Fani-Kayode’s strange nightmare (III)

It’s not a struggle for nation; it’s a struggle for self. The Yoruba nation ought to be one, it shouldn’t brook religious division. It’s one for all and all for one. There ought to be no jingoism; after all, the Yoruba is a nation of good people. It also contains adherents of the Ifa divinity […]

It’s not a struggle for nation; it’s a struggle for self. The Yoruba nation ought to be one, it shouldn’t brook religious division. It’s one for all and all for one. There ought to be no jingoism; after all, the Yoruba is a nation of good people. It also contains adherents of the Ifa divinity and one of their leading lights straddles not just the Yoruba nation; for he refuses to be compartmentalised, but the entire black race. If FFK continues to speak only for Christian or against Muslim Yoruba, what happens to Professor Oluwole Soyinka, Nigeria’s only Nobel Laureate? Soyinka isn’t a Christian. Professor Wande Abimbola isn’t a Christian. Tai Solarin wasn’t a Christian. Who is FFK beside these great Nigerian nationalists who have done immeasurably well to advance the Yoruba nation while rejecting Jesus Christ as their saviour?
If it were simply a matter of religion, Wole Soyinka wouldn’t have opposed General Yakubu Gowon’s dictatorship and risked his life in defence of freedom for other Nigerians. Soyinka simply saw evil and felt morally offended and challenged to stand up to it and was clamped in prison. Even today, Soyinka is opposed to evil, notwithstanding who the perpetrators worship. If the presidential ticket remains Muslim/Christian, will FFK recommend that the Senate Presidency is reserved for a worshipper of Ifa oracle or some native god?
It’s long established that Nigerian politicians are in the game to fend for themselves. In the “three years” (according to Annkio Briggs) that Goodluck Jonathan has been president, he has built a law school, an air force base, a federal university and accepted the gift of a newly-built church, all in his home state of Bayelsa. Also, in a self-serving mediatory role, Jonathan had unsuccessfully tried to pressure Rivers Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, to relinquish his state’s claim to the ownership of Soku oil wells. Even if other politicians are unscrupulous, one expects politicians who profess the Christian faith, like FFK, to stick to some principles. Or is EFCC’s dropping of charges against someone and an Aso Villa meeting all that is needed for FFK to change course? Were the original promises kept? What about the insecurity, the poverty and hopelessness brought about by the “evil party” all across the land?
It is not enough to have a “balanced ticket” of a Christian/Muslim Presidency; it is what the duo does while in power. Though Namadi Sambo, a Muslim, is the Vice President of Nigeria, he couldn’t get Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian President, to select an equal number of delegates to represent the two religions at the ongoing national conference even though Nigeria has “at least 80 million Christians and Muslims on both (sic) sides of the divide”. Under normal circumstances, the president, whoever he is, whatever his religion, ought to just do the right thing. Would Deacon FFK tolerate such a disparity in representation if he were a Vice President to a Muslim President?
In the circumstances, we ought to elect a candidate endowed with the virtues of decency, honesty, integrity, humility, accountability, fairness and love of country and humanity. We must be wary of candidates that mention God daily whereas they don’t fear him. We must be careful with believers who, despite multiple appearances at places of worship, have neither compassion nor compunction. We must avoid candidates who are out on a popularity contest, notwithstanding the chaos in the land. We must distance ourselves from people hell bent on turning their victims into criminals. As it is today, many Nigerians are ready to choose Godless compatriots to lead if only peace will return to our land.
If it were simply a matter of religion, and APC is really an Islamic party, Attahiru Bafarawa, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau and Brig General Buba Marwa, rtd, wouldn’t have quit APC and joined the PDP. I dare say that in the end, Nigerians will see that Bafarawa, FFK, Marwa and Shekarau belong to the same religion and adhere to the same principle of what is in it for me?
The APC is presenting PDP with its most frightening challenge and so everything must be done to thwart its rising profile, including calling or associating it with Boko Haram and so-called Janjaweed by the most unconscionable politicians. By now, PDP’s desperation to shake off the APC challenge is well known. Buhari and the APC must slap Olisa Metuh with a punitive law suit so he could prove the claim of an Islamic party sponsoring Boko Haram. Nigerians know that the APC is made up of two basically Northern political parties with another from the South and so in sharing the interim leadership there may be some semblance of imbalance from the beginning.  It is uncharitable for people, least of all FFK, to begin to insinuate that “substantive positions in the 35-man Executive Committee are in the hands of Muslims” when the party is yet to hold its congress. There are always teething problems with a new political party. Today’s Nigeria differs from that of 1993, precisely because of the ethnic and religious cards played by the likes of FFK.
I leave you with these FFK quotes on PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan.
“The PDP is an evil and it must be stopped. The party lacks internal democracy and this is one of the strength of the APC.”
“Jonathan has failed in all sectors, including the economy and security and if he should be allowed to continue in office, this country is heading for serious disaster and it will be calamitous. Nigeria is more divided now than any time in our history. We are faced with a government that only believes in Ijaw values……”