Just a year ago, on July 24, 2014, my piece, “No, Balarabe Musa, Jonathan
Not To Blame For Boko Haram Menace!” was published by PM News. It was a
response to The Guardian interview of the former governor of old Kaduna
State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, entitled, ‘Boko Haram Insurgency is
Political.’ The interview was published on page 17 of The Guardian on
Wednesday, July 16, 2014. In it, the former governor stated plainly that
Jonathan’s government was responsible for the Boko Haram menace in the
country. “What people don’t know is that different interests have been
hijacking Boko Haram at various stages,” he said. “The first stage, from
the information available to us, was a quarrel between the defunct ANPP
and PDP in the north east. This brought about the agent provocateur called
Boko Haram. Later, when the political leaders that created Boko Haram to
fight one another became unable to control Boko Haram, after they had
achieved their objectives, it was taken over by a series of interest
groups, probably, including the Federal Government itself, to control its
political enemies.”
According to the former governor, either Jonathan was plotting, with the
aid of Boko Haram, to rig the 2015 election, or he wanted to use Boko
Haram to prevent the election from holding altogether so that he would
continue in office after 2015. Hear him: “…this destabilization (caused by
Boko Haram) is aimed at making the 2015 election impossible, or if it
takes place at all, it will be easy to rig, because people will be
concerned about the insecurity more than with voting, when they know that
the vote doesn’t even count…” It is either this, he said, or “Nigeria is
being destabilised so that there will be no election in 2015…according to
the 1999 Constitution, if no election is held in 2015, the President will
be able to continue, because the constitution allows him to hand over to
an elected President. Which means, if there is no elected President in
2015, Jonathan will continue.”
In my piece, I plainly made it clear that only a blatant liar will speak
like Alhaji Balarabe Musa by proving convincingly that, rather than being
sponsored by Jonathan, Islamic terrorism is simply a global phenomenon and
that Nigerian Boko Haram is just our own share of this terrorism in this
part of the world. My piece on this can be viewed here:
http://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2014/07/24/no-balarabe-musa-jonathan-not-to-blame-for-boko-haram-menace
On August 11, 2014, my piece, “At Last, Buhari Attacked By Jonathan’s Men!
” was published by PM News. It was a response to the malicious APC
politicians who, after the attack on General Muhammadu Buhari by Boko
Haram, accused Jonathan’s men of being the masterminds. The Publicity
Secretary of the All Progressives Congress in Lagos, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, had
come out with an interesting theory about the “assassination attempt” on
Gen. Buhari in an interesting article entitled, “Who Wants General Buhari
Dead?” In the piece, Igbokwe said that Jonathan might not have been
directly behind the attack, but it could have been people looking to curry
favour from him. Insisting that the attempt on Buhari’s life had
everything to do with the 2015 elections, Igbokwe said that President
Jonathan needed to look within, and urgently. Hear him: “I am running away
with the thinking that the crisis bedevilling the nation cannot be
divorced from President Jonathan’s ambition to rule Nigeria beyond 2015.
While this inordinate ambition is being pursued left and right, front and
back, up and down, the nation is left bare at the mercy of insurgents, and
mass murderers.
“If the truth must be told, Nigeria has to remain a political entity for
somebody to become the President. President Jonathan should look inwards
pronto. Those who targeted Gen. Buhari may be playing real politics for
President Jonathan’s 2015 ambition. It may be right to push the blame to
Boko Haram but nobody is a political idiot here.”
Again, in my piece I debunked this fallacious accusation by pointing out
that Buhari, even though a Muslim, is seen by Boko Haram members as an
infidel because he is not only a supporter of Western Democracy, which
Boko Haram is out to fight against, but in fact its very candidate! I
wrote:
“Boko Haram is purely religious. Members of the sect are fighting to
Islamize the entire north and if possible even Nigeria as a whole.
Abubakah Shekau has made this very clear several times but unfortunately,
on each occasion politicians have always overshadowed his statements with
their malicious lies. However, whatever be the degree of these lies,
Shekau is determined to eliminate those he refers to as “Muslim infidels”,
that is, Muslims who because of Nigerian democracy are betraying the faith
of Islam. Certainly, there are many northern politicians who are
sponsoring the sect, but most of these former Heads of State may not
really be among these politicians as most Nigerians assume. Buhari, who is
simply desperate to rule Nigeria at all costs and who had even spoken
openly against the sect members, is simply on top of the list of the
“infidels” whom the sect members have determined to eliminate. But the
problem with many Nigerians is simply carelessness and consequently the
tendency to forget things easily. Some people started linking Buhari to
Boko Haram simply because of the statement he was said to have made after
the 2011 general elections: that he would make the country ungovernable
for Jonathan. But the truth is that this statement was about Buhari’s
personal ambition to rule Nigeria under a democratic system which has
nothing to do with Boko Haram agenda. While some people have said that
that 2011 election was to some extent free and fair in several parts of
the country, this writer was in the north at that time and really —
frankly speaking — witnessed that Buhari, who was massively supported by
many in the north, was actually frustrated by the ruling party at the end
of that unfortunate exercise and hence can rightly testify that the
General must have made that statement out of anger. In other words, the
statement that he would make the country ungovernable really had nothing
to do with Boko Haram, period. Boko Haram is out to fight all democrats,
and Buhari is not just a democrat, but also a Boko Haram critic, is it
logical then, to say that Buhari is using Boko Haram to make the country
ungovernable? No, it is not!”
I tried, in the piece, to show that some Muslims who have argued that
Islam does not support Shekau’s position on democracy are simply mere
comedians. Modern democracy, it must be noted, unlike the type practised
in ancient Greece, was actually propounded by ardent enemies of religion,
many of whom were atheists. The origin of it is simply the French
Revolution, particularly the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and
of the Citizen of 1789, which affirmed the so-called principles of civil
liberty and of equality before the law. That is why it is simply alien to
Islam and to all the ancient religions. In fact, even true Christianity
also forbids modern democracy. Islam, on its part, is simply an
anti-democratic religion because Islamic fundamentalism is incompatible
with the pluralism that is necessary for a democratic state. And may I add
here that Muslim societies (such as many of the Arab or Asian states, for
example Saudi Arabia) are authoritarian and consequently violently
repressive. Authoritarianism is the natural consequence of the legal and
doctrinal rigidity which makes a political culture of compromise
impossible. Shari’a law is viewed as perfect and divine. Consequently,
laws are best made through theocratic interpretation rather than
democratic debate. This lends to systems structured around institutions
such as the Faqih and the role of the clergy. Shari’a does not require
separate legislatively defined provisions. The notion of equal citizenship
is also absent from Islamic thought because insurmountable inequalities
between believers and non-believers are built into Islam.
The piece can be viewed here:
http://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2014/08/11/at-last-buhari-attacked-by-jonathans-men
In September 2014 I wrote another piece, “Ihejirika Sponsoring Boko Haram?
An Inquiry”—a response to the so-called Australian “crisis negotiator”,
Stephen Davis, who really set the media ablaze with his allegations
regarding Boko Haram sponsors. Davis aroused our sleeping consciousness
when he alleged in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Company
(ABC) that the Islamic terrorist sect, Boko Haram, was being funded by
Nigerian politicians, and in a subsequent interview with Arise TV, Davis
went further to name former Borno State Governor, Modu Sheriff and former
Chief of Army staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, as sponsors of the
group. Davis had visited Nigeria to negotiate the release of the over 200
schoolgirls abducted since April 2014 by Boko Haram terrorists. He
previously worked as a negotiator for Nigerian government under
ex-Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Shehu Yar’Adua administrations during
the Niger-Delta militants uprising in the South-South. Although his
allegations were proved—beyond reasonable doubt—to be false, many
Nigerians believed him. Wole Soyinka for instance, gave the impression
that they were true.
Part 1 of the piece, published by Business-Day, can be viewed here:
http://businessdayonline.com/2014/09/ihejirika-sponsoring-boko-haram-an-inquiry-1/#.VarIwvlVikq
and part 2 here:
http://businessdayonline.com/2014/09/ihejirika-sponsoring-boko-haram-an-inquiry-2/#.VarM9PlVikq
In my piece published by pointblanknews.com on February 27, 2015, I
seriously cast doubt on the sincerity of Buhari with regards to Boko Haram
menace, given his contradiction by asking the Federal Government to stop
the clampdown of Boko Haram “insurgents” in October 2014. Buhari, who then
spoke on a Liberty Radio programme, accused Jonathan’s government of
killing and destroying houses belonging to Boko Haram members while the
Niger Delta militants got special treatment. He said that unlike the
“special treatment” given to the Niger Delta militants by the federal
government, the Boko Haram members were being killed and their houses
demolished by the government. While accusing Jonathan of failing from the
beginning to address the security situation in the country, Buhari said he
had never been in support of the state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and
Adamawa states, and shockingly, according to Buhari, “what is responsible
for the security situation in the country is caused by the activities of
Niger Delta militants.”
Can we then see the reason why he is now hunting for the Niger Deltans
while almost completely ignoring the murderous activities of his Boko
Haram brothers in the North-East?
My February piece on this can be viewed here:
http://pointblanknews.com/pbn/exclusive/jonathan-northern-muslims-boko-haram-saga
And on his current hunting for the blood of the Niger Deltans, see this:
http://www.thetrentonline.com/buhari-declares-war-on-south-south-militants-orders-air-bombing-of-creeks
and this:
http://pointblanknews.com/pbn/articles-opinions/buhari-bombing-of-calabar-creeks-is-this-another-odi-and-zaki-biam
So far, all the structures put in place by Jonathan to tackle the
terrorists—the military checkpoints and the rest—have been dismantled by
Buhari, and Boko Haram terrorists now move freely in the North East,
destroying lives just as they want. See this also:
http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/186492-how-buharis-slow-pace-is-affecting-the-war-against-boko-haram.html
Now, in his recent reaction to the current activities of Boko Haram, the
Deputy Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, has lamented that “Boko
Haram insurgency” has worsened since Buhari assumed office. He said: “I am
worried about the resurgence of Boko Haram activities in Nigeria. Shortly
before the inauguration of the present government, the country had almost
rolled back Boko Haram and its activities in every part of Nigeria—from
Adamawa to Borno, Yobe, Plateau and Kaduna. I was hoping that when we come
back in the 8th Assembly, that I will work with our colleagues from the
North-East to develop a plan of action that will help to rehabilitate that
part of Nigeria. I feel so concerned about the suffering of our people
from the North-East of Nigeria. I had hoped that by now we would be
tasking ourselves on how best to rebuild that part of Nigeria.
Regrettably, the actions of Boko Haram seem to have resurfaced now; not
only in Borno, they have carried out their activities also in Plateau,
they have gone to Adamawa and Kaduna. I am worried that if nothing is
done, the next target would be Abuja. Maybe they will start going to the
South. It is important for us as those in government, whether executive or
legislature, to come together to find solutions to these problems.”
Indeed, nothing is currently being done. Instead, Buhari is busy pursuing
his perceived “enemies”—the Biafrans and the Niger Deltans—while
completely ignoring the terrorists who are now slaughtering human beings
like fowls. Since Buhari became president, the death toll of Boko Haram
victims has risen significantly and is still rising day after day, while
the number of killed Islamic terrorists has fallen significantly compared
to that of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s last month of rule. A
chart by naij.com showing how many people have been killed since Buhari
was sworn-in as the president, has shown that the number of Boko Haram
fighters killed under Buhari has declined sharply for the same period. Put
simply, Buhari is unwilling to fight the terrorists—this cannot
necessarily be as a result of any weakness on his part as we can see him
too vigorously fighting the Niger Deltans and even the armless Biafrans.
More lamentable, still, is that the evil Nigerian media—as well as all
those “human right activists” such as Soyinka or the “Bring Back Our
Girls” campaigners who mercilessly criticised Jonathan’s “clueless
government”—are now completely silent in the face of the terror going on
currently in the North-East. Prominent Nigerian Newspapers—massively
controlled by the ruling party—don’t report the atrocities of Boko Haram
currently going on in the North-East, and when they do occasionally such
killings are never made the headlines. Hence, instead of ebbing, the
deaths and destruction caused by Boko Haram is simply galloping currently
compared to the pre-May 29 era. This is despite the moving of the
military command to Maiduguri, Borno State capital and epicentre of the
violence which has so far claimed over 20,000 lives since the move by Boko
Haram to declare Nigeria an Islamic Caliphate started in 2009.
Before Buhari assumed office, the Jonathan’s administration had recovered
some lost territories from the Islamic terrorists. It would also be
remembered that Buhari had during his electioneering campaign promised to
tackle the Boko Haram if elected into office. Well, he has now been
elected into office and has since been doing quite the opposite of his
promise. There have been over 30 terror-related attacks since the
election of General Muhammadu Buhari on March 28, 2015. So far, about 700
people have been killed either through bombings, or beheading, or
shooting. Precisely, here are some—not all—of the facts, as reported by
some newspapers:
May 30, 2015: At least 13 people were killed during an attempted night
invasion of Maiduguri by the Islamic terrorists. May 30: About 26
people—perceived to be Muslim infidels by Boko Haram, that is, Muslims who
are against the activities of the Islamic terrorists—were killed in a bomb
attack on a Mosque near Borno market. May 31: Four people were killed at
Gamboru market in Maiduguri. June 2: 17 people were killed at Maiduguri
Abattoir. June 3: Four people were killed in an attack on mechanical
workshop on Baga Road, Maiduguri. June 4: A female suicide bomber killed
two near a military checkpoint in Maiduguri. June 5: 40 people were killed
in a suicide attack on Jimeta Night Market, Adamawa State. June 7: 3
people were killed in a suicide attack on Baga/Monguno Highway. June 11:
37 people were killed in separate attacks on six villages in Borno State.
June 15: Twin suicide bomb attacks killed 11 persons in Potiskum, Yobe
State. June 17: Accidental explosion killed 15 persons in Monguno. June
22: 8 people were killed in twin suicide attacks on Baga Fish Market,
Maiduguri. June 23: 15 people were killed in suicide bomb attack on
Nannawaji Village, Gujba Council of Borno State. June 23: 20 people were
killed in an attack on Debiro, headquarters of Hawul Council of Borno
State. June 27: 5 people were killed at a General Hospital in Molai, Borno
State. June 30: 48 people were killed in Mussaram I and Mussaram II, near
Monguno. July 1: 98 people were killed in Kukawa Village. July 2: 11
people were killed at Malari village along Bama/Konduga highway. July 3:
29 people were killed in Mussa Village, Askira-Uba Council of Borno State.
July 5: 51 people were killed in a bomb explosion in a church in Jos, the
Plateau State capital. July 7: 26 people were killed in a bomb blast in
Zaria, Kaduna State. July 12: A bomb scared worshippers at the ECWA
“church” in Tundunwada area of Jos, Plateau state. A package that looked
like a bomb, found in the church’s toilet, exploded, creating fears and
panic of a possible Boko Haram attack. July 12: Boko Haram killed 11
people in Yobe, and took over the highway in Damat. July 13: At least 43
people were killed in attacks by Boko Haram in a remote region in the
country’s northeast, according to police and residents. The attacks
happened Friday on the villages of Kalwa, Misala and Gwollam and people
were either shot dead or stabbed, said Aderemi Opadokun, Borno state
police commissioner. July 13: Two bombs planted by suspected Boko Haram
fighters went off at a bar in a northern town in Cameroon, killing at
least 14 people. Col. Didier Badjeck said three Chadian soldiers were
among those killed in Fotokol, a town on the border with Nigeria’s Borno
state. He said no Cameroonian soldiers were hurt. Resident Abdoulaziz
Bambam said the death toll may rise because more bodies were being
recovered. July 14: Boko Haram gunmen killed dozens of people in four
villages in northeast Nigeria, slitting some residents’ throats and
opening fire on others. “Boko Haram gunmen came into our villages at
night, killing 43 people,” said Sheriff Kulo, from Kilwa village near
Monguno, who escaped to the Borno state capital, Maiduguri. July 17:
Multiple suicide bombs planted by Boko Haram killed 64 people in the
north-eastern Nigeria.
These are just a few of the figures which I was able to document—never the
whole figures. As I write, Boko Haram is still killing innocent people in
the northeastern Nigeria and Buhari’s government is simply doing nothing
about this. They aim ultimately at—if possible—wiping out the entire
“Christians” from the country—of course when I say “Christians” I’m
referring to Protestantism, a false Christianity which offends God, as
there is hardly true Catholicism here—to destroy western democracy and
establish an Islamic caliphate, and to Islamise the whole nation
thereafter. As Shekau himself puts it:
“We will not stop until our aim is achieved; so everyone that calls
himself a Muslim should stop obeying the constitution, should leave
democracy, should stay away from western education. We are the bombers of
Nyanya; yes we are the bombers; if you really want to know who did it, let
me tell you now; it was Shekau that did it”.
Chuckling and tapping his chest, he said:
“This is me, Abubakar Shekau whose turban you don’t like seeing; whose
armoured shirt you so much hate; this is my usual gun with which I kill.
Get more annoyed, because I am still here; yes, I am the Shekau that does
not like Christians, and I don’t like Muslims that relate with Christians.
We have been commanded by Allah not to associate with infidels because
they cannot be trusted until they accept your religion. So you cannot say
you are a believer and then you go and follow democracy; we cannot allow
you to ridicule the religion of God; never! …I am not afraid of death;
and I pray that God should let me be killed by an unbeliever so that I can
gain His paradise. We don’t love this sinful world of yours; we want to
die and go to the presence of Him who created everyone so that we can
enjoy ourselves. Yes. I am the dreaded Shekau; the one even Obama fears;
not even Obama, even if Pharaoh were alive today he would reckon with me
(laughing). To hell with the United Nations! To hell with Ban ki Moon! To
hell with Obama! Yes. We did the bombing in Nyanya; we did it.”
See his late last year speech here: http://www.osundefender.org/?p=159816
Shekau’s activities we find well written in the Quran:
“O you who believe! Fight those of disbelievers who are close to you, and
let them find hardness in you; and know that Allah is with those who are
Al-Muttaqun (the pious)” (Sura 9: verse 123) Again: “Slay the idolaters
wherever you find them. Arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush
everywhere for them.” (Sura 9:5), etc.