I am not engaging in rhetoric or supporting or opposing, as many Nigerians are doing right now. I want to present the facts I have gathered through research and personal investigation.
I spent forty-five years in the political space of Nigeria, serving as an elected member of the Federal House of Representatives, representing Ikeja Federal Constituency under the UPN (2nd Republic), and as a State Commissioner under the administration of H.E. Senator Justus Gbenga Daniel in Ogun State.
I was a former Board Member of the National Institute for Policy & Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos (2006-2007). My Doctoral studies delved into Ethnic-Religious Conflicts in Nigeria.
Additionally, I have presented various papers at academic conferences in the USA, Zambia, and Nigeria, as well as published in learned journals, with some of my works discussing ethnic-religious conflicts in Nigeria.
President Tinubu inherited these violent conflicts bordering on genocide from past governments.
All past presidents, including the current one, have no willpower to truly take the proper steps to eradicate the insecurity, bordering on Terrorism. They know the sources, the perpetrators, and the sponsors, but do not take conclusive action due to political considerations.
FACTS:
The annihilation of Christians and Christianity in Nigeria, especially in the Middle Belt Regions: Plateau, Kaduna, and Core Northern States, is a Fact and not a Myth.
The extermination is not only through violent conflicts, Terrorism, killing, and displacing Christian communities. It also integrated Islam fully into the Nigerian Constitution as if that were the only religion in Nigeria.
In 2018, I attended the AASR Conference in Lusaka, Zambia, and presented a paper titled “LEGAL FOUNDATIONS FOR THE PROMOTION OF SUSTAINABLE PEACE AND RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE IN NIGERIA.” In that paper, I raised some concerns, which are still germane today:
The traditional politics of the Nigerian people have a strong linkage to the belief in theocracy, and Nigeria will not enjoy sustainable peace until the proper legal foundation is laid.
Islamic Canon Law (Sharia) was inserted (not enacted) in the Nigerian Constitution in Sections 200, 260-264, creating a dual ideology. Sharia is mentioned in the Constitution seventy-three (73) times, Islam is mentioned twenty-eight (28) times, Muslim is mentioned ten (10) times, and Grand Khadijah is mentioned fifty-four (54) times. This same Constitution has no mention of Christ, Christian, or Christianity.
Nigeria, which is a ‘Secular State’, is constitutionally an Islamic State.
There is evidence of an Islamic Agenda for Nigeria, and the current political leaders are involved.
The leadership structure of the APC, the ruling political party, reflects Islamic values. All their top echelon political leaders are Muslims. The dual Ideology is more evident in sections 1 and 6 of the Nigerian Constitution. Section 1 states that the Constitution is supreme, higher than any other law, but paragraph 1 of section 38 on freedom of expression says you are free to practice any religion of your choice.
The same Constitution has Sharia in Section 6, subsection 5F & G. Sharia says if you practice any other religion apart from Islam, you will die. This has become calamitous for Nigerian Christians. Christians in northern Nigeria, especially in the middle belt region, are becoming extinct due to the frequent attacks on their persons and on the churches. These myriad attacks come from fundamental Muslims like Boko Haram Terrorist Groups; Fulani Herdsmen, also known as Miyetti Allah. Their attacks result in loss of lives and properties of faithful Christians.
Ethno-Religious Conflicts:
Ever since southern Nigeria and northern Nigeria were united into one state in the early colonial period, the different religious orientations of the Country’s regions have been inseparable from their political interests and strategies (Niels, Kastfelt, Religion and Politics in Nigeria: a study in Middle Belt Christianity, London: British Academic Press, 1994)
A research paper by Terhemba Nom Ambe-Uva in its introduction revealed that both Nigerians and foreigners regarded Plateau state of Nigeria as a peaceful settlement with a temperate climate of magnetic attraction; this reputation seemed to be a thing of the past as the peace of the state is lost following spate of violent eruption of conflicts between different communities that have hitherto lived in peace and harmony with one another.
Plateau State, including its capital Jos, is inhabited by Christians and Muslims. While Christians are in the majority, the Muslims constitute a significant minority. Violent clashes occurred mainly in the Middle-Belt and cultural borderline states of the Muslim north, where Muslim Hausa-Fulani groups were in a dangerous convergence of religious and ethnic fears and animosities.
Significant examples of violent ethno-religious conflicts in Nigeria in the past are: the Kafanchan-Kaduna crises in 1987 and 1999, the Tiv-Jukun crises in 1998, the Zangon-Kataf riots of 1992 and 2001; the Kaduna riots of 2000, and the Jos riots of 2001, each claimed several hundreds of lives and generated violent ripple effects beyond Kaduna and Jos, respectively.
Many northern states continue to ban or limit public proselytizing, despite the Constitution’s permit. Widespread discriminatory legislation or policies are disadvantaging certain religions. Some governments have implemented laws or regulations that favour certain religions and place others at a disadvantage.
Membership of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC):
One of the compelling political actions is Nigeria’s membership of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC). General Yakubu Gowon (a Northern Christian) inaugurated Nigeria’s membership of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) in 1969 in an observer status. President Ibrahim Babangida (a Northern Muslim) in January 1986 completed the process of full membership initiated by Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and made Nigeria a full member. Alhaji Rilwan Lukman, a Minister at the time, accompanied by prominent Nigerian Muslim leaders, was flown to Fez in Morocco on the presidential jet to represent the Country as the 46th member.
Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe, the then Chief of Staff at General Headquarters, reiterated that the membership of OIC was done clandestinely. He claimed ignorance of the action, stressing that the matter was never discussed at the nation’s highest ruling body, the Armed Forces Ruling Council.
OIC And Its Implications:
The OIC marked the climax of activities aimed at reviving Islamic values in the 1960s. The first conference of OIC was held from 9 to 12 Rajah 1389 (22nd – 25th September 1969). Nigeria was not a member then, but today, it is one of the most active and vibrant members.
A cursory look at the history, charter, aims, objectives, and activities of the OIC suggests that it is entirely Islamic and focused on Islamic Countries. Nigeria operates under a constitution that does not recognize a state religion. The implications of this action extend to politics, religion, law, society, and economics. The full connection is political because politics and religion are intertwined, which gives rise to the politics of exclusion and religious fundamentalists.
Since Nigeria joined the OIC in 1986, there has been an increase in religious fundamentalism in the form of ethno-religious violent conflicts, mainly in Northern Nigeria. P.D. Vatikiotis avers, “We need not even argue the proposition that religious militancy tends to be exclusive in its political implications for state and society.” In the same line of thought, Karen Armstrong states, “religious fundamentalists do not care for democracy, pluralism, religious toleration, peacekeeping, free speech, or the separation of church and state.”
There have been clamors to declare Nigeria an Islamic State where Sharia is the political law of the land. Nigeria has continued to donate generously billions of US Dollars to the Islamic Development Fund despite the economic depression and recession. The membership of the OIC constituted a source of financial drain to the nation’s economy.
Islamic Banking and Its Various Implications:
An Islamic Bank is a financial institution that operates in accordance with Islamic Sharia law, providing solutions to the financial needs of Muslims. The actual development in Islamic banking began after 1970, with the introduction of new investment techniques, strategies, and product development. In Islamic financial law, there are various methods of financing, including Musharaka, Murabaha, Mudaraba, and Ijarah, which provide all the contractual details of the business, as well as some contracts based on profit and loss sharing schemes.
Islamic banking is an integral part of the OIC, and since Nigeria is a full member, it then becomes imperative that the Country aligns itself with the dictates of the OIC. The CBN fostered, in secular Nigeria, a full-fledged Sharia system in Islamic banking, in which all activities are consistent with the principles of Islamic law and its practical application, as developed by the OIC. Islamic bank seeks to empower political Islam and, in the process of contextualization, impose Sharia everywhere and in every sphere of life. The import of the Islamic banking system is to strengthen the separatist identity of Muslims and weaken their ties and commitment to the non-Muslim communities.
Islamic banking in the management of finance is contextualized to create a parallel society with a distinct ethnic and religious identity. Islamic banking is one of the tools of the Islamist Jihadist movements to achieve the primary goal of weakening the non-Muslim world. The Primary goals of the Islamic Bank include:
• Weakening the non-Muslim world and forcing Islamic dominion on all world systems: Religious, Political, Social, Economic, and Cultural.
• Mobilizing the Muslims who are not yet ready to participate in the Militant Jihad.
• Collecting various Zakat (Islamic Almsgiving) through an in-built mechanism that the borrowers of bank loans are required to pay, and
• Ensuring linkage to global Islamic banks in the Arab world for the purpose of funding Islamic Expansionism, a subtle Arab Colonization.
Legal Implications:
There are vagaries of the Islamic banking system that enable the concealment of some of their activities, which are not possible for conventional banks.
Potential profits are undefined, making it easy for illicit money to be transferred through a pool of colluding depositors.
Islamic banks are permitted to transfer large amounts among themselves, thereby making them attractive to potential money launderers.
Islamic banks often pursue short-term investments to enhance their profits; this strategy is attractive to money launderers.
Islamic banks have a custom of giving customers discretionary, large-scale loyalty bonuses instead of fixed interest payments, which opens the door to possible illegal transfers.
Islamic banks have an in-built mechanism for collecting interest in the form of various zakat (Islamic Alms) that borrowers of bank loans are required to pay. In contrast, banks that operate the system are automatically linked to global Islamic banks in the Arab world, for the purpose of funding the Islamic expansionism, a subtle Arab colonization.
Nigeria is a founding member of the International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation (IILM). The question is “Who took Nigeria into IILM without informing Nigerians?”
According to a report written for Compass on Saturday, 26 November 2011, by Geoffrey Ekenna titled “Who approved Nigeria’s membership of Islamic group for CBN?” the Legal Adviser/Director of legal services department of the CBN had issued a memo to some heads of departments asking them to provide answers to a 15-page questionnaire sent to the apex bank by the IILM. The report reveals that the memo entitled:
“RE: INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC LIQUIDITY MANAGEMENT CORPORATION (IILM) FEASIBILITY STUDY QUESTIONNAIRE” was signed by one S. M. Onekutu.
The Compass report further informed that the purpose of the questionnaire was to enable the IILM to assess the feasibility of its asset acquisition program and Sukuk in various jurisdictions.
CBN departments provided answers to the isolated questions, and detailed responses were submitted on Thursday, 29 September 2011, for use at the scheduled meeting of IILM on 30 September 2011. The report highlighted the covering note from IILM, which states: “The Organization was formed to create high-quality Sharia-Compliant financial instruments to facilitate liquidity management of institutions offering Islamic financial services.” It is apparent that CBN has overstepped its boundaries and dragged secular Nigeria into core Islamic activities.
Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC)
Late President Buhari, in December 2015, without respect to Section 10 of the Constitution, as well as to the sensitivity of Christians that constitute half of the Nigerian Population, led the Country to join the Saudi Arabia-initiated Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC). There have been other actions since then that border on the adoption of Islam as a state religion. These actions include:
• The promotion of Sharia Compliant Finance, using State resources,
• Violation of the Federal Character Principle in the Constitution in the appointment of mostly Muslims to head Security Units in the nation, and
• The inability of the Government to arrest and prosecute the rampaging Islamic militias and Terrorists.
The same late President Buhari dragged Nigeria into the Israel/Palestinian conflict by voting against the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel at the United Nations. The non-aligned status of Nigeria required that Nigeria abstain from voting, either for or against, when the issue was debated at the UN.
The Christian Association of Nigeria has placed on record, through a press release and well-circulated communiqué, that the negative vote of Nigeria on Jerusalem is not the consensus of the citizens and therefore should not be regarded as representing the choice of Nigeria. The vote at the UN was a sectional and unilateral imposition of President Buhari (a Fulani northern Muslim).
The situation is worse today. The victims of terrorists have been neglected while those elected to protect them are carousing and romancing the terrorists. They lack the willpower to prosecute, and Nigerians live in fear. God is in control because the blood of the victims has cried out for salvation.
