The two enemies of the people are 'criminals' and 'government'

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By Professor Femi Ajayi

"Muhammadu Buhari is an agent of destabilization, ethnic bigot and religious fanatic who if given the chance would ensure the disintegration of the country. His ethnocentrism would jeopardize Nigeria's national unity.".....Ahmed Bola Tinubu - 2003

Albert Einstein cautions that "The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything."

In Theodore Roosevelt words, "Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the President or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him in so far as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else."

Since 2016, General Muhammadu Buhari has been ASSURING Nigerians for better life; secured environment by terminating the atrocities of Boko Haram; gainful employment; positive economic growth; and a united Nigeria regardless citizens ethnic or religious affiliations.

Embarrassingly, it has been a rough road for an average Nigerian since 2016. In less than two years to his second term, Buhari keeps assuring Nigerians to end poverty, economic disasters, appropriate modern inappropriate, leaky environment in the hands of Boko Haram and Fulani Herdsmen, among other assurances.

Buhari claimed that "Nigerians are unfair to me". Justifying that his administration has been doing well, in tackling insecurity across Nigeria. More so, training, and equipping security operatives. He denies sparing bandits and other terrorists in fighting insecurity in Nigeria.

Buhari pre-recorded unacceptable interview of June 2021, on Arise TV, is not a substitute to speak to Nigerians in this critical time. Nevertheless, his reference to Igbos as a "dot within Nigeria" is unpresidential, failing to realize that the Earth is also a dot within the galaxy. Each dot in a Society makes the whole.

Buhari affirms the words of Thomas Jefferson that the "two enemies of the people are Criminals {Boko Haram and Fulani Herdsmen} and Government, {Buhari Administration}, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first."

However, the re-examination of the 1999 Nigeria Constitution is urgently critical.

We recognize the historical fact that in any society where injustice becomes a rule or law, civil disobedience or resistance becomes a duty, or an obligation. Buhari is feebly refusing to realize that Nigeria security challenges encourage the agitations for separation across Nigeria: the Oduduwa Country in South-West; Biafra in South-East; Ibom Republic within Akwa Ibom Coalition, Middle Belt in North Central; and Self-Determination in the Northern Minorities.

According to Buhari, "Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigerian Civil War. Those of us in the field for 30months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand."

Hence, it is shocking for his statement dealing with those agitating for separation in the language they understand. Violence or War?

Prof. Wole Soyinka remarked, "Regrettably, the President threatens, and in a context that conveniently brackets opposition to governance with any blood thirsting enemies of state, we must call attention to the precedent language of such a national leader under even more provocative, nation disintegrative circumstances."

Buhari has been quiet on the attacks and killings in Benue State especially, or any other Northern States, regrettably, he is very quick to evoke memories of the civil war whenever the South-East is involved.

Prof. Wole Soyinka continues "…When Benue was first massively brought under siege, with the massacre of innocent citizens, the destruction of farms, mass displacement followed by alien occupation, Buhari's language, both as utterance and as what is known as 'body language', was of a totally different temper. It was diffident, conciliatory, even apologetic. The evocation of the civil war, where millions of civilians perished, is an unworthy emotive ploy that has run its course".

Regardless, Buhari administration would be labelled as the promoter of religious and ethnic division in Nigeria. Any opportunity could be seized by Buhari to launch an attack on areas that seem not to be in support of his administration.

In Soyinka's words, "…the nation is already at war, and of a far more potentially devastating dimension than it has ever known. Every single occupant of this nation space called Nigeria has been declared potential casualty, children being pushed to the very battlefront, without a semblance of protective cover. We need no breast-beating about past wars. The world has moved on, so have nations,"

History shows that using the military and violent to solve the National problem leads to national fractionalization, lawlessness, and inevitable dissolution.

As Buhari war-drum gets louder, Nigerians should be cautious of the war dangers knowing fully well that the 'Military don't start war, politicians do;'

Betrand Russel warns that "War does not determine who is right, but who is left."

Herbert Hoover cautions that "Older men declare war, but it is the youth that must fight and die."

While Herodotus painfully reminds us that "In Peace, sons bury their fathers, but in war fathers bury their sons."

Whilst Bellic says, "War is when young and stupid are tricked by the old and bitter into killing each other."

The intelligence report that broke Buhari's silence could had been echoed by the Chairman of the Oyo State Security Network, aka Amotekun, Gen. Kunle Togun (retd), in May 2021 advised the residents of Southwestern States, Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti and Ondo States to be security alert of the eminent attack from the foreign Fulani Herdsmen from Futa Jallon, Mali, Bourkina Faso, Chad, Niger Republic, who have been residing in the forests.

The President should deal with the sources of the insecurity in Nigeria in the language they understand, however, not on the innocent citizens.

Regrettably, the Boko Haram and the Fulani Herders, have intensified their killings, kidnappings for significant ransom as a way of indirect Government sponsorship. Ironically, as of June 2021, Boko Haram expanded to Niger State, closing to Abuja, while Fulani Herdsmen invaded Cross Rivers State.

Unfortunately, Buhari administration refused to establish the way of ending Boko Haram and Fulani Herdsmen atrocities against citizens facing hunger, poverty, insecurity, and poor infrastructure.

In the face of security challenges in Nigeria. There is a popular saying that if your neighbor is swallowing bad insects, the disquieting noise of wheezing would prevent peaceful night sleep. The Islamic State group and its rivals in al-Qaeda have taken a strategic decision to make Africa their new priority after suffering setbacks in the Middle East, meanwhile Nigeria is very vulnerable in the faces of Both Boko Haram and Fulani Herdsmen.

Africa's semi-arid Sahel region has been hit by an insurgency, since militants captured large parts of northern Mali in 2012 and 2013, and it is spreading fast to Nigeria. If chaos, violent extremism, and insecurity become the norm in Sahel nations like Mali, then we are likely to see a new geographic base from which jihadists can plot attacks around the world, especially its neighboring countries, like Nigeria. Whereas this part of Africa, the Sahel, is the transit route for huge numbers of migrants making their way northward to Europe or its neighboring countries to escape from their own countries. It is also a major transit route for illegal drugs, weapons, and jihadists. Nigeria vulnerability is inevitable.

Nigeria-Niger Republic proposed rail system could facilitate the Terrorist infiltration into Nigeria.

Could what Tinubu said about Buhari in 2003 be true about him, before they became 'partners in crime against humanity', ten years later, in 2014, that "Muhammadu Buhari is an agent of destabilization, ethnic bigot and religious fanatic who if given the chance would ensure the disintegration of the country. His ethnocentrism would jeopardize Nigeria's national unity."

So also, Nigerians were pre-warned by Prof. Stanley Nwabia on June 26, 2018, that "If Buhari wins a second term, Fulani Herdsmen will spread deep into Southern Nigeria using Oyo State as launch pad. Remember Buhari and his Fulani brothers had already 'marked' Oyo State in the early 2000s during Lam Adesina's era."

Buhari should be cognizant of his oath of office, if that means anything to him positively protecting Nigeria Citizens focusing on security issues in Nigeria, diverting Nigerians from agitations for separation. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari should realize that it is time for a peaceful action and dialogue, not war and destruction.

Most Nigerians, with their lifestyles, prefer unity in peace than war. Dialogue is what patriotic Nigerians, Nigerian admirers and the international communities expect of the Nigerian President, to resolve the present national crises, and not military action.

We close with a message from Muhammadu Buhari that "I belong to everybody, and I belong to nobody."

Nigerians want Justice, Peace, Equity and Fairness, PEACE not WAR.

Holy Week attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria leave nearly 100 dead

CC™ Global News

By Douglas Burton

At least 94 people reportedly have died in a series of deadly attacks on Christian communities throughout Holy Week in Benue state in north-central Nigeria, an ominous sign of escalating violence blamed on Muslim militias in the country’s Middle Belt region.

On April 2, armed men reportedly stormed a Palm Sunday service at a Pentecostal church in Akenawe-Tswarev in Logo county, Benue state, killing a young boy and kidnapping the pastor and other worshippers.

Three days later, on April 5, gunmen killed at least 50 people in the village of Umogidi, located in Utokpo county, a Catholic stronghold in western Benue, the Associated Press reported.

More recently, on the night of Good Friday, dozens were killed when Muslim gunmen raided an elementary school building in the village of Ngban that serves as a shelter for about 100 displaced Christian farmers and their families.

The April 7 attack left 43 people dead and more than 40 injured, according to Father Remigius Ihyula, who heads the Benue branch of the Justice, Development, and Peace Commission (JDPC), a Nigerian Catholic relief organization.

Hours before the attack, Benue’s outgoing governor, Samuel Ortom, speaking in Otukpo, warned residents to remain vigilant and criticized what he sees as a slow response on the part of police and army units to respond to his requests for help.

Ortom had demanded for four years that federal laws be changed to allow citizens to buy firearms for self-defense, without success.

A JDPC relief worker who asked to remain anonymous told CNA she arrived the next morning to care for survivors and spoke to police officers manning the checkpoint near the school.

“Some of the survivors told me that police had fought the attackers and possibly killed some of them, but the marauding band retrieved their dead on their way out of the school compound, and the police told me the same,” she said.

“I doubt that the survivors of the attack on the primary school could go to church on Easter Sunday, as they need medicine and trauma counseling,” Father Ihyula told CNA.

While visiting with survivors of the April 7 attack in Ngban, Ortom said at least 134 people were killed in attacks in Benue over five days. Included in that tally is an April 3 raid in Apa that left 47 dead, according to a report by ThisDaylive.com, a Nigerian news outlet. It was not immediately clear on Monday whether Christians were the targets in that attack.

Benue state has an estimated 2 million displaced persons who cannot live on their traditional farm lands for fear of being killed. Some farmers venture back to cultivate their fields during the day and retreat to displaced person camps at night.

Catholic News Agency

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Tinubu’s Falsified Age and Certificate: A Typical Nigerian Corrupt System

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Since 1999, only few men have best ridden Nigeria’s political landscape like a colossus as the current National Leader of the All Progressives Congress. As the ultimate kingmaker, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has anointed governors and frustrated the ambitions of those who would not kowtow to his political vision. As he concluded the celebrations for his alleged 69th birthday, it has been revealed that like many other Nigerian citizens who engage in this despicable act, the political juggernaut Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has falsified his age.

The 70th birthday anniversary of the national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has prompted populist skepticism and questions over the real age of the renowned politician and former Governor of Lagos State. Several Nigerians took to their social media platforms to express their doubts over the age of the politician who celebrated 70 years in March 2022. The people raised questions of integrity in relation to claims of age or pretenses of celebrating his false age.

Sturdy analysis carried out by Africa Daily News, New York and some other reputable media companies have observed that the first wife of Tinubu died at the age of 74 years, while the first son died at 43 years, yet, Tinubu is marking his 70th birthday in 2022. More strong pieces of evidence pointed out that the renowned politician couldn’t be the age he is claiming, being 24 years older than his son and many years younger than the first wife. This is why serious projections have put his age at somewhere between 85 to 90.

This would not be the first time Asiwaju Bola Tinubu would be engaging in blatant fraudulent maneuvers to suit his insatiable hunger for power and political dominance in Nigeria. He was once slammed with an allegation that he forged a certificate for an International school. In 1999, one Dr. Waliu Balogun had written a petition against Tinubu that he did not attend the University of Chicago as indicated in his INEC form 001 filled when he contested the Lagos State governorship poll and that he also lied in the affidavit he attached to the INEC form, in which he declared that he lost his university degree certificate while he was in exile between 1994 and 1998. 

Balogun’s litany of complaints included accusations that Tinubu’s claim of attending Government College, Ibadan, was false; and that he lied in the INEC form about his age – that he was born in 1952 as against the 1954 he filled in the documents at the University of Chicago. Tinubu was also accused of not participating in the compulsory one-year NYSC exercise.

Generating a lot of furor, Tinubu was forced to present the original copy of his certificate while he dismissed the allegations as ‘baseless, wicked and unfortunate.’ Notwithstanding, that year, a firebrand lawyer and human rights activist, Gani Fawehinmi, went to court to compel the Inspector General of Police to investigate Tinubu. Fawehinmi did not live long enough to finish the lawsuit. In 2013, however, one Dr. Dominic Adegbola filed an unsuccessful application seeking to reopen the suit.

This goes a long way to show how desperate Nigerian leaders and politicians are when it comes to clinching and retaining power. And this phenomenon of falsification of age, documents and other credentials are not limited to just the politicians alone. It is also rampant amongst Nigerian citizens in every level, status or pedigree. It is so common amongst Nigerians that two Nigerians out of three are either actively engaging in age, document falsification or they have done it in the past.

There are numerous reasons  why Nigerians would chose to falsify their age and documents, the most common reasons for these are to avoid marriage stigmatization (especially among the females in Nigeria), they also do it at their workplaces to give them an added advantage over a position they are vying for or to retain a position that they are already occupying. Many Nigerian Tertiary institution students also engage in age falsification to aid them to get better advantages in the National Youth Service scheme. Time and time again, a few scapegoats are caught but this does not deter some other students from engaging in it.

Another reason which is not limited to Nigerians alone is in the sports sector. Age fraud in sports is age fabrication or the use of false documentation to gain an advantage over opponents. In football, it is common amongst players belonging to nations where records are not easily verifiable. The media often refer to the player with false documentation as an ‘age-cheat’. There are several reasons why players choose to use false documentation. European scouts are looking for young talented players from poorer countries to sign for a European club. 

The players know that there is a lesser chance of being signed if they are, for example, 23 years old as opposed to 17 years old as there would be less time for the club to develop the player. Age fabrication also allows an older player to enter in youth competitions and it attracts some other obvious benefits like salary increment and longer transfer durations. Although Nigerian sportsmen and women are not notorious for age fabrication, a few never do wells are usually caught and sampled out for punishment to serve as a deterrent to others who plan to engage in age or document fabrication.

Age or document falsification is a huge crime that should always be investigated and ironed out. It is completely unfortunate that the Nigerian Government and other security forces would rather choose to turn a blind eye to this fast-growing menace than deal with it decisively. They avoid it because many of them who hold powerful positions are all guilty of the same offense.

Tinubu is corruption and dishonesty personified and his lack of even an iota of moral compass typifies the current breed of scavengers and marauders, masquerading as politicians in the Nigerian political landscape. 

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