Former Aviation Minister, now member of the All Progressives Congress and a lawmaker well-known for his bold utterances, Femi Fani-Kayode has posted this piece of writing on his Facebook wall. In it, he shares some thoughts on the problem of insurgency and Boko Haram in Nigeria.
Permit me to begin this contribution with some basic truisms: firstly that God is great and that He alone forges the destiny of nations and rules in the affairs of men. Secondly that He is faithful and true and that He alone is worthy of our fear and of our praise. Lest despair and despondency sets in, it is right and proper to always remember this and to continue to reiterate these truisms given the horrific things that we are witnessing on a daily basis in our country today.
This is a season of brutality, sadness and fear.
A season which has witnessed more carnage and bloodshed than ever before. A season of tears and sorrow that has brought pain and shame to our nation’s doorstep. A season in which the entire world has focused its attention on Nigeria for all the wrong reasons. A season in which over 200 of our compatriots were slaughtered in cold blood by a bomb blast in Nyanya, Abuja and in which over 100 pubescent girls were abducted from their school in Chibok town, Borno state. A season in which horror, blood, sweat and tears has pinned us down and gripped us. A season in which children were plucked from their mother’s arms and slaughtered like rams and infants mourned the loss of their parents, grandparents and siblings.
Even by Nigerian standards, what happened last week was particularly chilling. Our story seems to be the same – horror after horror, carnage after carnage, ineptitude after ineptitude and insensitivity after insensitivity. And in all this, it is the poor, the vulnerable, the less privileged and the weaker members of our society that suffer the brunt of the carnage. What a tragedy. We have entered a season of anomie and utter anarchy. I hereby condemn, in the strongest terms, both the bomb blast that took place in Nyanya and the abduction of the young girls in Chibok. Once again I hereby call on the Federal Government not to hold back and not to give an inch or a quarter.
They must take off the kid gloves, cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war. They must rise up to the occasion, crush the terrorists with ruthless precision and protect the Nigerian people. And we the people must give them our full support as they do so. If we can do that I have little doubt that those that are secretly behind Boko Haram and that employ the use of terror for political ends will soon be exposed.
Those that delight in bloodshed and that revel in carnage will soon be defeated. Those that secretly encourage them and that covertly fund them will soon be shamed. Those that rejoice each time they hear that others have had their limbs blown off, their lives snuffed out and their children abducted will soon be brought to justice. And those that are confused and that fail to understand what is really going on or what purpose this sheer madness and pure wickedness is designed to serve will soon be enlightened.
Let us make no mistake about it: Nigeria is in for the fight of her life. What we are faced with in our country today is nothing less than a full scale war. It is a war between the forces of light and the forces of darkness. A war between the islamists and the secularists. A war between the agents of the devil and the servants of God. It is a war that was fought in the 19th century in Turkey and that was fought in the early 1990′s in Algeria. It is a war that was also fought in Lebanon, Chechyna, Yemen, Iraq, Egypt, Somalia, Malaysia, Palestine, the Phillipines, the Sudan, Syria and Indonesia in recent years. It is a war that is being fought in Pakistan, Afghanistan and, once again, in Syria today.
In Turkey, Kemal Attaturk, the founder of that great Muslim nation, slaughtered no less than one million islamists in order to establish a modern-day secular state in which the rights of Muslims and non-muslims were guaranteed. In Algeria the military slaughtered no less than 150,000 islamists in a brutal and prolonged war in order to achieve the same goal. In Lebanon, Egypt, Indonesia, the Phillipines, Chechyna, Iraq, Palestine, Somalia, Yemen, the Sudan, Syria and Malaysia thousands were slaughtered over the years in order to preserve the secularity of the state and to protect it from the evil of islamic fundamentalism. Today, in Pakistan and Afghanistan, with the full support of NATO and the American military machine, they are waging the same war and are doing the same thing and hundreds of thousands have been killed in the process.
In Syria, once again, we are witnessing the same bitter struggle: you have an embattled secularist government being challenged by a brutal and unrelenting Al Qaeda-sponsored islamist army that is hell bent on turning that country into a primitive islamic fundamentalist state. Whether we like to admit it or not we are faced with the same struggle and war in Nigeria. It is not a war between Christians and Muslims or between the north and the south. It is not a war between the ethnic nationalities or between the Hausa-Fulani and the rest of us. It is a war between the wahabbi-indoctrinated and salifist-inspired islamists who wish to send us back to the stone ages on the one hand against the secularists, the moderate Muslims, the Christians, the agnostics, the atheists, the traditional worshippers and all the rest of us, who wish to preserve and develop a modern 21st century Nigerian state, on the other.
And whether we like it or not we must fight that war and we must win it. The truth is that an islamist is not a true muslim and he does not represent Islam. It therefore does not matter how many islamists have to be killed in the process of fighting this war. They must all be eliminated and sent back to hell where they came from. They and their whole rotten and evil philosophy of hate, violence, imposition, butchery, carnage, abduction, slavery and murder. Boko Haram is evil. They are the spawn of the devil and the children of hell. They shed blood and they drink it. They are not Muslims but vampires that feed on misery, wickedness and heartache. They are also cowards. Cowards that target innocent and helpless Nigerians including women and children and that are not man enough to meet the Nigerian military in the open field of battle. They deserve no pity and they have no honour.
Simply put, they and those who secretly sponsor and support them are despicable. Their ultimate desire and goal is to create fear, panic and terror and to either dismember our country or turn it into an islamic fundamentalist state where christianity is banned and where true islam is not practised. Yet this will never happen. No matter how many people they kill and no matter how hard they try it will NEVER happen. They shall fail and ultimately the Nigerian people shall prevail. Of this I have no doubt because the one true Living God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of the Armies of Israel, the God whose name is the I AM, THAT I AM, the God who never slumbers or sleeps and who never lies, the God that is known as the Man of War, the Lord God of Hosts and the Ancient of Days wills it and because He has said it. And every single Nigerian, including this writer, is here to fight that war when and if he or she is called upon to do so.
Yet we must guard against ignorance and disinformation which may further divide our ranks. And one of the most dangerous submissions that is presently making the rounds in the north was well captured by a misguided and misinformed individual by the name of Usman Jimeta who wrote the following.
”All Northern Muslims must know that the killings in the North of Muslims is solely sponsored by Goodluck Jonathan. Jonathan agreed with his people of South East and South South that our population must be eliminated through massacres. Those carrying out the massacres in the different States of the North are well trained Igbos and former Niger Delta militants who were trained in Israel and clandestinely in some Countries. President Jonathan once told a Northern Elite that a revolution must be started in the North to pave the way for killing all our Elites.
“Jonathan, assassinated General Mohammed Shuwa, assassinated Jarman Katagum, attempted to eliminate Ado Bayero, Kwankwaso, Sultan of Sokoto, to mention but a few. Jonathan has declared a genocide on Northern Muslims! President Goodluck Jonathan, gave orders to the Military to wipe off Fulanis in Nigeria. It is now clear to even skeptics that Boko Haram is trained and funded by CAN, Christian Association of Nigeria and in collaboration with President Goodluck Jonathan. Under the design, Muslim Clerics, Muslim Elites, Muslim Cities obliterated under the watchful eyes of the Ethnoreligious Goodluck Jonathan. Why is Ayo Oritsejafor, the CAN President not talking, because a job well done is carried out by Boko Haram, the Militant wing of CAN, in their desire to wipe off Muslims in Nigeria!”
Have you ever heard such senseless and unintelligent rubbish? Yet as absurd as they are, I believe that Mr. Usman Jimeta’s dangerous and hateful assertions deserve a clear response lest some people are misled by him. The suggestion that the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) is BEHIND Boko Haram and that they are using it to attempt to ”wipe out northern muslims” is absurd and reckless.
In case those that are peddling this divisive rubbish did not know, thousands of christians have been killed by Boko Haram in the last few years as well and hundreds of churches burnt to the ground. Are CAN behind that too? Equally importantly thousands of southerners that live in the north have also been butchered by Boko Haram. Was that the handiwork of CAN as well?
The leadership of CAN may have made some mistakes in the last few years and indulged in one or two strategic errors but that does not mean that we ought to peddle lies and falsehood in order to create even more division and strife in our land. That does not mean that we should accuse them of being homicidal maniacs that seek to ”christianise” Nigeria and wipe out the Muslim faithful and Islam. Nothing could be further from the truth and as a christian I take great exception to such absurd categorisations.
People like Mr. Usman Jimeta are being misled by some of his own northern muslim leaders and it is those same leaders that secretly rejoice whenever Boko Haram strikes and kills our people. For example a highly celebrated northern muslim friend of mine who is a former Minister has consistently peddled the idea that Boko Haram is a creation of CAN, MOSSAD and the CIA and that they are using it to fight and destroy northern muslims and the entire northern region. This is absolute nonsense and he must desist from saying such things otherwise he must provide us with his evidence.
His covert campaign to try to discredit the leadership of CAN particularly and to divide the north and the south in an attempt to create a political constituency for himself must stop. If he does not do so some of us shall take up his challenge, rise to the occasion, call him out on it and join issues with him in a very forceful and profound manner indeed.
I would never seek to undermine, discredit or accuse the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs or the JNI for terrorism, mass murder, child abduction, slavery, waging war against the Nigerian state and subversion without any tangible evidence against them out of respect for the muslim community and out of my fear of God.
He should stop doing the same to CAN unless he can provide us with the necessary evidence to back up his claims. Boko Haram is an enemy to EVERY Nigerian, whether northerner or southerner and whether christian, muslim or traditional worshipper.
They are not a creation of CAN that are designed to wipe out northern muslims. Rather they are a creation of satan that are designed and mandated to wipe us ALL out, to destroy our collective destiny, to put us back in the stone ages, to shroud us with a cloak of darkness and to capture and steal the very soul of our nation.
They are of the devil and they are from the devil. Anyone that suggests otherwise is simply insane. Meanwhile I call on every able-bodied Nigerian to brace up and prepare for war. No sacrifice is too great for our motherland Nigeria. Let us remember that we are first and foremost Nigerians and that we must be ready to do whatever it takes to jealously guard and protect the lives and integrity of our people and to destroy the enemies of our destiny. Let the bickering stop and let us identify our real adversaries and face them down.
Whether we are christian or muslim, APC or PDP, APGA or Labour, northern or southern, in government or outside of government, believer or atheist, light-skinned or dark-skinned, young or old, rich or poor, military or civilian our collective enemy makes no distinction and seeks to kill us all and change our way of life forever. If there were anytime to come together, drop our differences, draw the line and say ”enough is enough” this is it.
We must rise up like men and collectively fight this Boko Haram evil. We must encourage and support our security agencies and Armed Forces and let them know that they are going into battle with the whole nation fully behind them. We must let them know that every single self-respecting Nigerian is praying for them and willing their victory. It is time to knuckle down and get real and to stop running away from the problem.
Our very lives and destiny as a nation depends on it. This is the final battle of the war for Nigerian independence and, no matter the cost, we must win it. And, by the grace of the Living God, the Lord God of Hosts and He that is more than able, win it we shall.
May the souls of all those that were cut short by Boko Haram last week rest in perfect peace. May God the Avenger, the Defender of the Weak and the Deliverer of the Poor avenge us speedily, defend our nation and deliver us from our enemies. God bless Nigeria.
Source: Premium Times
FFK U shd nt use dis boko haram issue to discredit islam and islamic fundamentalism, note dat wyl d ideology of Boko Haram is barbaric, faulty, and un-civilised. D same can not b said on islamic fundamentalism and d wahhabi-salafi ideology wic dwells on restoring orthodox leadership of islam as done by d holy prophet of islam. Of course, d islamic leadership is d answer to all d problems in dis so-called ‘civilised’ generation. It is a fact dat islam is d first religion dat exemplified tolerence to other religious faiths as d holy prophet Muhammad SAW lived peacefully wit d jews of medina for abt 8yrs showing and extraordinary style of leadership and religious tolerance never experience in d world since its beginning until wen d jews failed wen dey supported d enemies of d Prophet(SAW) against Him.
It is a known fact dat muslims ruled Spain for 500 yrs without victimisation of any christian until wen d christians gained control and started forcing muslims to christianity in d name of crusades and killing innocent souls and subjeguting the muslims to various degrees of torture until almost all d muslims left. So d real islamic religion never force anybody to enter into its religion as it is written in Qur’an chapter 2 verse 256 “there is no compulsion in religion”
Pls, FFK wenever U are writing an issue as sensible as dis, u shd take Ur tym and research thoroughly b4 writing.
It is interesting how U quoted one Usman jimeta who alleges dat d BH is a brain child of GEJ and CAN and further ‘proved’ him wrong but U became biased as U failed to answer or even mentioned d attack of your party APC and its chieftains by d more well known and publicised speech of PDP’s publicity sectary Oliseh metuh, perhaps, U are on d way to becoming d spokesperson of jonathans administration hence U feigned ignorance on dat.
Wyl I don’t belong to dat conspirasy theorists dat alleged dat BH is a CAN agenda, it shd b noted as said by d once Bishop in northern Nigeria by name Prof Dauda Ojobi dat Maitatsine was one of 3 christians sent to Egypt to learn islam by d leadership of CAN in late 80s only to return and caused mayhem in d religion.
I rest my case.
I pray may Allah SWT restore peace to Nigeria.
Thanks Mr FFK for your enlightenment. I ve alway believe the proverb that say that it is always a thief that call another a thief. A criminal always have a way of justifing himself. I love your points and it goes a long way to prove that we Nigerians have come to understand what is the meaning of collective responsiblity, they that rejoice in drink innocent blood will suck their own blood and die .
One thousand kudos for you, Mr. Kayode. But may the spirits of those innocent Nigerians “cut short last week by Boko Haram” never rest until they fight back. After all, the spirit of Caesar fought with Mark Anthony against his enemies(the conspirators) from the spirit. The spirits of those innocent Nigerians must fight with us in this war against the sons of the devil. God on our side, victory is sure.
The want to accuse CAN , Jonathan and Niger delta to bring confusion so that while confusion rocks they will unleash the evil agender but like you say we must rise and fight the beast,satanic and demonic agents in the form of boko haram . That so called usman jimeta and the unmention minister will receive the reward of their evil deed soonest . Becos God will not allow them to go unpunish they will reap the evil the ve sowed in this country . You said the truth and somebody try to call you name is always that way especially when you stand on the way of truth. I vent agred with your write up. In the past but on this one I am in support of what you said . Once more I say thanks
Dis is d best write up I hv read in recent time. One common issue wt d northern muslim is dat they wl always blame their woes on christian bcus they never new dat d same muster they creatd wl turn against dem. At first whn boko started, they were killing. Xtiians & burning churches but they didn’t call dem to order, all dey were clamoring for ws dialogue. Nw their muster could nt find xtains around to slutter, so d story now become gej & CAN is responsible. My questn Is cnt d northern muslims b reasonable for ones, face d reality & behave like d muslims in d southwest who r more tolerant & peaceful?
Mr FFK I was highly impressed with this your write up! God bless you and increase your knowledge! With God on our side victory is sure Amen!
Good FFK. You have just woken up from the right side of your bed. Jonathan is not my man. you know why? he is not a capable Commander-In-Chief. I wish he is, by now we would be singing a new tune. Good examples of Al-Asad. You can only win by being ruthless with the ruthless. Our president should have been very successful as a Rev. Father and not a president. The fact that he refused to be a Lion, a Pharaoh or a Murtala Muhammed is painful enough. When are we going to have a Pharaoh here. Even Jesus grew annoyed once.
I live in Abuja and my bags are packed ready to go back home anytime from now. Any day I hear Boko Haram in My Edo state, I assure you, there will be a strong, adequate and very loud response from me and my people. Take it or leave it. We are not going to be like the TIV people who are crying instead of responding.
I can assure you that if Jonathan does not respond firmly to Boko Haram and their sponsors, Nigerians will soon need to fall back into self-help. Then, no one including the sympathizers of Boko Haram who are always abusing people who speak against Islamist on net will be spared. We know them. We see them and we are capable of defending ourselves against them.
It is very true that when Christians were being killed and churches bombed, they were rejoicing. Because the dogs have now become rabies and no longer discriminate its victim, the christians are responsible. Very shameless kind of people. I was in one government office one day when the news of the attack at BUK Kano was being announced. a young Northerner/Muslim interjected loudly, “good for them, they never die. Sebi they voted for Jonathan” unknown to him, the father of his colleague in the office, next table to him was the professor that was killed in that attack. When eventually the colleague came back and heard the comment of his fellow staff, she resigned her job and left Abuja to avoid becoming a murderer. How do you fix that. The God of the Christians does not fight with swords and guns but in these kinds of manners. Let them continue. God bless you FFK.
fani kayodi is partially right by tracing the menaces of boko haram back to wahhabi/ alqaeda network of destruction and backwardness. what he could not do is to trace the root of wahhabism to grand zionist-christian agenda of planting the seeds of discord among muslims after the most brutal wars of crusade by christian west and fall of ottoman turkish empire to keep muslim world backwarded as a result of instability. such plots continued uptil now with different names and at diffent places.in pakistan it is called taliban.in nigeria it is maitatsinism and now boko haram.this boko haram is a stupidity lacking any sense of direction. how can you imagine an islamic organisation calling itself advocate of sunna to condemn modern education that rooted from islamic civilisation inspired by sunna of prophet muhammad that wisdom is the lost property of a muslim ,let him pick it wherever he finds. fani kayodi went wrong when he dismissed jimeta’s article that gej and christian association of nigeria have been behind boko haram to destabilise muslims. christian association of nigeria rely on deceptions and sentments to sustain christianity in nigeria. it is can that has been instigating minority tribes in the north against hausa/fulani through false propaganda that led to loss of lives and propheties in recent years. they are now planting the same seed of discord in yorubaland where fani kayodi came from .if care is not taken there will be war between muslims and christians in yorubaland that may be more disasterous than in the north. if fani kayodi is a peace loving christian he should disassociate himself from evil can.