By Femi Fani-Kayode
“I freed a thousand slaves. I could have freed a thousand more if only
they knew they were slaves”- Harriet Tubman
How can anyone describe Nigeria as a free nation when Sheik Othman Dan
Fodio, the hero of the core Muslim north, the father of the Fulani
Caliphate and the first Mahdi of Nigeria once said,
“Allah has bestowed on me and my people the historic duty to spread the
holy faith of the Prophet throughout the Caliphate and convert these
pagans. If they refuse to accept Allah and his Prophet we will wash the
earth, the forests, the mountains, the rivers and the streams with their
pagan blood. Ours is a holy and righteous calling. We are doing the work
of Allah”.
How can anyone describe Nigeria as a free nation when Sir Ahmadu Bello,
the Saurdana of Sokoto, the Premier of the Northern Region and the second
Mahdi of Nigeria once said,
“The new nation called Nigeria should be an estate of our great
grandfather Othman Dan Fodio. We must ruthlessly prevent a change of
power. We use the minorities in the north as willing tools and the south
as conquered territory and never allow them to rule over us and never
allow them to have control over their future”.
How can anyone describe Nigeria as being free when General Muhammadu
Buhari, the indisputable King of the north, the avenging sword of the
Caliphate, the almighty President of the Federal Republic, the
unquestionable leader of the African Mujahadeen and the third and last
Mahdi of Nigeria once said,
“It is my intention to spread sharia to every part of Nigeria” and that
“why should Christians bother when Muslims chop off the hands of Muslims
in the name of sharia” and that “Muslims should only vote for Muslims” and
finally that “an attack on Boko
Haram is an attack on the north”.
What portion do those of us that are southerners and Middle Belters have
in this so-called “free country” and why have we been consistently denied
the right to decide whether we wish to remain in it by having a
referendum?
Were we born to be slaves whilst others were born to rule? God forbid it. My
Christian faith teaches me that I am the head and not the tail.
It teaches me that it is a sore sight and a great evil under the sun to
see the sons of slaves riding on horseback whilst the sons of the King
walk around on bare feet.
It teaches me that we are the head and not the tail and that light is
meant to overcome darkness and not that darkness overcomes the light.
The truth is that whichever way you look at it Nigeria is not free and
Nigeria is not one nation.
We are in bondage and servitude to the sons and daughters of Futa Jalon
and we are badly divided. That is the subject of this essay.
Permit me to share some bitter truths here.
I repeat, Nigeria is not a nation. As a matter of fact she was NEVER a
nation. She is and has always been a monumental fraud and a manifestation
of colonial Britain’s doublespeak and deceit.
In 1947 she was rightly described as a “mere geographical expression” by
Chief Obafemi Awolowo but since then she has degenerated even further.
Today she is is no longer a “mere geographical expression” but instead a
fully-fledged and dysfunctional vassal state and a colony of timid slaves
that is owned lock, stock and barrel by the all-powerful, all-seeing and
all-knowing Fulani hegemonists.
Yet in their pitiful delusion and blissful ignorance some still claim that
we are a free modern nation-state where all are equal.
My questions for those that actually believe this nonsensical assertion
and that espouse this erroneous notion are as follows:
How can anyone describe Nigeria as being free when Christian Religious
Knowledge (CRK) is removed from the curriculum and Islamic Arabic Studies
(IAS) is made compulsary?
How can anyone describe Nigeria as being free when Christians are banned
BY LAW from buying land to build churches in most parts of the core north?
How can anyone describe Nigeria as being free when every single security and
intelligence agency in the nation except for the Navy is headed by a
northern Muslim?
How can anyone describe Nigeria as being free when there are NO Christian
commanders (i.e. those that have operational control over troop
deployments) in charge of STRATEGIC commands in the Nigerian Army today?
How can anyone decribe Nigeria as being free when ALL the STRATEGIC
commands in the Nigerian Army are in the hands of Muslims?
How can anyone describe Nigeria as being free when ALL the units under the
Education Ministry are headed by northern Muslims and the Minister of
Education himself is a Muslim.
How can anyone describe Nigeria as being free when the words Christ, Church,
Christianity or Christian are not mentioned ONCE in the constitution and
when the word sharia is mentioned 73 times, Grand Khadi 54 times, Islam 29
times and Muslims 10 times.
How can anyone describe Nigeria as being free when, since Buhari came to
power, any mention of Jesus or God is censored out of Nigerian films by
the Nigerian Censors Board whilst the word Allah is mentioned freely.
How can anyone describe Nigeria as being free when there is an obvious and
relentless attempt to islamise the country.
How can anyone describe Nigeria as being free when there was an attempt by
President Buhari to quietly pass a law that will give large tracts of land
to Fulani herdsmen in every state of the Federation so that they can
infiltrate, settle down in, breed with and eventually overwhelm and take
over all the communities in which they were given that land.
How can anyone describe Nigeria as being free when the Federal Government
refuses to arrest the elderly Professor Ango Abdullahi and the rebellious,
recalcitrant, blood-baying and bloodthirsty Arewa youths and lock them ALL
up for their implicit threat to commit genocide against the Igbo if they
don’t leave the north by 1st October?
How can anyone describe Nigeria as being free when the Arewa Youths can
send an open letter to the Acting President describing the entire Igbo
race as ingrates who have “not learnt their lessons from the past” and who
“ought to be thrown out of the north” and “out of Nigeria?”
How can anyone describe Nigeria as being free when the the Northern Youth
Leaders Forum (NYLF) can tell the Federal Government that “Nigeria will
boil”, that there will be “a crisis that will spiral beyond control if the
Arewa youths are arrested” and that “the Presidency will not be allowed to
go to the south under any circumstances in 2019?”
How can anyone describe Nigeria as being free when well-armed Fulani
militants and herdsmen commit genocide against whole communities and yet
not one of them has been arrested?
How can anyone describe Nigeria as being free when cows (yes cows!) drive
children out of their classrooms in Edo state and drive worshippers out of
their churches in Benue state.
How can Nigeria be described as being free when Miyetti Allah appear to be
above the law?
How can anyone describe Nigeria as being free when we are about to enter a
season of carnage, chaos and anomie and when the Federal Government have
shown no desire or inclination to deliver our people from those who
believe that they own Nigeria and who wish to drink our blood and eat our
flesh?
How can anyone describe Nigeria as being free when those in power today
together with the entire Hausa-Fuani ruling class have consistently said
no to restructuring?
How can anyone describe Nigeria as being free when the cabal that know
that Buhari’s health will not allow him to come back to rule wish to use
the slaughter of the Igbo as a reason and a scapegoat to cause CRISIS in
the country and truncuate our democracy rather than allow a Southern
Christian President to continue in power?
How can anyone describe Nigeria as being free when the leaders of the
ruling APC are considered as being above the law and continuously commit
all manner of crimes and acts of corruption with impunity whilst
dissenters, oppostion figures and the perceived enemies of the government
are subjected to horrendous persecution, media trials and the brazen
violation of their human rights and civil liberties?
How can anyone describe Nigeria as being free when the welfare of cows and
the interest of cattle-rearers are more important than that of
hard-working and productive patriots and innocent young school children?
How can anyone describe Nigeria as being free when, since Buhari came to
power, it is very difficult for a northern Christian to get admission into
Ahmadu Bello University, the leading institution of higher learning in
northern Nigeria?
How can anyone describe Nigeria as being free when there is a strange
Arabic insignia and unintelligible Arabic words apparantly depicting
Othman Dan Fodio’s battle cry inscribed on the coat of arms of the
Nigerian Army.
How can anyone describe Nigeria as being free when english is replaced
with hausa in Nigerian army parades?
How can anyone describe Nigeria as being free when President Muhammadu
Buhari openly expresses his disdain for the Igbo and encourages the
hate-speech and threats that they are being subjected to today?
How can anyone describe Nigeria as being free when Acting President Yemi
Osinbajo will allege that there is corruption in the Church but dare not
allege that there is corruption in the mosques?
How can anyone describe Nigeria as being free when the Acting President
condemns what he describes as “hate speech” yet he refuses to arrest and
detain those who not only kill Christians, southerners and Middle Belters
but who also incite their murderous footsoldiers against them every day?
I could go on and on.
What those that continuosly threaten others with violence and carnage fail
to appreciate is as follows: for every mujahadeen there is a crusader. For
every tyrant there is a deliverer. For every oppressor there is a freedom
fighter. For every globalist there is a nationalist.
For every integrationist there is a separatist. For every lily-livered and
chicken-hearted coward there is a courageous and valiant hero and for
every Goliath there is a David.
Yet despite our collective and pitiful servitude there is a silver lining
on this very dark cloud.
The demand for restructuring or, failing that, self-determination and
full-blown independence is now very strong amongst the progressive forces
and the
long-oppressed ethnic nationalities in the land.
This, coupled with the demand by the leaders of the three southern zones
that the Arewa youths must withdraw their threat to the Igbo, is
commendable and historic.
They have also issued a timely warning that an attack on the Igbo would be
deemed as an attack on the entire south. This gives us hope.
This indicates to us that the tree of liberty will soon be watered by the
blood of the patriots and tyrants as it once was in the history of each
and every one of the great western democracies.
This proves that we are finally ready to pay the terrible price for our
collective freedom and to make the necessary sacrifices.
Simply put, the yoke and affliction of slavery and bondage shall soon be
broken and Nigeria shall soon be free.
The first Nigerian civil war was about keeping Nigeria one. The second
will be about winning our freedom.