Femi Fani-Kayode, one of the leading thought leaders in Nigeria, writes on the on-going genocide in Southern Kaduna and the refusal of the government of Kaduna State to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes against humanity targeted at Christians. This is the second and concluding part of this essay. You may read the first part HERE.
[dropcap]M[/dropcap]eanwhile one wonders precisely who I planned and discussed these “violent attacks” with? Was it Rev. Musa Asake, the gentle and amiable Secretary General of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) who I had the honor of hosting in my home for a meeting or was it the Shiite Muslim delegation from Sheikh El Zakzaky’s group?
Perhaps it was the group of Southern Kaduna Christians that came to see me, many of whom had lost their loved ones in the carnage that took place during the Christmas attack?
Or maybe it was the great and gallant General Zamani Lekwot from Zangon Kataf who also honored me with a visit to my home or my friend and brother Dr. John Fulani who also came with his own delegation all the way from Southern Kaduna?
The dwarf also said that I was being “sponsored” to write and do these things? The question is sponsored by who, what with and what for?
Honestly this little dwarf is very naughty and he needs to be spanked very hard on his tiny little dwarf buttocks. He is nothing but a pernicious and pathological liar.
If the truth must be told we were not talking about guns and violent attacks in our numerous meetings but rather about the wickedness, blood lust, unstable disposition, irresponsible nature and sheer incompetence of the dwarf’s boss, the Midget-In-Chief, his Royal Shortness, Governor Nasir El Rufai.
If it is me he is trying to intimidate with his words and veiled threats of intimidation and arrest then he needs to go back to his stunted principal and advise him not to bite off more than he can handle or chew. I don’t scare easily and nothing moves me.
| State House Photo
And in case he didn’t know, when I am sufficiently provoked I am like a hurricane or like a one man riot squad and army. Figuratively speaking I mark my target and I hit it with precision and power. I never fail and I never miss.
Not even his irresponsible and insensitive midget of a boss comes anywhere near me in any shape or form let alone a physically challenged little errand boy like him.
In a direct response to the dwarf Mr. Michael Makeris, who is from Southern Kaduna, wrote the following:
“Picking up arms for self-defence is obviously the last bastion of hope for Southern Kaduna and not its first option since the commencement of these mindless massacres.
“This last resort became necessary when it became glaring that government is not interested in securing and protecting the lives of the people of Southern Kaduna even though this is against its oath of office.
“If Government had lived up to its constitutional responsibility and demonstrated unparalleled commitment in curbing the menace, citizens have no business bearing arms.
“It is the failure of government that makes taking up arms necessary. Even America had to allow its citizens to bear arms when it couldn’t protect them from constant attacks. It is only natural to arm your citizens or allow your citizens to arm themselves, when you cannot guarantee their safety.
“It is such a shame that the El-Rufai Government is not worried about its inability to secure the lives and properties of the Southern Kaduna people. It is not worried that despite a twenty four hour curfew, a massacre took place in Goska.
“It is not worried that the Southern Kaduna people lack arms amidst relentless hostilities. It is not worried that it cannot arrest and prosecute the murderers but it is worried that the victims of constant attacks are now rising to arm themselves for self-defence as enshrined in the constitution.
“Does this not tell any rational mind that the Government is helping the mindless murderers and condoning the massacres? How can people who have never spoken against the massacres since it began suddenly start talking against carrying of arms for self-defence?
“This tells us the type of criminals we have in power in Kaduna State and it explains the situation better to the international community.”
Mr. Makeris has hit the nail on the head. I sincerely hope that the midget and the dwarf are both listening.
They would also do well to learn from the words of Mr. Darius Ishaku the Governor of Taraba state. He said,
“The people must wake up from their slumber and defend themselves. You can’t just lie down and allow yourselves to be annihilated by other groups. You have a constitutional right to self-defense and now is the time to use it. The government alone cannot do it.”
How right he is. Catholic Archbishop Onaiyekan offered similar counsel. He said,
“I foresee a situation where those who have been badly damaged and who are being killed daily will be saying, ‘I cannot sit here and be killed’ and they will organise themselves, not because they are Christians but because they are human beings who cannot sit down and allow themselves to be killed…….everybody has a right to self-defence when they are left without any alternative”.
Finally the rising star of the Pentecostal Church and a man of immense courage, Apostle Johnson Suleman of Omega Fire Ministries, made his own contribution to the debate and spoke the minds of millions of Christians from all over the country when he said,
“Someone called me and told me that there is a plan to send Fulani herdsmen after you and I said ‘ok’ and the person said I should be careful and I said ‘careful of what?’ He said the herdsmen are just going to run into the road like herdsmen and begin to cause confusion and while your security men clear them and you come out, they will open fire. I said ‘ok’.
“After about a week, he called me and said ‘please, if they don’t do that, they might bring them to come around your church premises’. I said ‘its okay’.
“And I told my people, ‘any Fulani herdsman you see around that has come to attack us you kill him. I have told them in the church here, that any Fulani herdsman that just entered by mistake in order to come and attack us, kill him, kill him.
“Cut his head. If they are busy killing Christians and nothing is happening we will kill them in self-defence and nothing will happen.”
Whether anyone likes it or not all four of these men have reflected the mindset of many in our country today.
I wonder whether the dwarf will claim that they are also “opportunists and political jobbers” that are “encouraging and planning violent attacks” too? I wonder whether they are also being “sponsored” to say these things?
The truth is that this is a very serious matter indeed and the situation is getting worse by the day. To underestimate the resolve of Christians to defend themselves from further attacks and acts of genocide or to seek to deny them that right would be a cataclysmic and monumental error.
The dwarf and the midget both need to grow up, smell the coffee and appreciate the fact that the evil that they are perpetuating and encouraging in Kaduna state may end up igniting a religious conflagration in this country the likes of which humanity has never seen before.
Instead of spending their time trying to misrepresent, insult, threaten and intimidate others or planning their utter destruction they should tend to their jobs and protect the good people of their state.
I say this because what may end up happening in Nigeria if care is not taken will make the civil war that raged in Lebanon in the 1980’s and 1990’s and the one that is winding down and coming to an end in Syria today look like child’s play. God forbid that we should ever have the Rwandan experience here and we must do all we can to prevent it.
Urging President Muhammadu Buhari’s Federal Govermment and its Muslim-led intelligence and security agencies to silence, arrest and detain Christian clerics and leaders like Apostle Johnson Suleman or to muzzle, threaten, humiliate, intimidate, discredit and harrass other servants of God will only make matters worse.
One wonders how many imams and Muslim clerics have been arrested and detained for inciting and encouraging violence and genocide against Christians in their mosques since Buhari came to power?
What about Miyetti Allah members who have consistently said that they were responsible for the murder of numerous Christians in Southern Kaduna and Benue state which they claim were done in the name of “reprisals” for the killing of their cows? Not one of them has been questioned or arrested and that speaks volumes.
Given all this timely is the warning from Senator Ahmed Makarfi, who himself was once Governor of Kaduna state. He said that if care was not taken “the Kaduna crisis may spread to other parts of Nigeria”. He is absolutely right.
The bottom line is this: if you want to stop Christian commentators, community and political leaders and clerics from complaining about the genocide that the believers and the faithful are being subjected to in northern Nigeria today you will have to kill or jail us ALL. And that is something that not even one million Buharis and El Rufais can do.
Permit me to conclude this contribution with the insightful words of my friend and brother Governor Ayo Fayose. He said,
“Nigerians, either Muslim or Christian deserve to be protected by the Federal Government, which controls all security apparatus in the country and the moment they can no longer protect Nigerians from being killed by rampaging herdsmen citizens of the country will have no option than to defend themselves.
“If the Federal Government had acted swiftly like it acted on Apostle Johnson Suleiman’s so-called ‘inciting comments’ when people were being killed by herdsmen across the country, so many lives would have been saved…..
“Apostle Johnson Suleiman openly condemned the killing of Nigerians across the country and went on to say that Christians should rise and defend themselves if the Federal Government, which controls all security apparatus, will not defend them and the next thing that happened was the DSS moved swiftly to arrest him.
“Isn’t it ridiculous that instead of running after those herdsmen that have killed over 3,000 Nigerians in just one year, the DSS opted to arrest a man of God who merely expressed his frustration on the inability of Nigeria to protect its citizens? Or who should be arrested between those killer herdsmen and Apostle Suleiman who merely expressed his readiness for self-defence and called on Christians to defend themselves if they are attacked by the herdsmen?
“We were all in this country when cattle breeders openly said over 1,000 Agatu people of Benue State were killed because over 10,000 cows were killed. We were also told that the Southern Kaduna genocide was as a result of killing of cows. Up till today, none of those cattle breeders have been arrested.”
Governor Fayose, as willing as ever to courageously champion the cause of the afflicted, the weak and the persecuted, has stated the case and articulated our collective position very well.
His contribution also serves as an appropriate response to the inappropiate call by the Sultan of Sokoto, the leader of the Fulani Caliphate and of all northern Muslims, for the arrest of those that he has described as “hate preachers”.
What the Sultan fails to appreciate is the fact that the killings and the genocide by the Fulani militants preceded and pre-dated the so-called “hate speech” by Christian clerics. Since he has called for the arrest of so-called hate preachers one wonders why he has failed to call for the arrest of those who kill, maim and commit genocide in the name of their god. What is good for the goose is surely good for the gander.
The truth of the matter is this: the Christians of Nigeria are not lab rats. Whether anyone likes it or not, if the government fails to protect us, we will defend ourselves when we are attacked.
That is the right and proper thing to do.
This is a new dispensation and times have changed. The days of slaughtering Christians without any backlash are long over. This is a lesson that the midget, the dwarf, the Sultan of Sokoto and President Muhammadu Buhari need to learn fast.
Our God is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. He created and controls the universe. He is known as the Ancient of Days. His Spirit resides and reigns in us. We are slow to anger but irresistible in battle. We are strong. We are Christians. And we serve a mighty God.
May the Lord of Hosts deliver the people of Kaduna state and Nigeria from these genocidal maniacs, pernicious liars and ravenous beasts. (CONCLUDED)
Femi Fani-Kayode is a lawyer, a Nigerian politician, an evangelical christian, an essayist, a poet and he was the Special Assistant (Public Affairs) to President Olusegun Obasanjo from July 2003 until June 2006. He was the minister of culture and tourism of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from June 22nd to Nov 7th 2006 and as the minister of Aviation from Nov 7th 2006 to May 29th 2007. He tweets from@realFFK.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
