Ime Akpan
The former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo stirred up controversy at the weekend when he said that the Boko Haram insurgency is no longer an issue of lack of education and lack of employment for our youths in Nigeria, which it began.
Instead, he said it “is now West African Fulanisation, African Islamisation and global organised crimes of human trafficking, money laundering, drug trafficking, illegal mining and regime change.’’
Obasanjo who stated this in a keynote address at the 2019 Synod of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), held in Oleh, Isoko South council area of Delta State spoke as a study emerged on how the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), is allegedly trying to form a ‘jihadist proto-state’ in northern Nigeria.
He advised the federal government to seek the opinions of all Nigerians that matter on the security situation and then proceed to bilateral, multinational, regional, continental and global levels for assistance in making the country safe for all.
Besides, he called for an immediate and more aggressive approach by the federal government to deal with the current challenge of insecurity across the country brought about by the sect and its allies in ISIS.
But reacting to the comments, the former governor of Jigawa State, Mr. Sule Lamido warned Obasanjo against turning himself to a religious and an ethnic bigot.
He urged him to him to withdraw the statement credited to him that Boko Haram has an agenda of ‘Fulanisation and Islamisation’ of West Africa.
The former governor who expressed his views in a statement by his media aide, Mr. Masur Ahmed said: “Speaking about ‘Fulanisation and Islamisation at St. Paul Cathedral Church’ is very much unlike you, sir!
“If it were said at a non-religious venue to a non-religious audience, may be it might have been more tolerable.
“Please, sir, don’t let your disappointment with sitting Presidents turn you into a bigot. You must not abandon the national stage.
“The cracks along the various divides in our national cohesion are already turning into huge ‘gorges’”.
Similarly, a Second Republic senator, Dr. Junaid Mohammed said Obasanjo was telling untruth adding that “his intention is to set this country on fire.
“I have no choice but to condemn his language, the circumstances and the choice of place for such a statement. I believe a person, who was a President should be very cautious about the kind of language to use when addressing vital national issues. What Obasanjo said was a lie. His intention is to set this country on fire. Any time Obasanjo looked for something and he didn’t get it, he used abusive language to reduce what he looked for. He wants to play one section of the country against the other. The people being killed are mainly Muslims in the North and they are people who have nothing to do with the contentious issues in the country.
“Every Nigerian leader should be blamed for the mess we found ourselves in. We must blame in totality, the so called political class, who have not handled the economy and politics well. They have been very divisive in their ways. But for Obasanjo to say that some people are trying to islamise anyone is wrong. I am one of those, who come from a family that does not go out to convert anyone.
“Clearly, Obasanjo is lying and if Obasanjo abuses anyone, I will encourage the person to revenge. I recall that I and the late Dr. Bala Usman had gone to caution him not to get involved with the Sharia thing that was being introduced then. We told him to allow Muslims to handle it, insisting that if he got involved, a new dimension that would not serve the country well would be introduced. We even told the late Bola Ige to caution him against it,” said Mohammed.
However, the former minister of aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, in a counter-statement said Obasanjo was only being courageous in telling the truth.
He said the former president had done much for the core north, Lamido’s Fulani tribe and Nigerian unity.
“President Olusegun Obasanjo remains the only politically active southern and Middle Belt leader that understands what is really going on, the grave danger that we are in and what lies ahead. He is deeply courageous and his latest contribution that there is an agenda to Fulanise West Africa and Islamise Africa says it all.
“Obasanjo needs say no more. History and posterity will be kind to him for speaking the bitter truth and saying what almost every other southern and Middle Belt politician and leader knows to be true but is too timid and too scared to say publicly.
“With his latest contribution he has vindicated yours truly and many others. I saw this coming in late 2013 and I told the world. Nnamdi Kanu saw it coming in 2014 and he told the world. Asari Dokubo saw it in 2015 and he told the world.
“Afenifere, OPC, YOLICOM, PANDEM, MEND, the Middle Belt Forum, the Niger Delta Avengers, IPOB, MASSOB and Ohaeneze saw it in 2017 and they told the world. The National Christian Elders Forum, NCEF, CAN and the Church saw it in 2018 and they told the world.
“Sadly, the world refused to listen, left us on our own and, instead of rising to the occasion and confronting the evil, Nigerians went on bended knees to the powers that be and acted as if they were not saddled with a major problem that was bound to eventually consume them all. Now they know better even though most of them are still in denial.
“Now, they must live with the consequences of their indifference, ignorance, cowardice and stoicism. What a pity. ‘’ It is a tragedy of monumental proportions that a nation that is so blessed with extraordinary human and mineral resources should end up going this way.
“I hear one or two people like Sule Lamido are not too happy with what OBJ said and have called him out for saying it. That is sad and unfortunate because Obasanjo has done more for the core north, Lamido’s Fulani tribe and Nigerian unity than any other former President or Head of State in our history. He also fought in a civil war to keep the country together.
“For anybody from the core north to call him names for speaking the truth and baring his mind over what is unfolding in Nigeria today tells you how blinded by power, insensitive and callous some of these people are.
“It is only those that subscribe to the Fulanisation and Islamisation agenda that will criticise or oppose Obasanjo’s observation and describe him as “a bigot” for making them. What OBJ said was timely and necessary and millions are commending him for it. He spoke the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth,” said Fani-Kayode.
For its part, Ohanaeze Ndigo said the federal government has a hidden agenda for not branding Boko Haram a terrorist organisation.
In a statement by the media adviser to the president general of the group, Chief Emeka Attama, the Igbo socio-cultural organisation agreed with Obasanjo that Boko Haram was out to islamise not only Nigeria but also other West Africa countries.
It added that the federal government did not help matters in its refusal to brand both Boko Haram and Miyetti-Allah as terrorist groups, noting however that any further Islamic push against Christians in Nigeria may lead to break up of the country.
“When the Boko Haram started its activities, many Nigerians didn’t give it much thought but with its continued aggression, coupled with the refusal of the current leadership to brand it a terrorist organisation, it became highly suggestive of a hidden agenda.
“The intrusion of the dreaded ISIS and the seemingly half hearted response to Boko Haram by the Federal government makes it more so.
“Equating the murderous Miyetti Allah with Afenifere and Ohanaeze Ndigbo further brings out the insincerity of government.
“Yes, Christians in Nigeria have every reason to suspect an Islamic agenda. But that certainly will be the end of an entity known as Nigeria,” said Ohanaeze.
For the Pan-Niger Delta Elders’ Forum, Obasanjo’s statement that Boko Haram and herdsmen were becoming tools for the Fulanization and Islamization of Nigeria is not far from the truth.
“Looking at the matter critically, it is not far from the truth. We see herdsmen as they push to the South attacking, sacking and taking over communities from people.
“Clearly, herdsmen movement is part of the Islamization process that is why people are apprehensive, it is not about trespassing people’s land, they are dispossessing people of their territories with arms and occupying them.
“It is from occupying the places where they chased out the original owners that they start Islamization. In Delta State, herdsmen are sacking communities and stopping farmers from going to their farms.
“I can tell you that it is not a matter of selling cows or business that they are doing. They have a different mission. Last time, they kidnapped the former secretary to the federal government, Chief Olu Falae, in Ondo state and that is how they are kidnapping in other states.
“It was in the news recently that police captured some Boko Haram infiltrators in Edo state. So they are spreading their tentacles, they are already in control of certain communities in Delta State for instance, where they often launch attack villagers, kidnap people for ransom and rape women.
“The Fulanization and Islamization thing is a systematic affair, they know what they are doing and before you know, they will overrun states and take over the country,” said the national secretary of PANDEF, Dr. Alfred Mulade in an interview.
