By Femi Fani-Kayode
Apart 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!
 |
| *Femi Fani-Kayode |
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!
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
They lack confidence and suffer from low
self-esteem. Instead of rising up to the occasion, 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 grass hoppers 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
From the foregoing it is clear that in Nigeria
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 former Aviation Minister
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