For your own sake and for the sake of your family and nation please take
what you are about to read very seriously and please endeavour to read
it to the end.
Take it or leave it, this is my final warning and admonition to the good
people of my beloved country Nigeria. After this I shall watch how
things unfold and maintain a studied silence.
In the Book of isaiah 54:15 the Holy Bible says “surely they shall
gather but it shall not be of me: whomsover gathers against thee shall
be scattered for thy sake”.
To add to that in the second Book of Timothy 1:7 it says “God has not
given us a spirit of fear but of power, love and sound mind”.
It follows that we the Nigerian people must not live in fear or believe
that all hope is lost despite the raging storm that we are passing
through and in spite of what the highly esteemed Professor Wole Soyinka
has rightly described as “a horrrendous descent into the abyss”.
Yet despite our strength and confidence in the redemptive and redeeming
power and salvation of the Most High God, the Lord of Hosts and the
Ancient of Days we must consider our plight and challenges as a nation,
share some bitter home truths, understand exactly what is unfolding
before our very eyes and what is going on in our country today and forge
a consensus about what to do about it. That is the purpose and intent of
this contribution.
Permit me to begin with a very disturbing event that I read about on my
dear friend Shola Salako’s Facebook wall yesterday. The author narrated
how a large group of Fulani men viciously maimed and slaughtered the
Yoruba in Lagos a few days ago. The full text of her account is as
follows:
“Something really crazy, very scary happened last night and I am
seriously troubled because it’s very worrisome.
Ikota villa estate is at Ikota, Lekki, by Mega Chicken eateries and
right by the side of the estate’s gate is this open space where a legion
of “Abokis” (meaning Fulanis) sit to sell all sorts including fruits.
Last week, taking my friend’s kids to mega chicken, I told bros that,
there was an eerie feeling almost scary about the abokis there and the
sheer number of them.
They are very arrogant and utterly stubborn coupled with this attitude
that do not befit anyone of such low cadre.
I am not looking down on them but the arrogance they display do not
befit their personalities.
This evening, as I was buying apples, I parked by the corner and called
this aboki to get me some apples and coconut.
There was an argument right in front of me between this Yoruba man and
another Aboki, I don’t know what it was about but luckily I did not have
to come down from the car if not; I would have been caught right in the
middle.
The Yoruba guy slapped the aboki and from nowhere some Yoruba men came
from the opposite direction where they have a carwash.
My goodness, within a twinkle of an eye, the road was full to the brim
with abokis with machetes and all sorts of weapons of mass destruction.
The gate to Ikota villa was suddenly shut, I had to reverse like a
maniac back to mega chicken,
I even knocked some man down.
The chaos was so much that the traffic gridlock was beyond words, what
saved me was my estate’s sticker, as the gatemen just allowed me with
others to go through ikota villa.
The abokis beat these Yoruba guys to stupor and stabbed some people.
They overpowered them in no time.
The guy who slapped the aboki was covered in blood, if he survives that
battering then he must have nine lives.
I’ve never seen such brutality in raw form in my life.
My brother-in-law, just came back not too long ago, narrating the story
and he confirmed two people died. Hmmm!
You can be in denial as much as you want, you can support them all you
care, but when it comes to supremacy, the Abokis believe they are
superior to everyone else.
There is fire on the mountain and it’s trickling down, believe it or not
it would consume you. I am deeply worried”.
This is such an alarming story. Sadly this sort of thing happens all too
often in many towns and communities all over our country. Nobody is safe
from these people and their sheer barbarity and disregard for human
life.
It was my brother Bashorun Akin Osuntokun that first drew my attention
to the grave dangers that are posed by these inexplicably large and
omnious gatherings and strange groupings of well-armed and menacing
Fulani men in the towns and communities of the south west a number of
years ago. It is a testominy to Osuntokun’s forseight that his worse
fears are unfolding before our very eyes.
I do not blame Salako for being deeply worried. She, and the rest of
Nigeria, has EVERY reason to be.
I say this because the brutality of the onslaught that she witnessed was
harrowing and debilitating: it was second to none. All manner of weapons
were used to butcher an unsuspecting and trusting host population who
were utterly shocked and ill-prepared for what they were subjected to by
their hitherto peaceful and pliant Fulani guests.
Sadly this is a common occurence all over the country today. As a matter
of fact it happened for the umpteenth time in Jos, Plateau state just
yestertday and once again many innocent and defenceless Christians,
non-Fulanis and members of the indegenous Berom tribe, including women
and children, were maimed and massacred and their homes burnt.
These large groups of fearsome and well-armed Fulani men that gather
quietly in various parts of our towns and cities are actually sleeping
armies and terrorist cells.
When the signal is given over the airwaves Nigerians will be shocked by
the speed with which they will act and swing into action and by the
sophisticated weapons that they will suddenly spring out of nowhere.
The carnage that they will unleash on our civilian population will be
far worse than the mass murder, ethnic cleansing and genocide that was
perpetuated in Rwanda by the Hutus against the Tutsis or that was
witnessed in the Nigerian civil war.
The only part of the country that is not prepared for them and ready for
this fight is the South West. Others are ready and they are silently
tooling up. Sadly we in the south west are still just talking. Worse of
all is that we have no means of defending ourselves, no unity and no
commonality of purpose. We are badly divided and we are not sensitive to
the grave dangers that lie ahead.
The truth is that we must prepare ourselves now in order to be able to
defend our people when the attacks come and the pogroms begin. We must
be physically, spiritually, psychologically and emotionally ready for
this fight otherwise we will all perish.
President Muhammadu Buhari and his Fulani Government are now disarming
Nigerians and, by executive order, he has banned ALL licensed weapons.
Why do you think he has done this? It is not rocket science to figure
out what is really going on. Buhari’s intentions are as obvious as they
are malevolent.
He also set up a Fulani radio station which they will use to activate
their sleeper cells and sleeping army in the south west and indeed all
over the country when they are ready to effect their final onslaught and
implement their “final solution”.
Mrs. Abimbola Adelakun, a brilliant writer, wrote the following in her
column in the Punch Newspaper on May 23rd.
“….You would have noticed that since the present administration
started, almost all the vociferous voices that yelled against one thing
or the other in the past administrations have virtually gone mute. Their
silence is not a coincidence; these former social advocates have been
browbeaten by the inveighing forces of Fulanisation/Islamisation that
demand conformity from everyone to enable a perpetuation of its power.
This regulation of compliance takes several forms, but one of the most
obvious is the cult of silence that pervades southwestern Nigeria
despite the invasion of the region by herdsmen. There is a
conspiratorial silence not to see or speak.
From state governors to even the so-called Yoruba leaders, people are
more invested in playing the politics of I-remain-loyal rather than
calling out Fulani herdsmen for the atrocities they are committing.
These elders and leaders are maintaining a posture of self-censure and
looking away from the unfolding anarchy because to speak up is to risk
jeopardising certain privileges.
The connection between the evils done by Fulani herdsmen on the streets
and the Fulanisation/Islamisation agenda can be seen if we understand
how various spheres connect.
From the cowing of previously strident voices, to the bending of tenets
of democracy to accommodate the abuses and excesses of the coterie
invested power, to the cult of Buhari’s devotees who are all over the
place barking at any dissenting voices, to the ways politicians from
other regions of Nigeria have to contort themselves and prove they are
non-threatening in order to assure the wielders of power that “we are
together,” there is an ongoing pacification.
They are regulating ethics of behaviour, and the end goal is to make the
social ecology more amenable for these power mongers to reign.
Fulanisation/Islamisation demands that you identify with their religion
and culture, pander to it, and also consciously carry out actions that
help them institutionalise their power.
That is why it is not enough that southern politicians join the All
Progressives Congress; they have to dress like the Fulani. It does not
stop there. If Buhari heads to Saudi Arabia, they not only follow him
there, they dress like Saudi Muslims.
Because the criticisms of Fulani herdsmen will touch their patron saint
in Aso Rock (who has been their staunchest defender by the way), these
people either avoid the subject or speak in cowardly tongues. Just look
at the number of people who will rather criticise Obasanjo than speak up
against the conditions of insecurity that we face.
If you doubt that religion and ethnicity feature in the ways regional
crimes are tackled in Nigeria, take a moment to compare the “crimes” of
the pro-Biafran secessionists with the ones ravaging northern Nigeria.
The former was brutally assaulted and killed, while the treatment of the
latter confirms that what you can get away with in Nigeria depends on
where you were born. When they asked the President if his administration
would change their approach to managing the magnified problem of
insecurity, he had nothing in his head or heart to offer other than say
he had observed that the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu,
was losing weight, and therefore must be working hard on that issue.
It was not a joke, and even if it were, who uses a severe situation that
has taken many lives and destroyed livelihoods to play for laughs?…”
Mrs. Adelakun is right and her analysis is faultless.
We in the South West particularly would do well to stop the childish
bickering, desist from the petty rivalries, sit up, smell the coffee and
get real. Afenifere has done very well and continues to provide a
modicum of hope for our people.
They are the conscience of the south west, the custodians of our
principles and values, the proverbial shining light on a hill and they
have provided a credible, courageous and constant rallying point, even
in these challenging times, for every ‘omoluabi’ in Yorubaland.
Yet in my view to complement them, support their efforts and give them
the teeth and bite that they still so badly need we must establish a
new, more dynamic, more pragmatic, more aggressive and more militant
force and group of leaders in the south west which is focused, primed
and ready to do all it takes to defend our territory and interests and
protect our people.
That is why the statement and intervention by the Yoruba Summit Group,
which is a body that serves as an umbrella group for all Yoruba
socio-cultural organisations, is welcome. In a press release issued by
their spokesman, Mogaji Gboyega Adejumo, they said,
“Let the president know that the Yoruba do not want war, but we will
definitely defend ourselves should these instances of unprovoked attacks
by the Fulani continue.
The Fulani cannot subjugate the rest of the peoples of Nigeria, rather,
the reverse will be the case to the detriment of the innocent Fulani!
That the Yoruba people collectively will hold on strongly and
steadfastly to these resolves in as much as our collectively survival
rests on us and on no one else; the leaders, elders and the generality
of our people, for the common cause to confront all challenges of
insecurity including genocide.
That those not in support of these resolves shall be considered traitors
to the cause and will be treated as such.”
The Yoruba Summit Group have spoken the minds and voiced the thoughts of
50 million Yorubas spread all over the world. The handful of Yorubas
that do not share their view will soon appreciate the folly and grave
dangers of collaborating with the enemy and swimming against a rising,
hostile and dangerous tide of anger, resentment and dissent from their
own people.
The truth is that the time for talking is long over. More than ever
before we need groups like the OPC, YOLICOM and others to rise up to the
occassion and prepare for the worse. We in the South West must unite,
sensitise our people and prepare for the savagery and barbarity that
undoubtedly lies ahead! The lives of our women and our children and the
future and survival of our race depends on it!
Yet the affliction with which we are faced affects and seeks to destroy
every single ethnic nationality in our country and not just the Yoruba.
To prove this point I am constrained to share a sizeable portion of the
assertions and submissions of Mr. Charles Ogbue, who is undoubtedly the
most profound, brilliant and courageous writer of his generation.
A few days ago in an essay titled ‘Islamisation and Fulanisation, Too
Late To Cry’ he wrote the following:
“The warning from people like former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former
Chief of Army staff, rtd General T.Y. Danjuma and a host of others about
Buhari’s Islamisation and Fulanisation agenda is a little too late, I’m
afraid.
Those warnings are as useless as a man warning his household about a
supposed impending fire outbreak after the fire has already gutted their
house.
Fact is, Buhari is currently not implementing any ethno-religious
agenda. HE HAS SINCE FINISHED THE IMPLEMENTATION AND IS NOW
CONSOLIDATING ON IT. And in fairness to him, he has never hidden the
fact that he is an incurable ethno-religious hegemonist.
The only piece of information that will save Nigerians especially
southerners and non-Fulani northerners now is HOW TO NEUTRALIZE THE
ISLAMISATION AND FULANISATION OR AT LEAST SURVIVE THEM because they are
here already.
When a President of a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural
country like Nigeria is busy filling all his appointments with only
people from his own region and religion, handing over the entire
security agencies including the paramilitary to only people from his own
region and religion, protecting Islamist terrorists from his own region
and religion while sending python dance, armoured tanks and soldiers
after unarmed peaceful agitators from other region and religion, DO YOU
NEED SOMEONE TO TELL YOU THAT SUCH A PRESIDENT IS IMPLEMENTING AN
ETHNO-RELIGIOUS AGENDA?? Especially when that President is one who has
presided over the country in the past where he showed worst form of
ethno-religious bigotry by throwing the Vice President of the govt he
overthrew, late Dr Alex Ekwueme, an Igbo Christian into Kirikiri maximum
security prison while leaving the main President Shehu Shagari, a Fulani
Muslim like himself in a comfortable apartment in the name of house
arrest?
I think the problem is, most of us imagine Islamic Jihad to be some
group of badly dressed desert dwellers riding on horsebacks while
chanting “convert to Islam or be killed” the same way we imagine
islamisation to mean a situation where everyone will be forced to start
praying towards Mecca.
The world has changed and so has everything along with it. No one needs
to force you to start going to the Mosque before you realize you have
been islamised.
If your Executive, your Legislature and your Judiciary are all headed by
people from a particular region and religion, If your security agencies
and indeed all institutions of state coercion are virtually in the hands
of only people from a particular region and religion, If your own
lawmakers and political leaders who are Christians and Southerners all
have to bend the knee and dress like those other people as we saw with
Femi Gbajabiamila and Ibe Kachikwu recently, before they can get
position they are qualified for, If a governor in an exclusively
Christian state like Enugu had to start his inauguration for a 2nd term
with a Jummat service in a Mosque just because he needed to pander to
some interest, If you that is reading this have had course to
contemplate changing your name to sound like that of those other people
because you know an Islamic or Fulani sounding name will get you a job
in NNPC and CBN while a Christian/southern sounding name will disqualify
you for that same job, If a club house in the Capital city could be
demolished for no just cause, if Muslim youths could attack a Catholic
Church in Suleja, Niger state simply for worshipping on Friday with the
police not prosecuting any of them, If a female pastor with Redeemed
Christian Church, Eunice Elisha could be butchered right here in Abuja
simply for preaching in a street housing a Mosque with the police
releasing all the Muslim youths arrested without charge, If Fulani
herdsmen could rape, maim and carry out ethnic cleansing with
govt-sponsored impunity etc, IF ALL OR MOST OF THESE CONDITIONS APPLY,
you are already islamized and Fulanised. If you don’t yet realise it,
you soon will”.
As is always the case with him, once again Mr. Ogbue has done justice to
his subject-matter. He has hit the nail on the head and we ignore his
admonitions and words at our own peril. Frankly I could not have
analysed the situation better myself.
Permit me to end this contribution with the incisive words of Mr.
Bamidele Ademola-Olateju. A few days ago he wrote the following:
“Nigeria is a tragedy descending into a farce.The real motive for
surrounding the South West is territorial expansionism and the need for
a cultural overrun. Kidnapping for ransom is the prelude to these. With
the deadly silence from those who unleashed Operation Crocodile Smile on
IPOB but who have refused to even utter a word on Fulani terrorists, the
nation is encouraging self-help, which is a vital ingredient in
genocide”.
I concur. As they say, a word is enough for the wise.