In 1989, the late Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa on Salman Rushdie, author of “The Satanic Verses.” This novel fictionalized parts of the life of Prophet Mohammed, which some Muslims found offensive and blasphemous. Consequently, Khomeini ordered Muslims to kill Rushdie.
The immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai, may not have written any book on Prophet Mohammed or even Jesus Christ. But he recently borrowed a leaf from Rushdie to make some satanic statements against Christians in Kaduna in particular and Nigeria in general.
In a viral video, el-Rufai told some Islamic clerics, in the presence of his successor, Uba Sani, that the Muslim/Muslim ticket in Kaduna had come to stay. To add insult to injury, he zeroed in on the Muslim/Muslim ticket, which the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) gave Nigerians in the last presidential election and said it would continue.
Contrary to the tradition in Nigeria, the President, Bola Tinubu, and his deputy, Kashim Shettima, are both Muslims. Christians had cried foul when both of them were presented as APC candidates. But the ruling party stuck to its guns. And rather than allow the sleeping dog to lie, el-Rufai decided to mock Christians. He spoke in Hausa. But his speech has been translated by some people who understand the language.
He was reported to have said, among others: “We have shown the people that Muslims don’t like injustice, but they do not like disrespect. That was the only thing we wanted to show. We have started and have not ended it, unless we rule for 20 years or more. After Uba completes his eight years, it would be 16 years we would have been ruling the state. Right? Another person would take over to make it 24 years…” El-Rufai reportedly added that the victory of Tinubu had silenced the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
This is unfortunate. So far, the former governor has not refuted this allegation, which has been trending, especially on the social media. In effect, it means that he said what he was accused of saying. The question is, what did he aim to achieve by such divisive, dangerous statements?
The answer is simple. Religion, as Karl Marx said, is the opium of the people. Nigerian politicians deploy it effectively to achieve their selfish interests. It is not as if el-Rufai loves Islam more than the Sultan of Sokoto. He is probably not a better Muslim than Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State. But he knows that deploying the instrument of religion in a largely illiterate society like Nigeria will get him some precious votes and support from some gullible people.
It is good that some well-meaning Nigerians have condemned the former governor’s unguarded statements. A chieftain of the ruling APC in Plateau State, Samuel Kwankur, for instance, advised him not to set Nigeria on fire with his utterances. The chairman of the CAN in Kaduna, Reverend Joseph Hayab, accused him of Islamisation. Some Catholic priests under the aegis of Nigerian Catholic Diocesan Priests’ Association (NCDPA), Kaduna State chapter, wrote a petition against el-Rufai to Tinubu and Governor Uba Sani. They urged the two leaders to call el-Rufai to order before he plunges the country into a religious crisis.
Typically, the executive director of Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), Professor Ishaq Akintola, chose to fallaciously defend the indefensible. Rather than condemn the divisive statements of the former governor, he berated Rev. Hayab for voicing out his regrets about el-Rufai’s utterances. He asked him to apologise to the former governor. The questions then arise: must we cover up evil because our fellow Muslim or fellow Christian is involved? Must we always act with sentiment because our tribesman or brother or sister may be hurt? Why is it difficult for many of us Nigerians to anchor our statements on truth?
It is pertinent to note that el-Rufai completed his second term as governor of Kaduna State on May 29, 2023. As governor, he stepped on many toes. He fought some seen and unseen battles with the people of Southern Kaduna. Under his watch, Fulani militia made Southern Kaduna, inhabited predominantly by Christians, a theatre of war. Thousands of citizens perished in the seemingly unending conflict. Many others were rendered homeless as their houses were torched.
This soured relationship with Kaduna Christians appears to be the worst advertisement of el-Rufai’s character. On several occasions, the CAN accused him of discrimination and bigotry. The tradition in the state and indeed in Nigeria was that whenever you have a Muslim as governor or President, the deputy should be a Christian and vice versa when you have a Christian as governor or President. El-Rufai broke this unwritten code in Kaduna by picking a fellow Muslim as his deputy. He gave major appointments to Muslims as well. He did all these deliberately without any apologies to anybody. Christians murmured. They complained. But el-Rufai remained unfazed.
I am a Christian because I was born a Christian. El-Rufai is a Muslim because he was born a Muslim. If his parents were to be from Anambra, he probably would have been a Christian. Current British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, is a Hindu. But he is leading a predominantly Christian country. In such advanced countries, they consider capacity and character, not religion. Why can’t we adopt the same philosophy in Nigeria? Why can’t we live in harmony and peace knowing that we are one in humanity? Why can’t we see religion as a personal thing, between one and one’s God? In deploying this religious strategy, some of our politicians forget its combustible nature. No nation survives a religious conflict. Go and verify from Lebanon and Northern Ireland.
El-Rufai’s character trait made the former President Olusegun Obasanjo to describe him as having penchant for lying and disloyalty. “A leader must know the character and ability of his subordinates. Character-wise, Nasir has not much going for him,” Obasanjo said in his book, “My Watch.”
It is ironical that el-Rufai’s small size could carry the weight of the oversized controversies surrounding his life and some of his actions. As Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, for instance, he wooed controversy like a love-struck man itching to marry a woman after his heart. He deserves a ‘fatwa’ from Tinubu. The President should blacklist him from any major appointment in his cabinet. Such a character is dangerous and should not be allowed near the corridors of power again.
Re: Welcome to ‘emilokan’ democracy
Casmir, Nigeria shall become an extension of Lagos should the courts fail to do the needful now! The ‘Tinubu’s fiefdom’ comes with a notion of gradually pocketing Nigeria and Nigerians using Lagos as a template! He surreptitiously conquered Lagos, intolerant of opposition and has dominated it since 1999 to our chagrin! Tinubu’s presidency is built on the foundation of blunders. His 1st blunder – Muslim-Muslim ticket – has resonated as a factor for consideration in the elections of presiding officers in the national assembly. The 2nd blunder came in the form of a ‘bullet’ – the removal of fuel subsidy. It made Nigerians scamper for safety within 1hr of delivering his unconscionable speech of ‘fuel subsidy is gone’. When faced with the aftermath or a boomerang of his speech that made Nigerians running helter-skelter for fuel, he designated a former president of labour – Adams Oshiomhole – to help douse the tension with his experience. What they are having now is a conference or a ‘paddy paddy’ tea dialogue. Nigerians don’t want their subsidy neither do we need their palliatives. All we are saying is bring our 4 refineries back to life and stop importation of fuel! When fuel supply via our local and modular refineries plus that of Dangote is more than the demand for fuel, the cost and price of fuel would naturally fall! Let the refineries compete with one another. Chikena!
– Mike, Mushin, Lagos, +234 816 111 4572
Dear Casy, it appears Nigeria has committed a heinous crime against God and man through her rapacious political ‘dealers’, sorry, leaders whose desperation for political power knows no bounds, the outcome of which is DIVINE ABANDONMENT in ‘biblical Egypt’ under bondage and servitude like the then Israelites! Were it not so, how could someone with three failed attempts at the Presidency be consoled with ‘emilokan’ pact which generated two burdensome products? The first product of ‘emilokan’ pact, Buhari, has completed the first phase of the pact which witnessed all manner of devastations, beginning from morbid economy heavily burdened by over-borrowing, double, if not triple digit inflation, hydra-headed corruption, amputated education, especially, at tertiary level, high insecurity heightened by banditry and kidnappings, Fulani herders’ murderous escapades that sent farmers scampering home for safety with the attendant hunger and starvation while FG played the ostrich, nepotism and clannishness in appointments that sent the Federal Character principle to the cemetery, comatose healthcare that turned doctors into abandoning stethoscopes and becoming perpetual beggars at negotiating table with FG for funds while the so-called elites fly abroad for their healthcare, etc. In spite of our moaning, the ‘emilokan’ apostles crafted purloined ‘victory’ for the second product, Tinubu, whose governance trajectory began with the mindless removal of fuel subsidy without any palliatives in place to checkmate shocks! Recall that this fuel subsidy removal under Goodluck Jonathan became the fulcrum of APC propaganda machine where they stood Lagos and other areas down for days in which the present Aso Rock Landlord campaigned that the fuel subsidy removal was tantamount to sending Nigerians into the midnight sea. Today, has the midnight sea dried up?
– Steve Okoye, Awka, 08036630731
Casmir, the inauguration of Tinubu as Nigeria’s 16th President has exposed the ugly scene of desperados of pretenders in the quest to acquire power. It also gave credence to the ‘behind the scenes’ arrangements in order to ascend to the position of authority. ‘Emilokan’ democracy has come to alter the content of democracy as it was originally meant to be. In ‘emilokan’ democracy, it involves the government of ‘Pretenders’ by the ‘Pretenders’ for the people – 3Ps. Buhari was actually the first beneficiary of it, which could have been originated by Tinubu. This sort of democracy is formulated on the basis of force and deceit.
That could explain why Lagos has for years been under his control. Tinubu seemed to have sold the idea to Buhari in the midst of perennial losses at the poll. As a result, Buhari, even though it was not his original intention to support him, succumbed eventually. The danger here is that, just like Buhari, the incumbent believes that he owes no one apologies for any action taken in the course of governance as he was not actually voted by the majority. On the side of the electorate, it is absolutely robbery as most of them believe that the right person was rigged out. The psyche of the generality of the people is traumatized, which will affect the socio-cultural, economical and every sector of the nation.
The task ahead is enormous. Tinubu needs to do much to convince the people that his ‘emilokan’ democracy is not driven by selfishness.
– Pharm. Okwuchukwu Njike, +234 803 885 4922