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Former Vice-Chancellor of Ajayi CrowtherUniversity, Oyo, Oyo State and the current Anglican Bishop of Ilesha Diocese in Osun State, Prof Dapo Asaju has warned that Christians in the country would fight back soon if the killings and persecutions of Christians in the hands of some fanatical Muslims in the North continue.
The cleric also asserted that the South East should produce the next president if the country must continue as one entity. In an interview with LAWRENCE ENYOGHASU, Bishop Asaju regretted that both the People Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) are two sides of a coin, adding that they both killed and buried the country.
As a Christian leader, what would you say about the death of Deborah Samuel?
It is barbaric because we have law and order, and we have a constitution that protects human rights and gives others rights. There is no constitutional backing for what these boys have done. What has happened is the fallout of the recklessness of this country where certain people can kill people without having the fear of God and respect for the rule of law. The Christians and the Muslims own this country and we all have the rights to live in this country. The lady said nothing wrong and these boys manipulated it and took the law into their hands. They do not, under any law, have the right to kill any person for blasphemy. It is a shame for us to witness such action. This country is gone. This country is dead. We are in a state of anarchy and for people to be arguing about it is also a shame. Let the Christians and Muslims come together to condemn every act of destruction of human life. I am sure if it were Christians who killed Muslims, Nigeria would have burnt. There wouldn’t be peace in Nigeria right now. They are increasingly making us understand that they want to Islamise this country and Christians are not welcome. They are going to set this country on fire and when it happens, hold the Muslim fanatics responsible. I have not seen any Christian who used religion as an excuse to murder anybody. If the northerners think they don’t want us in this country, they should tell us so that we can divide it because if some of us are trying to build this country and they are taking us from bad to worse, I don’t see any reason than to be one Nigeria. And for people to be defending the action is a shame. It is a shame that people with western education are supporting such an act. The killing is too much: We are in a secular state, we are not in a sharia state. They should not turn this country into another Rwanda. They should be cautioned because one day, the Christians would fight back.
How can the Christians defend themselves when these things happen?
Christians who can do so should continue. These people are everywhere carrying arms and the government is playing politics with our lives. We cannot even trust the military again; they have gone to sleep amid the turbulence in the country. The bandits have taken over all the security apparatus and made the state ungovernable. If the government cannot defend us we have to defend ourselves. I don’t know how you will do it but we need to defend ourselves. They should do whatever they can to avoid themselves being slaughtered by these people.
There have been different arguments about the achievements or otherwise of the Buhari administration. In your opinion, what would you about the performance of this government?
Buhari came to deceive all of us in this country. He came on the euphoria of change; he has changed us from bad to worse. We were alive but sick; Buhari came and killed us intending to bury us in the next election. He opened up the borders of the country and allowed the terrorists to flood this country. He protected the killers while pursuing a religious fanatical agenda. This government has failed and everyone associated with this government through his or her party should never have an opportunity to come back again. This regime is a complete failure and a disaster. Under this regime, the currency died, inflation was high, the crime rate increased, and borders became porous. They have destroyed this country and we may never have their type again. They didn’t change anything; they worsened it. What we are suffering now is the punishment for our lack of foresight. We have never allowed a fanatic like President Muhamadu Buhari in power.
Are you suggesting that Nigeria should embrace the opposition party, the PDP?
They are the same people. What was done to us was that PDP killed this country and APC buried it. These are the same people moving from one party to another. They don’t have a principle and they are too old to hold political office. They don’t have the agility to follow up on policies again. They are lynching the country in turns. My recommendation is that nobody should go near the two parties. People are tilting towards PDP because they think they are a lesser evil compared to APC. The two parties are filled with people who have either supported or looked away while this country is being butchered. I pray that a day would come that all these people would be brought together and forced to face justice. They cannot destroy this country and go scot-free. We need the youth to mobilise themselves and get rid of these people and have a set of brilliant youth to rule this country.
You have just given the youth a task, but people are saying that the youths are already disenfranchised by the major parties with the unbearably high cost nomination forms for elective positions in the major parties, among others. What is your opinion?
These parties have made it clear that they don’t have plans for the youth by setting the costs of their nomination forms astronomically high. We need a brand new party. These old corrupt politicians want to remain in power and they are ready to do anything systemic to do so. Imagine what is happening in APC, where individuals are raising N100 million to buy forms. Where did they make the money? Is it not from the government and the people? These are money made available for projects that were cornered by them whilst impoverishing the people.
The youth may not have government access now but if they organise themselves as they did recently, they would take the government back and things would go as they should. They would go to another political party and contest. These old politicians are banking on rigging but they are pushing their luck too far because that person that would rig it for them would be a youth and that is why I said they need to have one voice. The youth corps members that would conduct the elections are youths, which I know would not want to end up on the street afterward. If the youth rise against the old men, they will outvote them. It is possible.
What is your thought on the zoning of the presidency?
Common sense should tell us that the South-East should be allowed to rule, if we want to continue as one Nigeria. I was even talking about a constitutional amendment where there would be only one -tenure of five years. The South-East should rule in 2023. If anybody means well for Nigeria, they should step down for the South-East, including the Yorubas. The Hausa-Fulani should also step down, even them trying to come out is an insult to us because they are the ones who put this country in this state. It is the turn of the Igbo. Even though we know that they would mess up too because they have this dominating spirit, but let us give them a chance and see if they would prove us wrong.
How would you rate this regime in the battle against corruption?
The worst cases of corruption have happened under his regime. Imagine the Accountant General of the nation being accused of stealing billions of naira! Is it not the same Buhari that would pardon jailed corrupt governors? He pardoned rogues and allowed innocent people to rot in jail.
There is nothing like an anti-corruption fight in this country. It is deceit. We should just allow them to go and look at how to win the war in 2023. Those who are still defending this country are going to pay for their sins. They would cry in the future if they allow this government to continue in 2023. This government has failed. It is only God that is holding us together.
Recently, Buhari just opened the borders years after they were closed. What would you say to this?
We are not running a single country but a dual country. The northern government dominated the south and the north. It was closed to impoverish the South. It is economic warfare against the South. The Northerners are raping this country and investing in the war against the southerners of Nigeria.
