You may read the first part of this essay, The Enemy Within And The Cold-Blooded Threat from Arewa – Part 1 HERE.
[dropcap]A[/dropcap]part from Afenifere, the OPC and a number of noble and courageous elders and leaders hardly anyone else from the South West has spoken up publicly for the Ifes and the Yoruba in this matter and that is a crying shame.
What happened to the voices of the APC Governors in Yorubaland? What happened to the voice of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo?
What happened to the voices of the respected Pa Bisi Akande and the great Jagaban of Borgu, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu?
We need to hear from all of these distinguished personalities now more than ever before.
The celebrated American spy and defector Mr. Edward Snowdon urged public figures and leaders throughout the world to “speak NOT because it is SAFE but because it is RIGHT”.
How right he is!
The black American civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King jnr. took it a step further by saying,”In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends”.
Finally, in his famous poem titled ‘The Inferno”, the great poet and immortal writer Dante Alighieri wrote, “The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of moral crisis preserve their neutrality”.
Those who remain silent as their compatriots and kith and kin are butchered have much to learn from the words of these three great and deeply profound men.
When faced with the level of orchestrated carnage and the magnitude of pure malevolence and evil that was unleashed on the local indigenous population by the Hausa Fulani in Ile-Ife every single Yoruba leader worth his salt has a solemn duty and obligation before God to condemn it and speak out against it.
Honor and decency demands that much from each and every one of us and, more importantly, we owe it to the dead and to those that were cruelly butchered and cut short in their prime.
We can appreciate the fact that the presidency and the federal government will not commiserate with us for those that we lost in the conflict given their rabid pro-Hausa Fulani disposition but we cannot comprehend the devastating and incomprehensible silence that comes from our fellow Yorubas who happen to be leaders, members and supporters of the ruling Hausa Fulani-led APC.
Instead of standing in solidarity with us and publicly condemning those that drew first blood in the carnage, a few identifiable individuals within their ranks who have clearly lost their way and who ought to know better, are talking rubbish, running for cover and exhibiting nothing but good old fashioned trepidation and fear.
Worse still they hate those of us that have the courage of our convictions and that are prepared to stand up, pick up the gauntlet and face the challenge.
One wonders why this is so? Could it be because, as is being speculated, they had assured their hegemonist masters that they had Yorubaland under lock and key and that they could go ahead and kill as many of our people as they pleased?
Could it be because they assured them that no-one would challenge them or complain when they did so?
Is it possible, as many believe, that things have got that bad and that those from the south west that suffer from this slavish disposition have degenerated to this level?
If so then what a tragedy this is! What a shame! What cowardice! What treachery! And all in return for a few measly crumbs from their master’s table.
It is not enough that even their leader Bola Tinubu is being systematically squeezed and stylishly humiliated by the Hausa Fulani government that he helped put in power. It is not enough that they have cheated and humiliated him on numerous occassions.
It is not enough that they have taken the lion out of the Lion of Bourdiĺlon. It is not enough that his Yoruba supporters and followers in the APC have been reduced to the demeaning status of colourless collaborators and lily-livered vassals.
Worse still they have decided that no matter what they will continue to beg and play the role of “Uncle Tom’s” and “house niggers” till the very end.
They have sold their souls to the devil for thirty pieces of silver and they have traded in their heritage for a mess of pottage.
Yet the truth is that whether they like it or not we will continue to speak out loudly and clearly against the atrocities that their paymasters are unleashing on Nigerians.
Even though these very same traitors and cowards have displayed their greed and ignorance by openly opposing the restructuring agenda and have consistently opposed those of us that believe in the right of self-determination, we will not relent.
We will continue to speak out and oppose the Hausa Fulani agenda for our nation. We will continue to oppose the hideous crimes against humanity and the genocide that the Fulani herdsmen are subjecting so many people to ALL over the country.
We will continue to take the risks to life and liberty and face the persecution that comes with it.
We will also continue to take their dirty insults and bear the inglorious display of their shameless ingratitude.
We will pay whatever price that we must pay to be counted amongst those that defended, protected and ultimately liberated the great people of the south and the Middle Belt from the hegemony and subjugation of the scions of Usman Dan Fodio, the Sons of Futa Jalon and the shameless and gutless slaves that support and encourage them.
We will do this for three reasons: firstly because we are led by the Holy Spirit to do so, secondly because we despise the brazen attempt to humiliate and enslave our people and thirdly because we abhor violence, genocide, ethnic cleansing and the shedding of innocent human blood.
The Bible says we should “resist evil”. And what we are facing in the hands of the Fulani militias and herdsmen and the wider Hausa Fulani agenda in Nigeria today is the greatest evil that the African continent has ever seen or known.
It takes an educated mind to appreciate that. Sadly most of those that are their slaves are barely educated. They lack confidence and suffer from low self-esteem.
Instead of rising up to the occassion, trusting in the Lord and being strong and confident in the power of His might, they are feeble-minded, faithless, treacherous, cowardly and ignorant.
It is in that context that I see the actions (or inactions) and hear the malicious words and insidious and insulting rantings of the grasshoppers and lilliputians that are lamenting about my contributions on the Hausa Fulani/ Yoruba conflict.
Whatever they say or do we shall not be deterred. The struggle continues and victory is assured.
Yet instead of getting any better things appear to be getting worse. For example such was the brutality and barbarity that the Fulani militias and herdsmen visited on the people of Benue state just last week that Samuel Ortom, the governor and chief security officer of that state, told the world that he would “ban the Fulani herdsmen” from coming to his state.
As if things were not bad enough two days later yet another threat of mass murder was issued by the Fulani militias. This time it was in Kwara State, under the auspices of their umbrella organisation called Miyetti Allah. They said that they would kill anyone in Kwara state that challenged or confronted their people. That is how badly things have degenerated.
Yet the nightmare goes on unabated. Four days ago yet another person was hacked into pieces by the Fulani militias.
This time it was a staff of Delta State University in Abraka. When I called these barbarians bloodsucking tsetse flies in 2015 many complained about my use of words. Are those people still complaining now?
It is this type of murderous instinct, homicidal inclination, cold-blooded callousness, brazen impunity, reckless lawlessness and baseless arrogance that allowed a well-known Fulani Prince (as he then was) with Islamic fundamentalist tendencies, a salafist soul and a wahabbi spirit to publicly behead Gideon Akaluka in Kano in the mid-1990’s and yet escape prosecution and evade justice simply because of who and what he is and where he comes from.
From the foregoing it is clear that in Nigeria some are more equal than others before the law and some can literally get away with murder.
The truth is that we are really in trouble.
The cow-lovers have charmed us with their suya and barbecued cow meat. We are under a terrible spell.
We are bound in awe and fear of them and we have been turned into their perpetual slaves.
Thousands have been slaughtered all over the country by these killer herdsmen in the last two years. Are they not worse than vampires from the pit of hell?
They feed on the blood of the innocent: it strengthens the demons that drive them, it fuels their confidence and it gives them satanic power. The more people they kill, the more power the devil gives them and the more violence, arrogance and impunity they display.
Yet, as with all things that comes from satan, that power is always short-lived and it comes at a terrible price.
These are just some of the things that the enemy within and those that have sold their souls to our collective oppressors would do well to consider.
Meanwhile those of us that yearn for freedom and that have dedicated our lives to the liberation of our people shall continue to commit our noble cause into the hands of the Living God.
He is faithful and true and, in the end, He will not only break our yoke of servitude but He will also grant us glorious victory and bring us to an expected end.
He is ever faithful and ever sure: that is why they call Him the Lord of Hosts and the Ancient of Days.
That is why no matter what they say or do, we simply smile and count it all as joy. Why? Because we know that with our God ALL things are possible and though the night may be dark, joy comes in the morning. Blessed be His name. (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.
