By: Femi Fani-Kayode<\/p>\n
“I am the leader of Uthman Danfodio dynasty. I have never seen where in
\nthe hundred books that Uthman Danfodio said Nigeria belongs to the
\nFulani. What he wrote was the role of Islam in leadership, governance
\netc. He never mentioned of conquering any particular land or claimed
\nownership of any territory. People make comments that Jihad is to
\nIslamise every country, but I said no. Danfodio never came to Islamise
\nany country, he preached against bad government. That fake write-up was
\nby those who don\u2019t want peace in this country and we had denounced
\nthat. I am the National Patron of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders
\nAssociation (MACBAN). It has been in existence for 44 years. There are
\ntwo other organisations that I know, but others I don\u2019t know. Please
\nverify from us before you put blame on us\u201d- Muhammadu S’aad Abubakar,
\nthe Sultan of Sokoto, February, 2020.<\/p>\n
I commend His Eminence the Sultan of Sokoto for attempting to do damage
\ncontrol and douse the tension that was generated in the aftermath of the
\nexplosive statement by the Fulani Nationalist Movement (FUNAM).<\/p>\n
However I respectfully disagree with him on his assertion that his
\nhighly esteemed ancestor and forefather, Uthman Dan Fodio “never
\nconquered or claimed ownership of any land” or that “he did not come to
\nIslamise any country”.<\/p>\n
I also beg to differ with him on his tacit implication that Miyetti
\nAllah, an organisation that can best be described as the biblical and
\nmodern-day “troubler of our collective peace” are respectable and
\npeace-loving.<\/p>\n
I believe that given what we have suffered in the hands of the local
\nJanjaweed known as the Fulani herdsmen and murderous terrorist militias
\nwho have come under their protective umbrella over the last five years,
\nthe opposite is actually the case.<\/p>\n
Permit me to focus on Uthman Dan Fodio in this contribution and leave
\nthe insidious activities and sinister agenda of Miyetti Allah for
\nanother day. The facts are as follows.<\/p>\n
In 1804 one of the most savage and bestial wars and bloody jihads in
\nAfrican history was waged against the Hausa Habe Kingdom and people of
\nthe area that later became known as “northern Nigeria” by Sheik Uthman
\nDan Fodio.<\/p>\n
He was primarily an Islamic scholar and the spiritual and military
\nleader of the Fulani people who came in their hundreds of thousands from
\nFuta Jalon and Futa Toro in modern-day Guniea to northern Nigeria and
\nestablished Africa’s most powerful and ruthless Islamic Caliphate.<\/p>\n
For anyone, no matter how respected or highly placed, to suggest that
\nDan Fodio was just a scholar and teacher that only wrote books, that
\nnever waged war and violent jihad and that never laid claim to and
\nconquered parts of Nigeria is most unfortunate.<\/p>\n
Such an assertion can best be described as being, at best,
\nintellectually dishonest and patently false and, at worse, historical
\nrevisionism in its most brazen and repugnant form.<\/p>\n
The truth is that Dan Fodio and his Fulani army not only indulged in
\nmerciless acts of pure barbarity in battle and committed what can only
\nbe described as genocide against defenceless and innocent civilian
\npopulations but he also imposed his own extreme, hardline, purist,
\nwahhabist and salafist version of Islam on the people of core northern
\nNigeria with a scimitar and a sword and forcefully imposed Fulani Emirs
\non them.<\/p>\n
The only ethnic nationality that successfully warded him and his Fulani
\narmies off in the north were the strong and proud Kanuris of the El
\nKanemi dynasty and empire in modern-day Borno state who warned him to
\nsteer clear of their territory and he did.<\/p>\n
Finally the only race that ever defeated the Fulani in open battle and
\nthereby put a halt and full stop to their attempt to march down South
\nand “dip the Koran in the Atlantic ocean” were the gallant sons of
\nOduduwa, led primarily by the Ibadan generals and military commanders,
\nwho defeated them in battle at Osogbo in 1840 and drove them back north.<\/p>\n
They not only defeated them but they also slaughtered and ate their
\nhorses and publicly executed their allies and military commanders from
\nIlorin.<\/p>\n
The Fulani have never succeeded in conquering the people of the South
\nWest militarily and I make boast to say that they never will.<\/p>\n
The recent statement credited to the Fulani Nationalist Movement known
\nas FUNAM who said that every inch of Nigeria belonged to them “from
\nSokoto to the banks of the Atlantic ocean”, that “Nigeria is the only
\ninheritance we have in Africa and anywhere in the world” and that “this
\nwas the destiny bestowed on Uthman Dan Fodio which would have been
\nfulfilled since 1816 if not for the obstruction of this great assignment
\nby the British” was simply an accurate and honest reflection of the
\nmindset and ultimate vision of Usman Dan Fodio and other great Fulani
\nleaders and Mahdi’s through the ages like Sir Ahmadu Bello and lately
\nPresident Muhammadu Buhari.<\/p>\n
FUNAM went further to say,<\/p>\n
“It is no longer time to play the ostrich. Our men are waiting. We are
\neager to fight. We are boiling with the zeal to actualize our dream;
\nenough of double dealing and ambivalence by FULANI political leaders who
\nunfortunately think the FULANI can only take back what belongs to us
\nthrough appeasement and elections destined to reflect cultural values
\nantithetical to the preaching of Uthman Dan Fodio”.<\/p>\n
We ignore and play down these incendiary words at our own peril.<\/p>\n
I speak for millions when I say that the indigenous and oppressed people
\nand ethnic nationalities of Nigeria have had enough of these open
\nthreats of tyranny and violence and neither are we interested in being
\nvassals and slaves.<\/p>\n
Had we listened to Colonel Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu and the Biafrans in
\n1967, considered their terrible plight and aligned with them during the
\ncivil war things would have been very different today and we would not
\nhave been subjected to these infantile and provocative insults from the
\nlikes of FUNAM.<\/p>\n
The bottom line is as follows: we either have a Nigeria where all men,
\nregardless of ethnic nationality or faith, are regarded as being equal
\nbefore God and the law or we shall have no Nigeria at all. No-one can
\nimpose their will on us and neither can anyone intimidate us.<\/p>\n
We do not seek war and neither do we relish or endorse any form of
\nviolence. We want peaceful co-existence and mutual respect. We want
\nlove, prosperity and progress for all and we offer it to those who wish
\nus well and seek to do us no harm.<\/p>\n
However if in a moment of madness we are ever attacked we shall stand
\nfirm and stand strong. We shall never retreat and neither shall we
\nsurrender.<\/p>\n
We shall defend our people, we shall defend our land, we shall defend
\nour honor and we shall defend our heritage.<\/p>\n
We are not cowards and we shall never bend the knee or bow our heads to
\nthe tyranny of foreign invaders who erroneously believe that they were
\nborn to rule and that we were born to serve.<\/p>\n
Permit me to conclude this contribution with the following.<\/p>\n
Given what is going on in our country today and despite the laudable
\nefforts of moderates such as the Sultan of Sokoto to diffuse the tension
\nand reign in the more radical and hardline elements in the ranks of the
\nFulani I am convinced of two things.<\/p>\n
Firstly that the call by many southern and Middle Belt leaders for
\nrestructuring is not only outdated but also too little, too late.<\/p>\n
Secondly that if care is not taken there is every likelihood that
\nNigeria will break into two or more pieces within the next five years.<\/p>\n
Mark my words and remember them! The only way to prevent this from
\nhappening is for these vicious threats of gratutious violence and Fulani
\nadventurism and expansionism to stop and for the oppressors to start
\nseeing the oppressed as equal partners and stakeholders in the Nigerian
\nproject. Without that Nigeria is truly finished and will soon be
\nhistory.<\/p>\n
(Femi Fani-Kayode)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By: Femi Fani-Kayode “I am the leader of Uthman Danfodio dynasty. I have never seen where in the hundred books that Uthman Danfodio said Nigeria belongs to the Fulani. What…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":67353,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,12,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions","category-columns","category-femi-fani-kayode"],"yoast_head":"\n