Current disturbances in Nigeria, making of ethnic jingoists, religious bigots, who promote ethnic, religious hates

By Bashir Adefaka

I will, first and foremost, like to start this piece straight on need to salute His Excellency Alhaji Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, for taking the courage to want to forge ahead helping heal the wounds setting Nigeria back, without looking at the distractions, discouragement by hates and physically discrediting effort of some Nigerians who, for selfish interests, want – at all cost – to run down his government to cost him continuity in 2019.

I will also like to salute his deputy, His Excellency Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, GCON, Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Chairman of the Nigerian National Economic Council (NEC) for same courage to be a dependable ally in the business of national rebuilding, else, the frustrations and punches from Osinbajo’s ethnic and religious communities have weight enough to influence a heart not-too-committed to a sincere set goal.  My salute also goes to government ministers like Alhaji Lai Mohammed and presidential aides like Mr. Femi Adesina and Mallam Garba Shehu, who have held out against mischief makers aiming at bringing down the government.  My salute also goes to the service chiefs for refusing to be affected by the efforts of the mischief makers to either set them against one another or set them against the government that appointed them.

I then move on from government people to salute the indefatigable Leader of Faith and Father of cross-ethnic, cross-religious Nigerians and Africa’s Royal Father of distinction, His Eminence Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, mni, CFR, Sultan of Sokoto and President-General, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA).  It will be recalled that right from the pre-2015 general elections era when the canopy of Nigerian sky was going to be brought down on the Nigerian Muslims by those Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN)-led stigmatizing offensives on excuse that Boko Haram was their department for Islamisation of Nigeria, Sultan Abubakar has continued to stand his ground and to be resolute in his core duty of actively guiding Nigerians on the national cohesion till present day Nigeria, when even the confusions perpetrated by same religious organisation, CAN, backed by or in collaboration with desperate politicians and both of who are now exploiting sponsored killings in the country to further achieve their whims and caprices.  I salute the Sultan’s courage.

I then salute the courage of Christian Leaders like Cardinal Anthony Onaiyekan and Deeper Life Bible Church’s General Superintendent Folorunso Kumuyi, who have persistently refused to be dragged into hate against either any Fulani or Muslim because of the confusions which started in the pre-2015 elections and have now reactivated at the approach of 2019 elections.

Back to President Buhari’s courage; any sincere Nigerian knows that it takes deliberate decision of Allah to help Nigerians out of the shamble but which they do not realise they are in, else, Buhari needs not the kind of sacrifices he is currently going through for a people who do not appreciate him, and who instead of appreciating are asking him to destroy his own home, tribe that he will return to after office by declaring it, unjustifiably, as a terrorist organisation in Nigeria (to balance declaration of a criminal group in South East, IPOB, done by the court and proscribed by governors of that region which include even governors of main opposition People’s Democratic Party).

Just before I move on with this piece, let me say that the killings in Plateau State recently happened as part of efforts to neutralize the cross-country relief brought by declaration by President Muhammadu Buhari making June 12 Democracy Day in Nigeria.  Recall that all the elements of Third Force had collapsed to the background and Father of that coalition, Olusegun Obasanjo, had almost drowned in the ocean of his own shame being the major beneficiary of June 12 and sacrifices of MKO Abiola but who, willfully, refused to acknowledge neither the June 12 nor even honour the icon of it.

Recall also that, to try to come out of the national shame Obasanjo had cried over a frame-up and Watch List allegation to divert attention of joyous Nigerians from their source of joy which had finally healed a 25 years wound.  But that failed.  What happened later was some kind of meetings after meetings by Obasanjo with some Yoruba leaders of Afenifere, who came out of the meeting with Restructuring Agenda finding an excuse to justify their acceptance of a man who, as President, brought down the plan of the Yoruba race of South West to grow itself through the government instrumentality of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in 2003 and even went ahead to incapacitate the South West state that is economic pride of the nation, Lagos, because its Governor at that time, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was the only AD governor that thwarted his PDP agenda to completely destroy the Yoruba Agenda for development.  Recall Obasanjo in four years (2003 -2007) refused, and unconstitutionally too, to pay Lagos State its statutory federal allocations.  He is the same person Afenifere have today glorified as going to lead their way against Buhari’s 2019 continuity after their millions of Naira-influenced support Jonathan against Buhari in 2015 failed but they learned no lesson.

It is therefore the underground campaign strategy of Obasanjo and its coalition parties of PDP, ADC and SDP to pollute through Afenifere the minds of Yoruba people particularly the youths, who they think were not alive enough to know how June 12, 1993 imbroglio and 2003 killing of Yoruba Economic Integration Programme of AD happened, by telling them any Yoruba son or daughter that supports Buhari in 2019 is supporting Fulani as if Fulani is Lucifer (devil) in the existence of Nigeria.  In trying to do this, they take exactly the pattern of PDP/Goodluck Jonathan’s 2015 hate campaign whereby politicians moved from shop to shop, home to home telling people not to vote for Buhari as, they said, his election as President would turn all Christians of Nigeria to Muslims making their women to cover eyes.  Today they are moving from shop to shop, cyber café to cyber café telling people how devilish the Fulani are and why Buhari, a Fulani, should not have their votes in 2019.  I was one of the Yoruba youths some of these Afenifere members approached and I have my evidence.  I even posted my anger on Facebook when he threatened that he would expose me to Yoruba elites including General Alani Akinrinade that I am a Yoruba son who has taken money from Fulani to betray his tribe.  I then promised him something if he did.

However, I asked him, if in the end his Obasanjo got his candidate that he, the Afeniere and its counterpart in South East and South South will accept, will that candidate only seek his votes in Southern Nigeria and, even if he wins, rule over only Southern Nigeria without the North that is the tribe of the Hausa/Fulani that he so much hates now?  Obasanjo’s is causing serious damages to Nigeria’s unity presently by telling the Yoruba people of Afenifere bloc that he was never a stooge of the North but that he seemed to be stooge as a tactic to make the Fulani allow him to rule as President.

One of the things Obasanjo has told Afenifere to win their hearts, and it is disappointedly so considering Yoruba claim the highest level of educationalism even to the extent they claim Hausa/Fulani race are largely illiterate, is that it seemed he was stooge of Hausa/Fulani because he needed to “trick them” so they would let him rule.

Ha! Ebora Owu funra e!

Obasanjo however has continued to dodge some questions, although some Northerners and Hausa/Fulani politicians like Atiku Abubakar are not realizing these now as they, because of personal gains, are teaming up with him in this unpatriotic business: One, what trick did he, Obasanjo, use when he was in prison in 1995-1998 and in the buildup to 1999 election the same Fulani brought him out of that prison, not only pardoning him as ex-convict but also making him unopposed Presidential Candidate of People’s Democratic Party (PDP), a party that progressives like late Chief Bola Ige and G-13 comprising of leaders like Chief Sam Mbadiwe, others helped form, and the same Fulani further worked hard to make him democratically elected President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria?

It is expected that at the level of literacy they claim, Afenifere should have asked Obasanjo: “Before the same Hausa/Fulani took you from prison and made you President thus being the sole beneficiary of MKO Abiola’s sacrifices, did you trick the Hausa/Fulani?”

They should have asked him further, “When you invited some June 12 agitators including Mr. Femi Falana now SAN and told them to let June 12 rest in peace in the pit of forget, were the Hausa/Fulani the people that asked you to organise that betrayal?

“Remember while Abiola was alive, Gen. Buhari and his former deputy, Tunde Idiagbon, visited you in your Ota Farm, at a time you were not as much as you now are but had a Shagari model Mercedes-Benz, to ask you to prevail on Babangida to allow Abiola have his mandate being that Buhari still bore grudges with Babangida over his 3 years dehumanisation by him (IBB) following his (PMB) 1985 overthrow, was Buhari not Hausa/Fulani? You that are Yoruba fighter, what stopped you from being positive about that Buhari/Idiagbon advice? Don’t forget that Buhari had that time got to know that Abiola sponsored his overthrow by BABANGIDA coup.”

All of these questions Afenifere failed now to ask Obasanjo, who lately because of his selfish agenda has again come to Yoruba people like he came to Osoba, Lam Adesina and other AD governors of Yoruba Land, to cajole them and the Afenifere have accepted him like they accepted him to take over South West in 2003 when he pleaded with them that the reason Hausa/Fulani are overpowering him was because they knew his Yoruba people did not support him but they.

Obasanjo had taken the Atiku overbearing influence on his government at that time to be Hausa/Fulani Agenda. But may we ask, if Atiku so much love Fulani his own tribe, why has he conspired continuously with killers of Fulani men, women and kids and their cows just because their killers say they are settlers that must leave only for him to join the hype when either the Fulani retaliated or did not even retaliate but some devilish, desperate 2019 opposition exploit the Fulani grievances to sponsor attacks of their killers and tag it Fulani herdsmen?

Afenifere never reasoned this way. They have taken Obasanjo now as their Warlord for Yoruba (not all Yoruba so believe) “emancipation 2019.”

They have therefore commenced their campaign. They claim their interest is anybody who will do restructuring. They see that in Atiku. They see it in some other but do not see it in Buhari. So they are telling us the Yoruba youths not to vote for President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 because according to them, supporting Buhari is supporting Hausa/Fulani.

It would have been understandable if they do not expose themselves. They now talk exactly like party of looters/insecurity, PDP, talk. They say for three years Buhari has done nothing. They had wanted recognition of June 12. But when Buhari recognised June 12, June 12 became evil because it happened from unexpected quarters. They said more including that Buhari is using religion to divide the Yoruba people. Exactly what PDP and Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) have done then now, they are hanging it on Buhari.

We have therefore resolved that we will rather follow Yoruba leaders like Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Yemi Osinbajo, Prince Bola Ajibola, Chief Olusola Fawehinmi, Chief Kola Animasaun than to allow the Afenifere of no integrity lead us astray again as always.

Now, Obasanjo is working hard to install Southern Christ President. Will he not need to campaign in the Fulani region? If he wins, will he not rule the North along with other Nigerians?

In the meantime, we, as lovers of truth and better Nigeria, will however continue to stand with the President because we know that there is no amount of hostilities sponsored against his government of truth and Change that will bring it down.  Without two whole sections of the country and some ethnic groups and billions of dollars spending, we defeated and pushed them out of power in 2015.  We will do it to them again in 2019 even without the father of coalition.

*Bashir Adefaka is a Lagos-based media practitioner.  Part II follows next.