By Reno Omokri
(First published in my column, The Alternative, in today’s ThisDay).
I have just returned from a trip to Turkey, where I was on a pilgrimage to some of the seven churches of Asia, also known as the seven churches of Revelations.
I visited Smyrna (now known as Izmir), Pergamum (now known as Bergama, and Ephesus (now known as Efes). Prior to this visit, I had visited Laodicea (now known as Laodikeia). There are no remnants of some of the other churches, but I did get to see Cappadocia.
And
then I went to Istanbul and the city blew my mind. It was my third visit to
Istanbul, but my first time staying on the Asian side.
Istanbul has a rich history that can probably bring you to tears. This city used to be known as Constantinople, and was the center of orthodox Christianity, until on 29 May 1453, when it was conquered by the Muslim Ottoman Empire. Note I said Muslim Ottoman Empire, not Islamic Ottoman Empire.
The
Ottomans were Muslims, but they were not really Islamic. In fact, they even
conquered the Arabs, and from the 16th Century to their liberation by the
British through Lawrence of Arabia, Saudi Arabia was under Ottoman rule.
The
fall of Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire meant that Christian Europe no
longer had a buffer against Muslim (not Islamic), expansion into Europe, and
one by one, European Christian city states and nations began to fall one after
the other.
And
why did the conquest happen? It happened because there was no unity In
Christendom (political Christianity). The Byzantines were Orthodox. The Roman
Catholic Church considered them rivals, rather than brothers. And the Balkan
Christians would not even help them. Rather, they were suspicious of them.
When
the Byzantines were under siege by the Ottomans, the Roman Catholic Church,
rather than help them, insisted that they must first accept their dogmas
(Trinity, Mary veneration, Christmas, purgatory, idols, the change from the
fish as the true symbol of Christianity, to the pagan Ankh (disguised as a
Cross) etc) as a condition for their help.
Out
of desperation, the Orthodox Church voted to accept the Pope’s terms, but the
people of Constantinople refused and rioted, rather than accept what they
believed to be an adulteration of their faith by the adoption of pagan European
doctrines masquerading as Christian doctrines.
There
are about 20,000 of these pure, Orthodox Christians left in Turkey and I have
had the honour of preaching to them and learning from them.
A
similar lack of unity had earlier led to the Islamic (not Muslim) conquest of
much of Spain in 711 AD, which led to 800 years of Islamic rule in Iberia.
And
the Byzantines were also partly to blame for their own destruction. While the
Byzantines were busy building awe inspiring churches, basilicas, theatres and
marble roads, the Muslim Ottomans were razor focused on building a political
movement and an army.
And
when they were ready, they descended on the Byzantines, and militarily defeated
them, and now, all their awe inspiring churches, basilicas, theatres and marble
roads belong to the Muslim Ottomans, and have so belonged to them for almost
600 years.
Fast
forward to 2022, and the All Progressives Congress is presenting Nigerians with
a Muslim-Muslim ticket, of which Kashim Shettima, the Borno Governor under whom
Boko Haram thrived and metastasised into the international terror group that it
now is, and again under whom they invaded the Christian enclave of Chibok,
because Shettima refused the Federal Government’s counsel not to hold WAEC
examinations at Chibok, is now assuring us that he will be in charge of
security, effectively making Bola Tinubu a puppet, if at all he is elected.
If
you do not see parallels between what happened to Constantinople and the
Byzantine empire and what the All Progressives Congress wants to serve
Nigerians, then you have obviously not been paying attention.
In
the last seven years of almost demonic mis-governance by the All Progressives
Congress administration of Muhammadu Buhari, we have seen a sudden,
unapologetic and zero sum like shutting of the government space to people of
the Christian persuasion.
Never
in the history of this nation have we ever had the head of the executive (the
President), the head of the Legislature (the Senate President), and the head of
the judiciary (the Chief Justice of Nigeria), all Muslims. I mean the imbalance
is unprecedented.
And
then you go to the next layer of government, which is the military and security
services. The heads of the Ministry of Defence, Army, Navy, Police, NSA, DMI,
EFCC, DSS, DIA, NPS, NCS, NIS, NIA are all Northern Muslims. Where is the
balance?
And
in the midst of this, the All Progressives Congress wants to increase the
volume with a Muslim-Muslim ticket? Think of the psychological damage it will
do to the minds of Christians. Even if it is not uttered, it is already clear
that the All Progressives Congress sees us as a conquered people who do not
matter and who should accept their second class citizenship status without
raising dust.
And
do not think the All Progressives Congress will stop at their Muslim-Muslim
ticket. Did the Ottomans stop in Constantinople? No. They conquered the Arabs,
who were Muslims like them. They took Jerusalem. They moved into Europe. Greece
fell to them. Then the entire Balkan Peninsula. Then present day Romania. And
on and on until they took over Hungary and were stopped at the borders of
Austria.
If
anyone had told you Imo, Ebonyi and Cross River would be All Progressives
Congress states, would you have believed it? But there it is.
Nigerians
have to open their eyes and stop believing that it cannot happen here. Are we
better than Lebanon? Lebanon was the only stable democratic and multi religious
country in the Middle East, until the Christians there slept on their rights,
and were soon overwhelmed by massive immigration from Islamic nations that made
them a minority in their own country.
What
is to stop the same from happening here? Tinubu and Shettima can open the
borders Nigeria shares with Niger Republic and Chad to change Nigeria’s
demographics and make it impossible to vote out their party in future
elections, if they win in 2023.
I
was in Bethlehem in 2018. The same thing happened to that town where our Lord
and Saviour was born.
You
see, history does not repeat itself. Men repeat history and blame history for
repeating itself.
Nigeria
must preserve its religious balance by respecting each faith and balancing our
government and public sector. The Peoples Democratic Party respects that
balance. The Labour Party respects it. But the Muslim-Muslim ticket of Bola
Tinubu’s All Progressives Congress does not respect our religious diversity.
And
a vote for Tinubu may lead Nigerian Christians to the same fate of the ancient
Christians of Asia Minor (now known as Turkey).
So,
let us forget our divisions and unite against this imbalance. Whether or not
you are Roman Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostal, Evangelical,
Charismatic, Celestial, or any other denomination I have not mentioned here. Know
that those who want to whittle down your faith see you as one. Therefore, you
better also see yourselves as one.
Or
you go the way of the Byzantines.
May
that never befall us in Jesus’ Name.
*Omokri was an aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan
What a very good piece. Kudos to Mr. Omokri.
ReplyDeleteFrom his revelation, for Nigeria to "preserve its religious balance by respecting each faith and balancing our government and public sector", this time around a Christian president from the South is the solution. This is because the outgoing president is a Muslim from the North.
By norminating another Muslim northerner as presidential candidate to succeed the outgoing Muslim presidential the PDP has done nothing different from APC's Muslim-Muslim offer.
In agreement with this article all Christians should therefore unite to vote a Christian president from the Southern Nigeria with a Muslim running mate from the North.
To do otherwise is to open way from the repeat of the history of Constantinople.