The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos Metropolitan See, Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie, has outlined his reasons the recent claim made by former President Olusegun Obasanjo about alleged Fulanization of Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari may become a reality.<\/p>\n
Okogie questioned the leadership of President Buhari while lamenting that \u201cthe security situation in Nigeria has become worse than deplorable.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cleric noted that Nigeria was being attacked; wondering if this was how the citizens will be watching while the country becomes more inhabitable than it has ever been in her history.<\/p>\n
This was contained in a statement he entitled: \u201cNigeria is under attack\u201d on Tuesday where he backed Obasanjo\u2019s claims on \u201cFulanisation and Islamisation.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said that Obasanjo was \u201cpointing to an open secret, and that there is a synergy between Boko Haram, herdsmen and ISIS.<\/p>\n
Okogie\u2019s statement added, \u201cOn a Monday in September 2015, former Finance Minister, Chief Olu Falae, was on his farm in Ilado near Akure when some armed men came looking for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt gunpoint, they abducted him and held him until the following Thursday. At the age of 77, he was made to walk several kilometres. He was made to sleep in the rain.<\/p>\n
\u201cAccording to his own account published in some national dailies, every half an hour, his armed abductors threatened: \u2018Baba, we are going to kill you. If you don\u2019t give us money we are going to kill you.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cBy 2018, herdsmen were wreaking havoc in the states of the middle belt of Nigeria.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen, a retired Chief of Army Staff, a veteran of military intervention in Nigerian politics, General Theophilus Danjuma, warned that there was ethnic cleansing in the middle belt.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving lost confidence in the government\u2019s willingness or ability to deal with the situation, General Danjuma called on the people of the middle belt to take responsibility for their own security.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reaction of aides to the President of the Federal Republic was to insult him and call him names he did not deserve to bear.<\/p>\n
\u201cRecently, former President Obasanjo added his voice to those of Chief Falae, Gen. Danjuma and many others, voices warning us of heightened insecurity in our country. President Obasanjo spoke of \u2018Fulanisation and Islamisation.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cBut in what has become a typical reaction from aides to President Buhari, President Obasanjo\u2019s concerns were not addressed. What he received were gratuitous insults from President Buhari\u2019s aides.<\/p>\n
\u201cNonetheless, it is highly significant that one of President Obasanjo\u2019s most virulent critiques, Professor Wole Soyinka, urged the federal government to address the issues he raised.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe issue is neither the character nor the political affiliation of those who are speaking. The issue is insecurity and the government\u2019s inability or unwillingness to address the issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cNigeria in her vastness is within the firm grips of kidnappers, armed robbers, herdsmen, bandits and insurgents. \u2018Government officials tell us that Boko Haram has been \u201ctechnically defeated\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut there is a wide abyss between government propaganda and the experience of the citizen. Despite government propaganda, Boko Haram, with frequent and convincing repetition, demonstrates that it has more firepower than the Nigerian military.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur highways are unsafe. A major highway like the Abuja-Kaduna Road has become a theatre of operation for kidnappers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe northwestern states of Zamfara and Katsina have become utterly unsafe. They have been taken over by armed bandits. Yet, all that presidential aides have to offer concerned Nigerians is insolence.<\/p>\n
\u201cShortly after Chief Falae\u2019s abduction, Nigerians woke up to hear of clandestine and illegal importation of arms into Nigeria.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were reports that arrests were made. But Nigerians no longer hear of any judicial process to which these importers are being subjected. The matter appears to have died. Little wonder we now live in a Nigeria saturated with ammunition.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow on earth can we claim to be living in a democratic polity when presidential aides forget or ignore the fact that the President was put in office by the votes of the people?<\/p>\n
\u201cFor if they knew the principles of democracy; they would not be disrespectful to Nigerians who happen to hold views divergent from those of government on how affairs of state are to be handled.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne would have thought that, by now, four years since 2015, presidential aides would have grasped the difference between insolence and competence.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne does not need to hold any brief for former President Obasanjo to know that his concerns on this matter are genuine. One only needs to read carefully the text of his intervention.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne need not be his friend or political ally to observe that there are one-sided actions on the part of the government in matters of security.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell-meaning Nigerians express concerns that herdsmen are treated with kid gloves and allowed to get away with murder while some other agitators are called terrorists, proscribed and gunned down.<\/p>\n
\u201cA \u2018technically defeated\u2019 Boko Haram continues to hold Leah Sharibu in captivity while the federal government secured the release of her Muslim schoolmates and the release of Zainab Aliyu and Ibrahim Abubakar from death row in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
\u201cObasanjo is pointing to an open secret, and that is: there is a synergy between Boko Haram, herdsmen and ISIS.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis synergy, leading to a gradual implementation of the Islamisation agenda of ISIS, is what is being referred to as Fulanisation and Islamisation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is about the imposition by ISIS of its own version of Islam. Whoever opposes it, be that person Christian or Muslim or Fulani, is eliminated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe security situation in Nigeria has become worse than deplorable. Nigeria is being attacked. Is this how we all will be watching while our country becomes more inhabitable than it has ever been in her history? Is there leadership in this country?<\/p>\n
\u201cIf so, what type of leadership do we have? It is the responsibility of the president and his aides to address the situation in ways that are manifestly even-handed. There are fears that some people have taken over this country. We are held hostage on our land.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis country is in the hands of invaders, bandits, herdsmen and kidnappers. Nigeria is under attack. Will the President and Commander in Chief show leadership?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos Metropolitan See, Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie, has outlined his reasons the recent claim made by former President Olusegun Obasanjo about alleged Fulanization of Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari may become a reality. Okogie questioned the leadership of President Buhari while lamenting that \u201cthe security situation in Nigeria has become worse […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":11091,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,30],"tags":[246,639,695,479],"class_list":["post-11088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-community","tag-fulani","tag-islamisation","tag-obasanjo"],"yoast_head":"\n