinrinade, a war-hero,
an elder-statesman, a revered and respected Yoruba elder and a leading
supporter of President Buhari and the APC during the 2015 presidential
elections. In July he said the following to the Sun Newspaper:
“First, the APC must be told, in no
uncertain terms that it is fraudulent. They led us down the garden path,
lying to us about what is in the end of the tunnel.
What was in the end of the tunnel was
restructuring and each one of them, the party chairman, the president,
his vice, and in that order, are all talking from the other side of
their mouths now. In other words, they lied to us in 2015 before the
election.
My message to them is, they should
embark on a very major exercise now to restructure the country,
otherwise, how do they propose to settle the crisis in the South-South
because it is becoming embarrassing.
A man whose land you went to tap
resources and then he couldn’t farm or fish, because you bastardised his
farmland and you then send back to him stipends from what you took away
from his land, such a man can never be happy”.
“Is the APC thinking that the matter of
religion, ethnicity and other crises across the country are just going
to go away? Even the late Sardauna of Sokoto said so, that we are a
disparate people and we must recognise that fact and use it to our
advantage.
Nobody is going to build Nigeria the way
APC is going about it. I’m not too sure how many people sing our
National Anthem again because they don’t even believe in it.
There is nothing like unity in this
country. Unity can only exist when we all understand one another and
there are some mutual relationships.
If I know you are always cheating me by
giving 44 local councils to Kano and giving Lagos 20, which is not in
the same parameter with Kano in terms of population, production and name
it, how can I be happy”?
“However rickety Nigeria has become, if there is a wholesome reconstruction and re-engineering of the system, it can work.
That was the major reason the Southwest
went along with the APC and Buhari, as the presidential candidate in
2015….to tell us that he didn’t read the recommendations (of the 2014
National Conference) and that it is best for the archives and that, in
fact, restructuring is unnecessary and according to his Vice, what we
needed is diversification and whatsoever, I remain baffled.
They were just saying we would diversify
into agriculture and solid minerals, as if the items will come from
heaven.. If the APC fails to do something in that direction, I’m not
talking about the 2014 conference report alone, but all others preceding
it that have similar recommendations to restructure this country, then
President Buhari may forget it and I’m saying he is likely to be the
last president of this country. It is as bad as that”- ( ‘A REALITY
CHECK FROM GENERAL ALANI AKINRINADE’ THISDAY NEWSPAPER, 5 AUGUST, 2016).
It took courage for Akinrinade to speak
up in this way and I commend him for it. His words and counsel are
timely and I hope that those that are in power today are humble enough
to accept them and retrace their steps.
Of all the heroes in both history and
mythology the greatest were King David of Israel, William Wallace of
Scotland, King Leonides of Sparta, Hector of Troy, Alexander the Great
of Macedonia, King Jehu the son of Nimshi and Achilles of the Mermidans.
They all stood for the truth. They all
loved their God. They all had faith and the courage of their
convictions. They all refused to bow before the enemy. They all fought
till the end.
O that we had just a handful of such
gallant men in Nigeria: we would have restructured long ago and made
waves in the comity of nations.
O that we had more men who have the courage of their convictions and who are prepared to risk all and speak truth to power.
Permit me to end this contribution with
the words of Minister Louis Farrakhan the leader of the Nation of Islam
in the United States of America. On August 7th he said:
“Anarchy may await America due to the
daily injustices suffered by the people. There really can be no peace
without justice. There can be no justice without truth. And there can be
no truth unless someone rises up to tell you the truth”.
I concur. And this applies in the
Nigerian context and to the Nigerian situation more than any other.
There can and will be no peace in this country without justice.
That justice begins with “restructuring” and it ends with “separation” and the birth of two or more new nations out of one.
Why? Because the Bible says “there is no
fellowship between light and darkness”. It says “there can be no love
or friendship between the children of God and the servants of Belial”.
It says “we must not be unequally yoked”.
Femi
Fani-Kayode is a lawyer, a Nigerian politician, an evangelical
christian, an essayist, a poet and he was the Special Assistant (Public
Affairs) to President Olusegun Obasanjo from July 2003 until June
2006. He was the minister of culture and tourism of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria from June 22nd to Nov 7th 2006 and as the minister of
Aviation from Nov 7th 2006 to May 29th 2007. He tweets from @realFFK.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
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