[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n the light of the horrendous events that took place in Paris last night I believe that it is time to eliminate and exterminate every single Jihadist terrorist on the face of the earth. We must show them no mercy and we must hold no quarter.
We must also acknowledge the fact that America and her European allies made many mistakes in their handling of the war against terror.
For example Saddam Hussein of Iraq, Muammar Ghaddafi of Libya, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Bashir Al Assad of Syria, despite their despotic ways and many shortcomings, suppressed the jihadists, the terrorists and the Islamic fundamentalists more than anyone else in the Arab world.
Despite this the Americans and the west fought against them, destroyed their countries and removed them from power. Out of them all only Al Assad remains standing and even at that he presides over only half of Syria and that is by the grace of the Russians and the Iranians.
Whilst the Americans and her western allies hate, despise and seek to destroy the secularist leaders of the Arab world they appear to adore the ruling families, kings and despots of the Arab Gulf states who fund Islamist terror, who promote the Wahhabi philosophy and who export the violent and relentless Salifist tendency more than any other. It appears to me that this is the greatest paradox and contradiction of the modern age and frankly it is as inexplicable as it is inexcusable.
The fact of the matter is that the most powerful and deadly Islamic terrorist organisations in the world today, including Al Nusra, ISIS, Al Qaeda, Al Shabbab, Boko Haram, Islamic Jihad, Hamas and numerous others are funded by America’s greatest allies in the region, namely Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar.
The mess that we are witnessing in the world today, the terrible carnage that we witnessed in Sharm El Sheik two weeks ago, the slaughter in Ankara three weeks ago, the mass murder in Beirut two days ago and the butchery in Paris last night were acts of evil and manifestations of bestial savagery that were wrought and made possible by years of doublespeak, subterfuge, weak, ineffectual and counter-productive Middle Eastern policies and leadership by the administration of President Barack Obama.
That is the bitter truth. He condoned and pampered the Saudis from the outset, he turned his back on Israel, he wined and dined with the Iranians, he supported Al Nusra, he refused to confront ISIS and instead he supported the destruction and murder of the Arab leaders that were prepared to do it for him.
Yet in all of this the people that I pity the most are the Nigerians. I say this because every single day for the last six months since President Buhari has been sworn into office there has been an obvious resurrection of the power, might and confidence of Boko Haram yet the people of Nigeria have failed to recognize or acknowledge it.
They are still studying what they describe as Buhari’s ‘’body language’’ and they have chosen to ignore the fact that the economy is collapsing, regional and ethnic tensions tensions are boiling, food prices are going up and human rights and civil liberties are being trampled upon.
They have chosen to ignore the fact that a full-blown dictatorship has now evolved in our country where the rule of law is negated, where security agents act with contempt for the law and impunity, where court orders are ignored by government agencies, where perceived enemies are subjected to all manner of persecution and evil and where those that saw through the bogus mantra of ‘’change’’ are ridiculed, humiliated, criminalized without any credible evidence, declared guilty until proven innocent, threatened and molested and, in some cases, hounded into exile, detention or death.
The despicable way that Buhari is treating Colonel Sambo Dasuki, the former National Security Advisor, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the pro-Biafran movement and Dr. Bukola Saraki, the Senate President confirms my fears about him. He has lost touch with reality and he believes that he can do anything to anybody simply because he is in power.
Yet his inability to curb Boko Haram and his reluctance to even acknowledge the fact that the war against terror is in a much more dangerous place than it was towards the tail end of the Jonathan administration is the most glaring testimony of his insensitivity.
The bitter truth is that the events that took place in Paris last night, with its massive civilian casualties, occur in one Nigerian town or the other in the north-eastern region of our country virtually every other day but such events are ignored by our local media, covered up by our government and no longer even get a mention on Al Jazera, BBC or CNN anymore.
Despite the gallant efforts of our courageous soldiers, from town to town the atrocities of Boko Haram are legion and they have slaughtered almost 8,000 innocent souls since President Buhari came to power almost six months ago.
Worse still the bombings and killings have also returned to Abuja and other towns outside the north east such as Lokoja and Okene and the terrorists appear to be slowly making their way to the southern part of the country.
Nigeria is saddled with a President who was a great defender of Boko Haram up until a few months ago and who was once nominated by them as their spokesman and negotiator in proposed talks with the previous administration.
Rather instructively he is the life patron of the Fulani Cattlerearers Association whose members have been committing acts of terror by butchering, raping, pillaging and abducting many southerners and Middle Belters over the last few months.
He is also a President that is implementing a clearly northern and Islamic agenda and who sees the southern part of the country as nothing but a colony of slaves. Under such a man it seems hardly likely that Boko Haram can or will be stopped. Worse still the Nigerian people have been left alone by the international community to fight that war on their own.
Even though it is clear that not many in the international community empathise with us when our people are slaughtered by Boko Haram, it is gratifying to note that our people, as generous and as compassionate as ever, have expressed immense sorrow about the sad events in Paris and they have expressed immense solidarity with the people of France through the social media.
This is very touching and that is the Nigerian for you. He is resilient, faithful, compassionate, generous, true, caring and always ready to sympathise with others and to offer words of encouragement in difficult times. Even though our blood is being shed by Boko Haram on a daily basis without the world seeming to care or batting an eyelid, we share their pain and mourn with them when their blood is shed and when their people are killed by the terrorists. I guess that is a testimony to our humanity: it is what makes us who and what we are.
May God protect our nation from these evil and desperate beasts who kill the defenseless, the weak and the vulnerable in the name of their god and may He deliver us from them. May the souls of all those that were murdered in Paris last night rest in peace, may the blood of the innocents that was shed be avenged, may the Lord comfort their families and loved ones and may He be with the people of France at this difficult time.
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.
