By Kemi Kasumu
In a report Sunday by Isiguzo Ikedi, a former Chairman Editorial Board of Vanguard, he wrote that revered Sultan of Sokoto and Leader Nigeria’s over 100 million Muslims, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, said at an event in Abuja on Thursday February 20, 2020 that “If you fight Boko Haram you fight Allah”.
This is the worst lie from the pit of hell to be witnessed in 12 months. There will be no need to join issue with the political undertone and interest the mischievous write up by a supposed journalism giant serves. What is clearly required to be done is tell him that Sultan is not one to be dared with such lakadaisical attitude of a man as failure to realise this can only hand him a lifetime ridicule.
If Ikedi, a noted editorial chief in Nigeria’s print journalism, can misrepresent a statement presented on behalf of the Sultan by Emir of Jiwa, Dr. Idris Musa the way he did, the question is, if he sent a reporter to event where a personality of his interest spoke and the reporter does exactly what he did in this case, how would he, as an editor, treat that reporter? Again one wonders and asks, did the editor attend the event he wrote about? If no, then, who gave him the information as to what was said at the event on behalf of the Sultan and if the Ameerul Mu’muneen of Nigeria did not say what he reported him to have said, then how on earth would he be justified for this heinous act?
The truth in this case is that, Ikedi did not make mistakes. He did it to spite the Sultan. What an unacceptable insult! Efun Tabi Edi, meaning a push or hypnotization? Like it is said in Yoruba perlance. Ikedi is not known to be a drunkard and so one would have excused his being high on something while putting that report together. But, from the look of things, he neither drank nor took any drug. He chose to do the report as a mission and carefully chose his medium for launching it abroad, which was what he did on the website named, www.news-af.feednews.com.
Isiguzo Ikedi, a pastor as he would want to be known, displayed difficulty capturing the message in the philosophical submission that Boko Haram as an element of insecurity in the country was a punishment Nigerians earned themselves for disobeying God and urged that the people should move closer to God as directed in the Qur’an and the Bible and stop creating problems for one another so that the problem will stop.
The Sultan, saying this, and is very highly qualified to say so, insisted that the war against insurgency in the country can be won, he gave strong hope.
But in effort to interprete the straightforward message, this editor of Nigerian newspaper industry said, “The Sultan’s recourse to the Almighty being responsible for insurgency in Nigeria is frightening.” How is that instructive statement frightening other than that it spurs or should – seriously speaking – spur Nigerians of various backgrounds to looking inwards for solution to the problems? Is Ikedi not in this country when people politicise security and make effort at strategic times to link the problems with a particular ethnic or religious group thereby setting the tribes and religions in the country against themselves?
If this kind of sin of man to man is not to be considered as sin against God, then against who? Those who recruit into Boko Haram “army”, supply them logistics and sponsor the terrorists are definitely not goats. They are not stones neither are they trees. They are human beings and mostly Nigerians, some others are foreign collaborators. And what better and more effective way forward if not for a very highly revered multi-responsibility leader like the Sultan to wield his word of influence to call the people back to their senses, per adventure they will change for better. If Sultan Abubakar were Chief of Army Staff and, instead of striking against the insurgents, says this, then you may have a point. But this is a traditional and religious leader, yes very highly influential, but the apparatuses of state powers to stop Boko Haram through action are not at his disposal. He can only say words to change the evils. And the military leaders too are not staying idle.
The question again is, why do the likes of Isiguzo find rest in twisting statements when found to be made or credited to a Muslim leader or political leader of Muslim background or a Northerner? We have seen Christian leaders in this country, North, South, and we have seen political or professional leaders of Southern extractions who said things which had no positive but negative impacts in the life of Nigeria and its people. Instead for the likes of this editor to reprimind them, they carry them shoulders high and celebrate them. And you here went ahead to say, “The Sultan has just added another ridiculous dimension to the indecisions on Boko Haram. He may not be speaking for himself.” Are you not ridiculous yourself, especially since you fail persistently to tell who the Sultan would have spoken for with such unfounded statement?
On the contrary, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, a very highly meticulous Muslim leader and exceptional monarch of global repute, is adjudged the best in general acceptance for his peace, unity and development programmes that Nigeria will be great again. He is very charismatic and undisputably pragmatic personality. Instead for people like this to see from the positive side and encourage widespread media and publicity that those messages of the retired Army General would go round, all they can use their journalism influence for is to twist and distort a beautiful message intended for better Nigeria to make the Sultan look like enemy of the people. Then, who is Isiguzo Ikedi if not the enemy in himself?
Because there is nowhere in the message delivered by the Emir of Jiwa, Dr. Idris Musa, who represented the Sultan of Sokoto at the Thursday February 20, 2020 UFUK event, to suggest that he said, “If you fight Boko Haram you fight Allah”. Nowhere and good enough, in the quotes from the speech, nothing of such. Then what kind of professional expertise would give him the extraordinary rights to quote people out of context?
The Sultan in the quote by Ikedi said: “It is part of the punishment we are receiving based on our sins. If we can stop committing sin and abide by God’s words, things will change. The security challenge is our problem. The Holy Quran is a message to mankind. The Holy Bible is a message to mankind. If we cannot listen to what the Bible and Quran have taught us and we continue in our bad ways, what do we expect?,” the Sultan asked. Nobody would attribute anti-Nigeria meaning to this except he that has darkness seated on his heart and if any human being must see this in negative way, he should not be a pastor.
