Re: Fire……..Fire
- A rejoinder to the Claim of hatred for Islam and Moslems in Nigeria by Kola Animasaun.
I am a regular reader of your Sunday Vanguard Column: Voice of Reason. I read your write up on the Jos crisis on 7th instant captioned: “I cannot understand Nigerians” which attracted reactions from many readers on 14th instant. These reactions you captioned “fire-----fire” and you concluded that they were nothing short of “hatred for Islam and Muslims in this country”, which to my mind is very unfortunate and smacked on unstrained emotion on your part.
The point of disagreement between you and those who reacted to your write-up is “what precipitated the riot?” Whether the riot was caused by political motive or religious motive? Surely, if one does not get the facts right, the conclusions based on falsehood are likely to be wrong.
The facts from eye witnesses’ accounts which have been corroborated by newspapers reports are as follows:
1. The Jos North Local Government is mostly populated by Hausa/Fulani settlers who are Moslems by religion.
2. An indigene/Christian was chosen by the ruling PDP to contest the Chairmanship seat for the Local Government which was vehemently opposed by the Hausa/Fulani.
3.After the election, while awaiting results, over 1,000 mercenaries from Niger Republic entered Nigeria in fake Police and Army uniforms and started burning houses and churches in the middle of the night.
4. Section 42 of the Constitution provides for right to freedom from discrimination in whatever form and the Hausa/Fulani did not file motion on Notice to enforce their fundamental rights before the election.
If it is a political crisis as Alhaji Animashaun and others want us to believe, what has the burning of houses, churches and killing of innocent people got to do with election? If candidates were imposed on the people, they could react by decamping enmass to another political party or vote against the imposed candidate as SDP did in Lagos in 1992 when the aggrieved faction of the party voted against the official candidate which produced Sir Otedola of NRC as Lagos State Governor.
On the other hand the result of an election can be challenged in court after the election instead of burning houses. SDP did not resort to burning of houses and churches just because the official candidate of the party is a Moslem. But in Jos sectarian crisis a total of 400 innocent people who have nothing to do with election including 3 Youth Corps members and visitors to the town were killed in cold blood within one week in the guise of protesting against a local government election.
Secondly, it is the Moslems that have hatred for the Christians, as I will presently prove beyond reasonable doubt.
In violation of the Constitution, the Moslim dominated States in the North have continued to deny Christians the right to purchase land for building churches. There is no such practice in Christian dominated States of the South. In fact, it is on record that Dr. Orji Kalu former Governor of Abia State built a Mosque for the Moslims in Umuahia. Alhaji, can you give an instant of such good gesture by a Moslem toward the Christian community in the North?
Thirdly, the killing of Pastors and Christians and burning of churches by Moslems in the North especially in Kano and Maiduguri had taken place many times over the years unchecked and without the prosecution of the culprits.
Most Nigerians would remember Apalara case in Lagos in 1953 where eleven people were condemned to death by hanging for killing a Moslim Preacher at Oko-Baba Ebute-Metta, Lagos. But it is unfortunate that Moslems have been killing Christian like Salah rams without reprisal from the Christians and without the law taking its cause against the murderers.
The Akaluka case is another example. He was found with some leaves of Koran, arrested and locked up in prison but Moslems invaded the prison and did a jungle justice, by beheading a prisoner with the connivance of security agents. A Moab trial settled the score against the ‘infidel’ Christian instead of court of law. No one was arrested or prosecuted, for this rape on justice. If it was done to a Moslem, hell will be let loose.
The case of a Yoruba Christian teacher in Bauchi is still very fresh in our memory. The ‘infidel’ was murdered because he seized the Koran from a Moslem student who cheated by opening the Holy Book when the examination was going on. When does the touching of a holy book by a non-Moslem become punishable by capital punishment? The ‘infidel’ teacher became a villain while the student cheat became a hero. How will the Moslems react if a Moslem is beheaded just because he touches the Holy Bible? An open invitation to Jihad? Do to others as you want others to do unto you is a biblical injunction.
When a Swedish Artist drew a cartoon of Prophet Mohammed which was condemned all over the world but it is only in Nigeria that the Moslems rose in arms against Christians and killed Pastors and burnt churches in Kano and BornuStates to show the hatred they have for Christians in Nigeria.
No one has the monopoly of violence but the Christians have allowed wise counsel to prevail inspite of these pre-meditated attacks because of the biblical teaching that enjoins Christians to follow peace with all men. It is only in the atmosphere of peace that the nation can develop and each citizen can realize his/her life’s ambition including religious, cultural and economic pursuits.
Alhaji, may be you know or not, a prominent Moslem in this country some years ago acting through an agent, purchased a ship load of Bibles on the high sea, on the pretext of distributing the Holy books to schools and later dumped the ship load of the Holy books into the ocean in order to prevent the spread of the gospel – a silent jihad you will say. The Christians did not raise dust over this misguided action but because we trust and serve a God who rules in the affairs of mankind and could fight for Himself so we left the matter in His Hand. God indeed dealt with the man in His own way, he ended disastrously – God judgment – no appeal.
Finally, the Christians have more tolerance than the Moslems when it comes to the politics of Nigeria, two examples will surface here:
The Moslem/Moslem ticket of Abiola and Baba Gana Kingigbe’s of 1993 is a good example. The Moslems for whatever reason will never accept Christian/Christian ticket whereas it was the Christian leaders that championed the cause of Abiola and SDP when the election was annulled even at the risk and threat to their lives by the late maximum leader.
A late Moslim Cleric (name forgotten) head of Izala Moslem sect based in Kaduna in an emotion outburst threatened that no Christian “infidel” will ever preside over the entity called Nigeria in his life time. If a Christian makes such an unguarded statement, it will spark off violent reaction that will lead to ‘Jihad’.
The second example of political intolerance came from the late Alhaji Fatai Masha during Navy Captain Michael Akhigbe’s (as he then was) era as Military Governor of Lagos State when he led a delegation to his office protesting that Moslems were not in majority in the Lagos Executive Council in which his own son was serving as a commissioner.
Hitherto, the Christians had never made such protest even when almost all the members of Alhaji Kayode Jakande’s cabinet were Moslems including his Deputy, Alhaji Jafojo. It was the silence of Christians who see politics from the point of view of service and performance rather than landscape for bloated ego and religious bigotry that the late Alhaji Masha and his ilks tried/still try to exploit. Alhaji Masha had no facts and figures to back his claim for more commissionership spots for Moslems apart from the fact that the Christians were looking the other side. Of course, Akhigbe told his delegation without mincing words that he appointed his commissioners was based on merit and not on religious consideration.
Conclusion:
Nigeria has fought a civil war and survived but no country has survived religious war. This is a nation that belongs to all of us; we should defend her honour while each religion is allowed to thrive in the atmosphere of peace. No one should play God or fight for God in any guise. It is only idols that have no legs or eyes that need the protection of its worshippers but the living God is bigger thanall of us.
I want to conclude with the quotation from the article written by your junior colleague on the same day, 14th December, 2008 on the page 3 of Sunday Tribune on the topic: “Pitching writers against readers”. “The writer is, in a sense like a torch just as Christian believers are the light of world (Matt 5:14,15). In performing this function, the writer carries a heavy load of responsibility….. The course of truth (where ever it leads) must be his watchword. Afterall of that, he must submit himself to public scrutiny. The critic who spurns criticism will end up a certified failure and a sad man”. I want to commend Mr. Bolawole’s advice to all journalists: “We (Journalists) must even when we are bitter and enraged, resist the temptation to go over-board for the goal of the writer, ultimately, must be to build, not to wreck. Alhaji softly ….softly.