QUESTION:<\/p>\n
How is your health now?<\/p>\n
ANSWER:<\/p>\n
We give thanks to God. It was tough, and I was out of circulation for
\nabout three weeks but I am much better now and I am getting stronger by
\nthe day.<\/p>\n
I praise God for healing me, for preserving me and for protecting my life.
\nThe counsel of the ungodly shall not stand.<\/p>\n
QUESTION:<\/p>\n
How would you rate the handling of suspected Fulani herdsmen attacks in
\nthe country by the government and security agencies?<\/p>\n
ANSWER:<\/p>\n
Shameful and unacceptable. I believe that the fact that the security
\nagencies have not been able to apprehend and bring to justics even one
\nterrorist herdsman means that they are complicit in it. Buhari has no
\ninterest in protecting the Nigerian people from the Fulani herdsmen.<\/p>\n
Thousands of innocent people have been butchered and slaughtered under his
\nwatch and under his very nose genocide and ethnic cleansing is waxing
\nstrong.<\/p>\n
I dont know how he can possibly sleep well at night. History and God will
\njudge him harshly for his indifference to and complicity in this great
\nevil.<\/p>\n
QUESTION:<\/p>\n
The Defence Minister, Mansur Dan-Ali, recently blamed the killings by
\nsuspected Fulani herdsmen on anti-open grazing laws and the blockage of
\ngrazing routes. Do you agree? What do you think about his comments?<\/p>\n
ANSWER:<\/p>\n
He is a Fulani man himself and he has spoken up and stated a case for his
\nFulani herdsmen brothers. His comments simply confirms the view that many
\nhave that the Buhari administration are supporting the terrorists and they
\ndont care.<\/p>\n
I think that his comments are reprehensible. Trying to justify genocide
\nand ethnic cleansing and blame it on the victims rather than the
\nperpetrators is unacceptable. The Minister of Defence should bow his head
\nin shame, apologise to the people of Benue state and ask God for
\nforgiveness.<\/p>\n
QUESTION:<\/p>\n
Do you the killings going on in places like Benue and Taraba are resulting
\nfrom clashes as the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, once said?<\/p>\n
ANSWER:<\/p>\n
No I do not agree with him. What is going on there are not clashes but
\ncarefully orchestrated mass murder, ethnic cleansing and genocide of the
\nindigenous Christian population by well-armed and well-supplied Muslim
\nFulani militias which are being supported and funded by very powerful
\npeople.<\/p>\n
QUESTION:<\/p>\n
A number of states have passed anti-open grazing laws and some others are
\nin the process of passing such a law. Do you think that will solve the
\nproblem of attacks by suspected Fulani herdsmen or not?<\/p>\n
ANSWER:<\/p>\n
It is good step in the right direction and it will certainly go a long way in
\nreturning sanity to the situation. However given the determination of the
\nterrorists, the herdsmen and those behind them far more needs to be done.<\/p>\n
For example Miyetti Allah should be proscribed and declared a terrorist
\norganization and its leaders ought to be arrested and charged for murder.<\/p>\n
QUESTION:<\/p>\n
The Federal Government, through the Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh,
\ntalked about the need to have cattle colonies in states. Some states have
\nsaid they are not interested and some have shown interest. Do you think
\nthe states that are opposed to it have good reasons to do so?<\/p>\n
ANSWER:<\/p>\n
Yes they have a very good reason to oppose it and I am glad they have done
\nso. The whole idea of cattle colonies is unacceptable and there is far
\nmore to it than meets the eye.<\/p>\n
It is a subterranean and covert attempt to establish not just cattle
\ncolonies but Fulani colonies all over the south and the Middle Belt.<\/p>\n
10 years from now<\/span><\/span>any state in the south or Middle Belt that accepts Find out what the root cause of the problem in Jos and Plateau state is They will not just come with their cows but also with all their people. Next they will insist on having an Emir then they will impose their faith, They will arm themselves very well and after some time they will insist on That is where this cattle colony thing will all end and that is what it is I say shame on this government and particularly on Audu Ogbeh for trying to The proposed introduction of cattle colonies is a rubbish suggestion, of a Audu Ogbeh was Minister in 1983. He is clearly too old for the job now, he QUESTION:<\/p>\n Saturday<\/span><\/span>PUNCH recently had an interview with Professor Umar Labdo of ANSWER:<\/p>\n May God guide and lead me by His Spirit and may He cause me to Not only is what Professor Labdo said false but it also an insulting view If, as Labdo has suggested, the Fulani are “destined to lead” or are “born I reject that notion and I find it deeply repugnant, obnoxious and The Nazis believed that God gave the white ‘Aryans’ of Germany the earth In a similar way Labdo believes that God gave the Fulani the nation and Both Hitler and Labdo and indeed all those that think like them are The white Afrikaans-speaking Boer settlers and farmers of apartheid South They believed that God had given them South Africa to rule over and In other words, they were nothing but slaves and even close to being No matter how well-educated or prosperous we are and no matter what we may They believe that we live for their leisure and at their pleasure. I My full response to Professor Labdo was articulated and documented in It was published in the Punch Newspaper itself and in numerous other We must not allow Labdo’s lies and delusions to go unanswered and we must The truth is that he speaks for many of his people and his views are We must also expose it, confront it, discredit it, overwhelm it, overcome Unlike Labdo I believe that all men and women, regardless of their tribe, QUESTION:<\/p>\n He said that Fulani people are saddled with the burden of leadership and He also said that the Fulani were reading books and ancient transcripts What do you think about these assertions?<\/p>\n ANSWER:<\/p>\n Again this is false. Qualified how? As a matter of fact some would argue The Fulani are not amongst the most educated in Nigeria and if the truth They were so uneducated and unenlightened that they were terrified of Nigeria That is why they said 1953 was too early for our nation to have independence. That is what the north, led by the Fulani, said in 1953. They walked out of That is why the British loved them so much and favoured them. Because of And even then the understanding and deal between them and the British was What the British did to us by giving them power and leadership and Labdo talks about education and I wonder what he and his people know about Would he even be a professor? What was his father, his grandfather and his I doubt it very much and I dont want to say the sort of things they may The Yoruba, for example, had people in the best universities in the world The Igbo also had many educated and enlightened people then. Do you know What do people like Labdo and his progenitors and forefathers know about Do you know that his son, my grandfather, Justice Victor Adedapo Kayode Where were their forefathers that were so qualified to lead educated and Does he know of places like CMS Grammer School in the late 1800’s and the Does he know of great educated men in our history like Bishop Ajayi Crowther, What about Wole Soyinka, the Ransome-Kuti brothers, Chinua Achebe, How many of such people do the Fulani have? Not one. They knew nothing And even that northerner was a northener of Yoruba extraction by the name The earliest and most educated family in the north were the Atta’s and Most of the northern tribes, like their southern counterparts, had The Fulani did not even appear in northern Nigeria until 1797 and the What they got in northern Nigeria they got by the power of the sword and They conquered parts of the north, toppled old dynasties, destroyed And when they talk about education and you point these facts out they will I say this because Islam came to the Yoruba tribes primarily through the The Hausa hsd already accepted Islam as their faith then just as the So when Labdo talks about the Fulani being better qualified or better He said that other tribes did not know how to read and write when the The truth is that the opposite is the case. They are the ones that knew He is wrong and we must set the record straight so that those in the younger In terms of qualifications and education they are very far down the line when QUESTION: How is your health now? ANSWER: We give thanks to God. It was tough, and I was out of circulation for about three weeks but I am much better…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":61003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,15,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive","category-femi-fani-kayode","category-interviews"],"yoast_head":"\n
\ncattle colonies will wish they had never done so.<\/p>\n
\nbetween the indigenous Berom people and the Fulani settlers.<\/p>\n
\nThey will multiply like rabbits and after some time they will not only
\noutnumber you but they will also claim the land as theirs.<\/p>\n
\ntheir ways and their culture on you and try to dominate and control your
\nevery day life.<\/p>\n
\npolitical control of your entire community, act as if they are no longer
\nguests and settlers but rather the original owners of the land and
\neveryone else will be treated like second class citizens and filth. And
\nif you attempt to resist them they will threaten you and kill you.<\/p>\n
\ndesigned to achieve. It is simply a handy and subtle vehicle for Fulani
\nexpansion,
\nassimilation and conquest and it is being promoted and encouraged by
\nBuhari’s Fulani Government.<\/p>\n
\nintroduce such a repugnant idea even when those that asked him to do so are
\nslaughtering his own people in Benue state.<\/p>\n
\nrubbish idea, from a rubbish Minister, who serves a rubbish Government.<\/p>\n
\nhas lost touch with reality and he no longer knows what he is doing. He
\nneeds to resign.<\/p>\n
\nMaitama Sule University, Kano in which he described the Fulani people as
\nbeing destined to rule Nigeria. What are your views on that? Do you think
\nthe Fulani were destined to lead?<\/p>\n
\ncourageously speak nothing but the truth no matter how hard, painful or
\nbitter that truth may be.<\/p>\n
\nand a deeply offensive assertion. I say this because what he is in essence
\nsuggesting is that the rest of us are nothing but slaves that must bow at
\nthe feet of the Fulani and serve them in perpetuity. Such views are
\nunacceptable. They have no place in a civilized society and they must be
\ncondemned by all men of goodwill.<\/p>\n
\nto rule” the logical deduction and clear implication is that every other
\nethnic nationality in the geographical space called Nigeria including the
\nYoruba, the Ijaw, the Igbo, the Tiv, the Hausa, the Kanuri, the Berom, the
\nIdoma, the Urobo, the Isetkiri, the Isoko, the Efik, the Ibibiyo, the
\nKalabari, the Nupe, the Gwari, the Bachama and everyone else were
\n“destined to slavery” and “born to serve” and that they were “born to BE
\nruled” by others.<\/p>\n
\noffensive. I do not believe that that is God’s plan or purpose for any
\nNigerian or any of out numerous nationalities and such views are the
\nclosest thing to the Nazi philosophy and way of thinking that I have ever
\nheard.<\/p>\n
\nand all of humanity to dominate and rule over in perpetuity and Adolf
\nHitler enunciated those dangerous views very well in his famous book
\ntitled ‘Mein Kampf’ (meaning ‘My Struggle’).<\/p>\n
\nthe people of Nigeria to lead, rule and dominate in perpetuity and he has
\nenunciated those views in his famous interview with theSaturday<\/span><\/span>Punch
\nNewspaper.<\/p>\n
\ndeluded and dangerous and they must be confronted and exposed for what
\nthey are: self-serving racists and ethnic supremacists of the highest
\norder.<\/p>\n
\nAfrica, who were originally from Holland, also had those views and a few
\nof them still do.<\/p>\n
\ndominate in perpetuity and that the black Africans that they met there
\nwhen they arrived in the Cape in 1604 were, in Van Riebek’s famous words,
\nnothing but “stinking black dogs” who were destined to be treated as the
\nbiblical “carriers of water and hewers of the
\nwood”.<\/p>\n
\nsub-human. That is how people like Labdo see the rest of us that are not
\nFulani in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
\nhave achieved in life they see us as underlings, serfs and slaves that
\nwere ordained by God to live, serve and die for them.<\/p>\n
\nbelieve this is unacceptable and that such thinking has no place in a
\ncivilised society. It is wrong, it is false, and it is ungodly.<\/p>\n
\ngreat detail in my official rejoinder to him which is titled ‘The
\nDangerous Delusions Of Umar Muhammed Labdo”.<\/p>\n
\nmediums. I would urge all those that are interested to google it and read
\nit so that when other Fulanis make such bogus claims they know exactly
\nwhat to say to counter them and shoot down the reckless rhetoric and
\ndangerous propaganda.<\/p>\n
\nnot make the grave error of assuming that he speaks only for himself or
\nthat his view is a minority view.<\/p>\n
\nwidely held even if not voiced out publicly by many Fulani leaders. That
\nis the bitter truth and we must accept it.<\/p>\n
\nit and finally bury it. We refuse to confront it or shy away from doing so
\nat our own peril and at great risk to our collective future and the future
\nof our children and generations unborn.<\/p>\n
\nethnicity, race, faith, color, gender or nationality were created equal
\nbefore God and I believe that anything outside of that is evil.<\/p>\n
\nthat they
\nhave to shoulder that responsibility because they are more educated and
\nqualified for it than anyone else.<\/p>\n
\n500 years ago before any other nationality in Nigeria could read or write.<\/p>\n
\nthat in terms of history they are the least qualified and the least
\ndeserving to lead and rule. If it was simply about qualifications and not
\na brutal show of power and the force of arms they would be nowhere because
\nthere are many nationalities in Nigeria that are far more qualified to
\ntake the lead than they were or are.<\/p>\n
\nbe told education came to them very late.<\/p>\n
\ngaining her independence from the British in 1953 when the first motion for
\nNigeria’s independence was moved because they knew that they could not
\ncompete with ANY of the southern ethnic nationalities in a newly
\nindependent Nigeria.<\/p>\n
\nImagine someone saying it was too early to be free and to break the yoke
\nof bondage and colonialism.<\/p>\n
\nParliament when the motion was moved because they knew that they were not
\nqualified or capable of leading and managing the affairs of a newly
\nindependent nation and they made it clear that they did not want southern
\nleadership or domination and that they would rather have British rule than
\nsouthern rule.<\/p>\n
\ntheir fawning and servile attitude towards the British, because of their
\nresentment for and aggression and hostility towards the better educated,
\nmore successful and more qualified south and because of their morbid fear
\nof southerners, southern rule and southern domination they held up our
\nindependence for 8 years.<\/p>\n
\nthat the system would be rigged, the census figures would be cooked and
\nthe Armed Forces would be skewered all in their favour so that an
\nindependent Nigeria would be led by them and not by the far more qualified
\nand far better educated south.<\/p>\n
\nprotecting and favouring them for all these years just to keep the south
\nin bondage and to spite us was cruel and unprecedented and we have been
\npaying the price and suffering the consequences of that cruel act ever
\nsince.<\/p>\n
\nit? If
\nnot for Federal Character and the quota system where would he and they be
\ntoday?<\/p>\n
\ngreat grandfather in life? Were they educated or were they qualified in
\nany way to lead?<\/p>\n
\nwell have been doing. Compare that to the southern experience and their
\nsouthern counterparts.<\/p>\n
\nlike Oxford and Cambridge as far back as the eatly 1800’s when Usman Dan
\nFodio was still learning to ride a horse and planning his jihad.<\/p>\n
\nhow many southern Nigerians were at the great Fourah Bay College in Sierra
\nLeonne which was part of Durham University in the late 1800’s?<\/p>\n
\nthat? Do you know how many people in the south were educated by the great
\nChristian missionaries and the Anglican Church, including my great
\ngrandfather Rev. Emmanuel Adebiyi Kayode who was one of those that first
\nbrought Christianity to Ile-Ife after
\nfinishing at Durham University.<\/p>\n
\nwas at Cambridge University just as his son, my father, Chief Remilekun
\nAdetokunbo Fani-Kayode was many years later?<\/p>\n
\nwhat was the nature of that education?<\/p>\n
\ngreat Kings College when it was really Kings College in 1901?<\/p>\n
\nHerbert Macauly, Sir Adeyemo Alakija, Justice Coker, Justice Adetokunboh
\nAdemola, Justice Fatayi-Williams, Chief Rotimi Frederick Alade Williams,
\nChief Bode Thomas, Chief Sobo Sowemimo, Chief Ayo Rosiji, Chief Obafemi
\nAwolowo, Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe and countless others who went to Oxford,
\nCambridge, Harvard, Yale, London and many other great universities all
\nover the world?<\/p>\n
\nChristopher Okigbo, Bola Ige, Abraham Adesanya, Ayo Adebanjo and so many
\nothers that came in the later generation of great educated minds and that
\nwent to the top Nigerian Universities when they were amongst the best in
\nAfrica?<\/p>\n
\nabout western education till many years later. The first northern lawyer
\nwas called to the bar in 1955 which was over 100 years after the first
\nYoruba lawyer, Sapara Williams, was called to the bar.<\/p>\n
\nof Ganiyu Abdul-Rasaq from Ilorin. Where were the Fulani throughout these
\nyears in terms of education? Even the Hausas who they conquered, the
\nKanuri and much of the north were far ahead of them.<\/p>\n
\nthey were Ibiras from Okene and not Fulani. The earliest and best edicated
\nfamily in the far core north were the Wali’s of Kano but even they were
\nwell behind the Attas and the Abdul Rasaq’s.<\/p>\n
\nthousands of years of rich history, empire and kingdoms in their present
\nlocations long before the Fulani came and when they were still plying the
\ntrade routes with their camels to north Africa from Futa Jalon in Guinea
\nand herding cattle.<\/p>\n
\njihad was launched in 1804. They met us all here. They came from elsewhere
\nand they came with the sword.<\/p>\n
\nthrough violence, bloodshed and conquest and not as a consequence of any
\nqualification or education that they never had.<\/p>\n
\nancient empires and imposed their Emirs by force on their new-found slaves
\nand vassals. It was by force and not by qualification or superior
\nknowledge and education as Labdo would have us believe.<\/p>\n
\nsay “oh we are talking about Islamic education and not western education”.
\nBut yet again they are wrong there because even in that they were very far
\nbehind most others.<\/p>\n
\nTurkish traders 400 years before Usman Dan Fodio put his foot in northern
\nNigeria and attacked the Hausa Habe Kingdom and fought King Yunfa of
\nGobir.<\/p>\n
\nKanuris had done too. However in the whole of Nigeria no tribe knew Islam
\nor was better educated in Islamic literature, the Koran and the hadith
\nthan the Yoruba Muslims.<\/p>\n
\neducated than anyone else it is simply a manifestation of his ignorance,
\nhis delusion and his arrogance of power.<\/p>\n
\nFulani were reading transcripts 500 years before.<\/p>\n
\nnothing whilst others were far ahead of them and well advanced in matters
\nof civilization and governance.<\/p>\n
\ngeneration are not misled. The Caliphate has only existed for about 220
\nyears and before then the Fulani were barely educated, they were nothing
\nand they knew
\nnothing.<\/p>\n
\ncompared to the numerous ethnic nationalities that make up Nigeria. As
\npainful as it may be this is the bitter truth.<\/p>\n