The
Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) through its secretariat had a
press conference on January 16, 2018 in which they called the attention
of the Federal Government to the current situation in the country in
which the Fulani Herdsmen are going about killing innocent people with
impunity and the lopsided appointments in the Security and Education
sectors by President Muhammadu Buhari. The press conference was read by
the General Secretary of the Association Rev. Dr. Musa Asake.
Immediately after the Press conference, Garba Shehu who is the Senior
Special Assistant to President Buhari on Media and Publicity released a
press statement in which he accused me that in my press statement “I
could not cite any valid cases of constitutional violations.” While his
accusation was going round, the JNI had a press conference in Kaduna on
January 21, 2018, in which they accused CAN of using Herdsmen to
Destabilize Nigeria. This development becomes very necessary for me to
respond to the two accusations to put the record straight so that
Nigerians should not be misled into believing those hypocritical
statements.
MY RESPONSE TO GARBA SHEHU’S ACCUSATION
He
Is Selling a Bad Product. Frankly speaking, Garba Shehu should be
pitied with his current position because he is trying to sell a bad
product and as a result he cannot do without being sycophantic.
Unfortunately for him, in his bid to defend President Muhammadu Buhari,
whose government’s record for nepotism, favoritism and discrimination is
second to none, Shehu goofed by claiming that I “could not cite any
valid cases of constitutional violations”. It is apparently clear that
Shehu did not read the full text of my address at the Press Conference
before kicking against it otherwise, he would have kept quiet. Because
in my address, I said inter alia, “...By failing to curb the attacks of
the Fulani herdsmen President Buhari has failed to uphold Section 14,
Para. 2 (b) in the Constitution which reads, “the security and welfare
of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.”
Through
his partial, sectional and discriminatory appointments, particularly in
Security and Education, President Buhari violated Section 14, Para. 3
which reads: “The composition of the Government of the Federation or any
of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in
such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the
need to promote national unity, and to command national loyalty, thereby
ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few
State or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government
or in any of its agencies.”
So,
how comes Garba Shehu is clamming that I could not cite any valid cases
of constitutional violations? Let me make it clear to Mr. Shehu Garba
and suggest that he checks the records, read the daily papers, and
listens to what concern Nigerians who are saying that President Buhari
has no respect for the Federal Character Commission. I still stand
firmly on my position that President Buhari has been making sectional
and discriminatory appointments in the Security and Education sectors
which poses threat to the country’s democracy and constitution. I
advised him to speak with any lawyer outside the Presidency on several
sections of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) that are being violated
by his principal. It was John F. Kennedy Jr. who said, “Politics is too
important to be left to the politicians.” For obvious reasons, it
seems to me that Garba Shehu is ignorant of the function of the Church
to the society. As a Servant of God and a Minister of the Gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ, I have a divine mandate to be a voice to the
voiceless, to condemn the evil in the land and to praise or criticize
the government as the need arises.
My Response to JNI FOR ACCUSING CAN OF USING HERDSMEN TO DESTABILIZE NIGERIA
JNI
is Protecting Fulani Herdsmen Killers. My attention has been drawn to
the full text of the statement by the Jama’atu Nasril Islam, JNI, read
by its secretary, Dr. Khalid Aliyu where as usual, they ignored the
substance of the position of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN)
to the ongoing genocide in some states of the Federation. Instead of
facing the reality and admit its ungodly complicity with the Fulani
terrorists, the JNI leadership at its press conference held in Kaduna
on Sunday January 21, 2018, embarked upon character assassination,
acrimony, vulgar abuse in their futile attempt to justify their ungodly,
unpatriotic and wicked support for the murderous Fulani herdsmen who
are also enjoying the complicity of the security agencies whose
headships are occupied by the JNI’s cronies at the expense of the unity
and progress of our dear country Nigeria.
It
is an open secret that the criminal activities of their boys have gone
to the extreme because of the tacit encouragement they are getting from
the leadership of the JNI, the way and manner they did for the Boko
Haram terrorists when they began thinking they were spreading Islam in
the country. There was never a time the JNI has come out publicly to
condemn the criminal activities of the Fulani herdsmen since they have
begun killing and maiming the innocent all because most of their
activities were targeted at Christians in the Northcentral, Enugu, Ondo,
Ekiti and a host of others. If otherwise, how come that it was the
Press Conference addressed by CAN that forced the JNI to break its
ungodly silence over the evil in the land, that is being perpetrated by
the people they not only know too well but they have been protecting,
for religious and tribal sentiments, which literally tied the hands of
the security chiefs who also share same sentiments.
The
Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) wishes to protest the lack of
seriousness and kindergarten approach of JNI to serious national issues.
We are amazed that the spokesman of Jama’atu Nasril Islam could ascribe
the ownership and control of Fulani herdsmen to any Christian
organization. Such attempt to stand reason on its head does not portray
JNI as a serious minded organization. We used to assume that JNI is a
credible and responsible organization that can meaningfully engage in
national discourse. Unfortunately, the response of Dr. Khalid Abubakar
Aliyu is a great disappointment.
May
we suggest to his Eminence, the President of Supreme Council of Islamic
Affairs, to reach into the community of educated Muslims and find
serious minded individuals that could engage in serious national issues
to speak for JNI. The Fulani herdsmen are Muslims. For the herdsmen, it
would be considered demeaning if anyone should ascribe any other
religion apart from Islam to them. Therefore, for anyone to suggest that
the Fulani herdsmen are “franchise” of CAN is the most unimaginative
and ridiculous statement of the century.
We
noted the poor attempt of JNI to distract people’s attention, without
addressing the issues, in the waves of Islamist religious insurgency in
Nigeria. The murderous attacks of the Fulani herdsmen are insufferable
and we must speak out in condemnation of both the Fulani herdsmen and
their murderous activities. Not only will the Christian Association of
Nigeria speak out, CAN shall also encourage other Christian and
humanitarian bodies to speak out. Speaking in condemnation of
cold-blooded murder cannot be termed “hate speech”. The truth can
neither be referred to as hate speech, nor can it be overshadowed by
sentiment. The attacks of Fulani herdsmen have to be highlighted
particularly after the attacks of genocidal proportions in Benue State.
Christians were the victims of the unprovoked criminal attacks on their
homestead. In the circumstance, no one can accuse CAN of overheating the
polity. Those who are overheating the polity are the sponsors and
protectors of the Fulani herdsmen. And in due course, justice and
judgment shall catch up with them.
It
is rather unfortunate that the State structure set up to protect all
citizens has become discriminatory in the discharge of its functions.
While some citizens are protected, some are exposed to danger while the
instrument of the state is being used to protect the assailant
criminals. Christians in Nigeria realize that even the existing
political parties no longer protect Christians. As nature abhors vacuum,
CAN is compelled by the circumstances to speak for Christians in
Nigeria. Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen are Moslem organizations and
both have confirmed that they are waging jihad in Nigeria. Christians do
not have similar organizations anywhere in the world that goes about
killing innocent people to enlarge Christianity.
Bishop
Oyedepo, Bishop Kukah, Apostle Suleiman, Prophet El Buba, and many
other Christian leaders in the vanguard of defending Christians and
Christian communities are filling the void which Christian politicians
and politically correct Christians are meant to fill. These men of God
cannot remain silent while Christians are being slaughtered like rams.
The often-touted claim that more Muslims are killed than Christians is
nothing but “Taqiyya” because Muslims killed in error by the Jihadists
have earned 70 virgins in paradise. From the pattern of attacks over the
years, it is clear that the target of Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen
are Christians while Muslims that are victims are referred to as
“collateral damage”.
In
order, not to prolong debate on this issue, I will like to refer JNI,
all Muslim leaders, and Islamic organizations in Nigeria to the
following questions for it is my hope that JNI would seek answers to
these credible questions and in the process, correct its kindergarten
assumptions.
First,
Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Boko Haram, in one of his video
releases, said in 2012, “… This war is not political. It is religious.
It is between Muslims and unbelievers (arna). It will stop when Islamic
religion is the determinant in governance in Nigeria or, in the
alternative, when all fighters are annihilated and no one is left to
continue the fight. I warn all Muslims at this juncture that any Muslim
who assists an unbeliever in this war should consider himself an
unbeliever and should consider himself dead.” If this statement is not a
declaration of Jihad, could Muslim leaders explain what this means?
Second,
In a 154-page Research Report conducted by Arne Mulder in 2015, the
researcher affirmed that over 13,000 Christian places of worship
(Churches) have been destroyed in Northern Nigeria as at December 2014.
Under what condition do Muslim insurgents destroy Churches if not
Jihad?
Third,
On the 4th of February, 2017, the United States Congress affirmed that
the most dangerous nation on earth for anyone to be a Christian is
Nigeria. The implication is that Nigerian Christians have become
endangered species in a country in which they constitute over 50% of the
population.
Fourth,
According to the Global Index on Terror, the 1st and the 4th most
terrible Islamic Terrorist organizations in the world operate in
Nigeria. Boko Haram is 1st while the Fulani Herdsmen is 4th. If these
terror organizations are not fighting Jihad, what then are they doing in
Nigeria?
Fifth,
Under the present administration, every key and sensitive position in
National Security is held by Muslims from the North, in outright
violation of Section 14 (3) of the 1999 Constitution. Also early in the
life of this administration, we recall that more than 95% of senior army
officers retired from the Military were Christians. In NNPC, only
recently, more than 95% of the new appointments into senior management
positions are Northern Muslims. Taking these developments in
conjunction with the lopsided appointments in National Security, is one
not confronted with the inevitable conclusion that there is a deliberate
attempt to emasculate Christians, Southerners and other non-Muslim
population of Nigeria verifiably by intimidation and force which are
stealth Jihad?
Sixth,
Despite unconstitutionally appropriating all security positions to the
Muslim North, the Fulani Herdsmen operate with impunity in mostly
Christian areas, killing, maiming, raping, and destroying without any
arrest, without any prosecution. If this is not complicity of the Muslim
dominated Security services, are we then to conclude that the Nigerian
security units are so incompetent that they cannot successfully engage
insurgents after the Nigerian Army successfully prosecuted a Civil War?
Seventh,
Added to the above are the big questions begging for answers. Who is
funding and equipping the Islamic insurgents? And more importantly, who
is shielding them from prosecution?
Eight,
We would not wish to belabor these issues but rather appeal to the
distinguished leaders of Islam, who have stepped forward to be
identified, to join us in putting Nigeria first. Nigeria is a Secular
State according to Section 10 of the Constitution, but a multi-cultural,
multi-ethnic, and multi-religious society. The diversity in the country
should be harnessed for progress and prosperity and not resisted thus
leading to disintegration of the country. It is wishful thinking for
anyone to imagine the possibility of imposing one religion or one
culture on 389 Ethnic Nationalities.
God bless Nigeria!
Signed
Dr. Musa Asake
General Secretary
Christian Association of Nigeria
26 January, 2018
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