The Bloody Legacy of Usman Dan Fodio (Part 2)

                                                                                                                     OPINION

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By Femi Fani-Kayode 

Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode

Permit me to indulge in a quick aside and take you into a brief journey of discovery into the deep and devious mind of Lugard. On September 8th 2015, in an essay titled 'Lord Lugard's Magic and Flora Shaw's Spell', I wrote the following:

"In 1916, Lord Frederick John Dealtry Lugard, the 1st Baron Lugard, the fourteenth Governor of Hong Kong and the first Governor-General of Nigeria, said the following:

“Lagos has for 20 years opposed every Governor and has fomented strife and bloodshed in the hinterland. I have spent the best part of my life in Africa; my aim has been the betterment of the natives for whom I have been ready to give my life.

But after some 29 years, and after nearly 12 years as Governor here, I am free to say that the people of Lagos and indeed the westerners are the lowest, the most seditious and disloyal, the most purely prompted by self-seeking money motives of any people I have met.”

As if that were not bad enough, two years later, on September 25th, 1918, in a letter to his colleague Walter H. Lang, Lugard wrote the following:

“The Hausa-Fulani has no ideals, no ambitions save such as sensual in character. He is a fatalist, spendthrift and a gambler. He is gravely immoral and is seriously diseased that he is a menace to any community to which he seeks to attach himself.”

Lugard didn’t stop there. In his book titled 'The Dual Mandate' (pg. 70) of 1926, he wrote the following:

“In character and temperament, the typical African of this race-type is a happy, thriftless, excitable person. LACKING IN SELF-CONTROL, DISCIPLINE, AND FORESIGHT.

Naturally courageous, and naturally courteous and polite, full of personal vanity, with little sense of veracity, fond of music and loving weapons as an oriental loves jewelry.

HIS THOUGHTS ARE CONCENTRATED ON THE EVENTS AND FEELINGS OF THE MOMENT, and he suffers little from the apprehension for the future, or grief for the past. His mind is far nearer to the animal world than that of the European or Asiatic, and exhibits something of the animals’ placidity and want of desire to rise beyond the State he has reached.

Through the ages THE AFRICAN APPEARS TO HAVE EVOLVED NO ORGANISED RELIGIOUS CREED, and though some tribes appear to believe in a deity, the religious sense seldom rises above pantheistic animalism and seems more often to take the form of a vague dread of the supernatural.

HE LACKS THE POWER OF ORGANISATION, and is conspicuously deficient in the management and control alike of men or business. HE LOVES THE DISPLAY OF POWER, but fails to realise its responsibility… he will work hard with a less incentive than most races.

He has the courage of the fighting animal, an instinct rather than a moral virtue… In brief, the virtues and defects of this race-type are those of attractive children, whose confidence when it is won is given ungrudgingly as to an older and wiser superior and without envy.

Perhaps the two traits which have impressed me as those most characteristic of the African native are HIS LACK OF APPREHENSION AND HIS LACK OF ABILITY TO VISUALISE THE FUTURE.”

These were the views of the principal architect and great grandfather of our modern nation-state whose wife, Flora Shaw, gave us the name 'Nigeria'. When translated from latin that name means "the area of darkness".

To the both spouses we were nothing but that darkness and a convenient commercial venture which was to be milked dry for its mineral resources.

That was the mindset of the man who famously proclaimed that northern Nigeria was the "poor husband" whilst the south was the "rich wife" and that "their marriage must last forever".

The fact that that "rich southern wife" has been held back, brutalised, traumatised, cheated, robbed, raped and sodomised over the last two hundred years by that "poor northern husband" is of no issue to evil-minded, greedy and calculating men like Lugard.

Theirs is to keep our people in perpetual bondage and to ensure that our internal colonial masters continue to destroy our destinies, smite our fortunes and blight our future.

And nothing seems to have changed. Two hundred and twelve years after Dan Fodio's onslaught in what was to later become northern Nigeria and fifty six years after his great grandson, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the erstwhile Saurdana of Sokoto and the man that I have described as the 'second Mahdi of Nigeria', proclaimed that it was his intention to "dip the Koran in the Atlantic ocean" and thereby Islamise and conquer the people of the south, their descendants are attempting to do precisely the same thing under the leadership of Muhammadu Buhari.

Chief Solomon Asemota SAN captured the moment in a graphic and accurate manner in an excellent essay part of which reads as follows:

"Islamist Jihadists of the Hausa, Fulani and Kanuri Ethnic Nationalities, who are Negroid immigrants to Nigeria, are pushing the nation to an implosion. It is therefore imperative that the remaining 386 Ethnic Nationalities of Nigeria should, as a matter of priority, convene a Conference to demonstrate to the few Islamist Jihadists of the three Ethnic Nationalities the grave danger of Islamism as a system of governance.

Nigerians are reminded that the present distress in the nation is not an act of God but man-made. The brazen and audacious imposition of Islamist Jihadists into key positions in the country is not an expression of religious piety but a deliberate manipulation of religion for cultural and political domination by three Ethnic Groups.

This Agenda commenced in 1975 after the overthrow of General Gowon. The Islamist Jihadists are a violent and domineering strain of Islam rejected by mainstream Muslims"- ('DISCRIMINATORY APPOINTMENTS AGAINST NON-MUSLIMS IN NIGERIA', Naij. Com, Trent On Line, 10th August 2016).

Asemota has put it very well. This is the challenge that we face in Nigeria today. Buhari, who I have described as the 'third Mahdi of Nigeria' has perfected the script and he is executing the master plan and the not-so-hidden agenda with ruthless precision.

It is left for us to either continue to act as if all is well and continue to wallow in our ignorance, self-pity and shameful cowardice or to stand up, step up to the plate, confront the challenge, say it as it is, do what is necessary and resist it with every fibre of our being.

Those that believe in the agenda of the three Mahdi's and that subscribe to their views are nothing short of modern-day terrorists and their intent is to kill, destroy, enslave and subjugate.

We must never succumb to them. We must resist their tyranny and oppression. We must shed the toga of political correctness and uproot them from our land.

We must remember who we are, where we came from, what we stand for and refuse to shy away from fighting for our rights.

The 'gospel' of Usman Dan Fodio and his legacy of blood, compulsion, death and destruction cannot be a lasting foundation for any civilised modern-nation state and we must rid ourselves of it. Such a foundation is not of God and therefore it cannot endure.

We must repent and make reparations for the oceans of innocent blood that was spilt in our nation by Usman Dan Fodio and his descendants over the last two hundred years and we must appease the affected souls.

We must pray to the Lord God of Hosts and to the God of Heaven for forgiveness for our cowardice and complicity and we must rededicate our nation to the Ancient of Days if we want to break the spell, break the curse, rid ourselves of the jinx and be free from His judgement.

Permit me to end this contribution with a word for those that have chosen to support and assist our collective oppressors and who consistently defend and rationalise their wickedness, tyranny and murderous ways.
I proclaim that the blood of all those that have been slaughtered over the last two hundred years in the name of ethnic domination, conquest and jihad shall haunt you and yours from generation to generation. The Prophet Obadiah said,

“all your allies will turn against you. They will help to chase you from your land. They will promise you peace while plotting to deceive and destroy you. Your trusted friends will set traps for you, and you won’t even know about it"-(Obadiah 1:7).

This shall be the portion of our collective enemies and those that stand with them to impose their faith, to terrorise our people, to kill our loved ones, to enslave our children, to take our land, to rubbish our heritage, to destroy our future and to bury the gospel of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Exercise of impounding rebellious motorcycles, tricycles continues, says commissioner

In a swift reaction the Delta State Commissioner for Transport Mr. Vincent Uduaghan has debunked the claim by (NACTOMORAS) of Impounding 91 tricycles and motorcycles as a result of non-payment of welfare tickets being collected inform of dues.

Commissioner Uduaghan reiterated that we have a dissident group of Tricycle and Motorcycle operators, fighting the directive of the State Government over the Daily Road Tax Ticket, since it was inaugurated in the state

In a Statement the Commissioner made it clear that “since the year 2012 the State Government concluded all processes of bringing together all unions concerned with Motorcycle and Tricycle for commercial activities” and “such brought peace to the state”.

According to the Commissioner the only which all other unions collapsed under is called Delta State Commercial Motorcycle and Tricycle Union of Nigeria (DSCMTUN) also known as Commercial Motorcycle and Tricycle Operators Association, Delta State”.

The statement further added that the State Government has gone into contractual agreement with the recognized union to collect the Daily Road Tax in the State, as against the claim by the illegal body accusing the State Government of collecting welfare tickets (dues).

The Directorate of Transport has made it clear that only 83 tricycles were impounded from the illegal body as against 91 tricycles and motorcycles claimed to have been impounded.

It could be recalled that on several invitation, the self-acclaimed chairman of the illegal (NACTOMORAS) Mr. Godwin Ikolo had deliberately avoided all meetings initiated by the Directorate of Transport between them and the Commercial Motorcycle and Tricycle Operators Association Delta State, to deliberate on sensitive issues.

Apparently, the State Government will not watch as an illegal body defiantly collects monies from some group of individuals in the state, without paying such into Government coffers, thereby leading to leakages in Government revenues (IGR).

The exercise of impounding rebellious Tricycle and Motorcycle Operators would be continuous “until they comply with the directive of the State Government or relocate to other states for their commercial activities.

Mrakpor allays fears of women over Sapele market

The State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice Mr. Peter Mrakpor has allayed the fears of over 200 Market Women from Sapele Local Government who defied the heavy down pour  to meet with Officials of the Ministry of Justice that Government will look into their grievances.

The Attorney-General who was addressing the Market Women shortly after a Mediation Meeting to resolve all the contenting issues between the over 900 Traders who claimed that they are being deprived of their rights to possession of stores allocated to them by the previous administration and the State Government in one hand and the Sapele Local Government in another hand, charged the traders to be calm as Government will look into their claims and proffer solution to the controversy surrounding the allocations of stores at the Sapele Ultra-Modern Market.

Speaking on behalf of the Traders, the President of the Delta State Traders and Market Leaders, Chief Mrs. Queen Macgrey Aminoma expressed the frustration of over 900 Traders from Sapele of their inability to have free access to the stores allocated to them by the previous administration even after the payments of one year rent into Government Account for the said stores.

Mrs. Queen Macgrey while lamenting the incessant harassment of her Members allegedly by agents of the Sapele Local Government, expressed satisfaction by the steps taken by the Attorney-General in resolving the issue that is already a subject of litigation. She said as law abiding citizens, they had earlier sought for judicial remedy to the controversy by instituting legal action against the parties.

She appealed to the State Government to prevail on the Sapele Local Government from further harassment of its members even as she pleaded with the Attorney-General to expedite action towards amicable resolution of the dispute.

Emulate Guanah Farms: Onuesoke urges Deltans

Chief Sunny Onuesoke, chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party in Delta state has called on Deltans to emulate Hon. Raymos Guanah, Director of Guanah Farms Limited to cushion the effect of the economic recession that is currently bedeviling the country as a result of the misrule of the All Progressives Congress APC misrule.

Onuesoke who made this known in Patani, Delta state, said emulating Guanah Farms Limited will help Nigerians especially Deltans to have a shift in our monoculture economy by diversifying from over reliance on crude oil especially at this time that the price plummet, which is seriously affecting the economy negatively.

He said, “Agriculture will provide food and raw materials for the Nigeria teaming population and the development of the manufacturing sector, which in turn will also discourage heavy dependence on importation. The sector is also capable of reducing the country's level of unemployment on the account that the sector is labour intensive.”

According to him, “now that the APC has nothing to offer Nigerians, emulating Hon. Guanah, a notable farmer in Delta state will curb the effect of rural-urban migration which will help to decongest the urban areas and make life easier for people both in the rural or urban area.”

“Agriculture can help the government to make more effort in developing the degrading infrastructural facilities throughout the nation in attempt to ease movement of goods from one location to the other, likewise for preservation of Agricultural output. Agriculture sector will also help in improving other sectors and thereby curbing the level of the existing corruption in the country”, Onuesoke said.

Onuesoke pointed out that the relatively diverse variety of climatic conditions in Nigeria makes it possible to raise a wide range of crops like beans, cashew nuts, cassava, cocoa beans, groundnut, gum Arabic, kola nuts, maize, melon, millet, oil palm, plantain, banana, rice, rubber, sorghum, soya beans, pineapples, cherry, citrus and yams across the country, saying that the climate varies from the desert like and savannah climate in the north and central regions to the thick rain forests of the southern region.

Shut up, honour your throne, Owie tells Sanusi

Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, was told at the weekend to show more respect for his throne by speaking sparingly on national matters in the open, because his role as the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), is different from the one he now occupies, which enjoins to speak and act with circumspection.

Senator Roland Owie

And if he is not comfortable with his present role, he should abdicate the throne, become a private citizen and probably join politics where he could freely air his opinions, especially as most of his recent outings suggest that he still missed his former life.

Former Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Rowland Owie, who gave this advice in a statement at the weekend, was reacting for Sanusi’s recent outing, in which he threw his weight behind CBN, against Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, on the issue of the interest rate reduction.
Sanusi’s successor, Godwin Emefiele, had disagreed with Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun’s suggestion that the apex bank should reduce the current interest rate from the current 14 per cent, saying doing so would end up driving up further the current disturbing inflation in the country.

Alhaji, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Emir of Kano

While backing his successor, Sanusi, said that if the CBN was to review the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), by lowering it, other compelling factors, would negate its impact on the economy rather than to enhance it.

Insisting that it would not increase lending, as envisaged, he added: “A lower MPR would imply lower yields on money market instruments which would be a disincentive to investments in the money markets, especially in the fixed income security segment, and ultimately put a restraint on foreign portfolio investment inflows. A lower MPR would fuel inflation further, a situation which was already high.”

But Owie, who was convinced that the monarch could pass the same message to the appropriate quarters without making them public, sees the comments as delving into politics, which was not appropriate for a traditional ruler of his status.
Owie, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said: “I urge the Emir of Kano,   Muhammadu Sanusi, to stop playing to gallery with national issues in Nigeria and emulate dignified and respectable emirs like the Emir of Dutse.

“As a grade one traditional ruler from the north, he should have direct access to President Muhammadu Buhari to advise him instead of doing it in the media. The Emir should   know that he is no longer the CBN   governor. He should   behave as a father traditional ruler now or abdicate the throne and go into politics.” 
Source: Whirlwind news

Bayelsa’s first family now joyful parents of quadruplets

Bayelsa State Governor, Henry Seriake Dickson and wife, Rachael, got more than they bargained for, on Friday when a set of quadruplets landed in the arms of the Bayelsa First lady, to cap up the victory that would keep them at Government House, Yenagoa for the next three years.

Governor Dickson and wife, Rachel dancing at a church function.

The bundles of joy, a boy and three girls, which came to the family in far-away US, were more than an adequate compensation for several years of waiting on the Lord for the gift of a child in the home of the first couple in the state.
Dickson, in a statement by his spokesman, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, said mother and children were doing well.
The statement said, “This is particularly good news for the family and Bayelsans because this bundle of joy is coming after many years of praying and waiting upon the Lord.
“Governor Dickson thanks friends, family members and Bayelsans for their prayers and support and enjoins them to continue to pray for the family”

·         Source: Whirlwind news

Strife in APC: Oyegun must go, says Tinubu, urges APC chairman to resign now

By Wale Odunsi 

The All Progressives Congress, APC, national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has demanded the immediate resignation of the national chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.

A statement by Tinubu’s media office on Sunday accused Oyegun of sabotaging the will of democracy in Ondo State by overriding the decision of the appeal panel which asked for a fresh governorship primary following investigations that showed that the delegates’ list used for the exercise was tampered with.

President Buhari (Middle) , flanked by Tinubu, left and Oyegun.

Michael Olusegun Abraham, an aspirant for the governorship ticket of the APC in Ondo State, had in a statement at the weekend, expressed disappointment at Oyegun over the emergence of a former President of the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, as candidate.

In his reaction, Tinubu said “The APC, a party born of the quest for democratic good governance is under critical threat by those who managed to be in the party but never of it. From the party’s inception, the principles of democratic fairness and justice were to guide APC internal deliberations. Party founders realized that only by intramural fair dealing could the party remain faithful to the progressive ideals that we presented to the Nigerian electorate as our governing creed. If the party could not justly govern itself, it would find it difficult to establish and maintain just government throughout the nation.

“In essence, the party was the embodiment of a democratic promise made between its members as well as a democratic vow made to the public. Evidently, some errant members believe promises and vows are mere words to be easily spoken and more easily broken. Chairman John Oyegun has breached these good pledges in a most overt and brazen display. In doing so, Oyegun has dealt a heavy blow to the very party he professes to lead. It is an awful parent who suffocates his own child for the sake of a few naira. The party was supposed to buttress APC members elected to government at all levels. Because of Oyegun’s conduct of our affairs, the party is rapidly becoming an albatross to those it was meant to help.

“Oyegun’s comportment regarding the Ondo State primary will become the textbook definition of political treachery and malfeasance of the basest order. In early September, the state primary was held. A purported winner was named. Having faith in the ways of the party, Tinubu publicly accepted what he assumed to be a verdict honestly derived. As a democrat, one must face the possibility of defeat and accept such as outcome with as much grace as one would embrace victory. One of the few bright spots during the conduct of the primaries was Jigawa Governor, Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar. He chaired the primary convention with decorum and impartiality. He was unaware that a tampered list had been slipped into the process.

“Indeed within hours of the announcement, news began to filter in that gravely disturbed me. Credible allegations of fraud troubled the waters. The delegate list had been materially altered by someone in a strategic position to so do. The names of over 150 valid delegates were excised to make room for an equal number of impostors. This was not a clerical error. The alteration was willfully executed that the primary would be directed toward a chosen end that bore nothing in common with the will of most state party members. A cunning few had tried to deceive the many into believing they were outnumbered. “A conspiracy to steal the Ondo primary had been uncovered.

“Fortunately, the grand deception afoot had been unable to cover its tracks fast enough. Truth began to cry for justice. Several candidates filed petitions contesting the result. The party established an investigative board to review the evidence. In a two to one decision, the panel found the delegate roster had suffered tampering. The panel recommended that a new primary should be held using the valid delegate list. This recommendation was tabled before the National Working Committee (NWC).

“After many hours of deliberations spanning several days, a final vote was held by the NWC. Before hand, NWC members agreed that the decision of the majority would become the stance of the party. Such is the way of democracy. The NWC voted six against five to cancel the fraudulent results and hold an honest primary. For a moment, it seemed the party would restore its integrity by giving democracy a chance. However, those who sought to scam an entire state would not let the vote of 11 people spoil their enterprise.

“After the NWC vote, a noticeably agitated Chairman Oyegun proposed the NWC engage in prayer before concluding the meeting. Adhering to this chairman’s request, NWC members began to pray. Seeing that the others had taken his bait, Oyegun used the prayerful interlude to secretly excuse himself from the meeting. Contravening the NWC decision and in violation of all rules of fundamental decency, Oyegun decided to safeguard the fraud done in Ondo by perpetrating a greater fraud. Oyegun arrogated to himself the right to submit the name of Rotimi Akeredolu to INEC as the candidate of the party.

“Truth has finally come to light. There exists a regressive element in the party that cares nothing for the progressive ideas upon which this party was founded. They joined the APC because it was the best ride available at the time. Now they want to guide the party into the ditch. They want to turn the party into a soulless entity incapable of doing good, just like they are. When such a person tastes power, they shed all good restraint. They come to abuse the trust given them as if they are the owners of that trust and not its mere custodians. These people did little to build the party but now will do much to wreck it.

“Our party was to stand for change. Oyegun and his fellows seem to be on a different wave length. They are the cohort of Unchange. The APC wants to guide Nigeria into a better tomorrow. Oyegun and the cohort of unchange want to pull Nigeria back into the past where rigging and vote stealing were the old and new testaments of politics. They want the people to think that there is no alternative to their reactionary system of skewed politics and imperious government.

“Thus, they seek to turn the APC into a factory of the very political malpractices the people soundly rejected in the past election. To choke the APC in this manner is to kill the chance for progressive reform for the foreseeable future. Much more than the Ondo primary is at stake. Oyegun has revealed his team’s game plan: It is the destruction of progressive politics and governance on behalf of the people.

“As party chairman, Oyegun was supposed to protect our internal processes and be an impartial arbiter, a person in whom all had confidence. Instead, he donned the garment of a confident man, duping the NWC, the party, and INEC in one fell blow. He has robbed APC members in Ondo State of the chance to pick in a fair manner who they believe is the best candidate. As such, he has broken faith with the party and probably has broken a few laws. The consequences of what he has done are more expansive than a man of his scope can fathom.

“With strong expectation, we await a response to Oyegun’s wrongdoing from those who clamored so long and loudly about Tinubu’s alleged role in the Ondo primary. Leading into the primary, a prominent lawyer from Ondo published lengthy missives alleging that Tinubu was a malicious hand intent on rigging the primary. His letters spoke of his great love for democracy and justice. Though Oyegun has assaulted democracy in a most public and vulgar way, this lawyer’s prolific pen will remain stilled. He dare not publish a word about this travesty. His silence will be sign for all who care to decipher its meaning.

“The plan was to point the accusing finger at Tinubu. With everyone focused on Tinubu, they would have distracted all attention from the heist they had set in motion. As fate would have it, the trickery they hoped to conduct in the shadows has come to light. Those who so actively attributed imaginary wrong to Tinubu now stand dumb and mute in the face of confirmed impropriety. They remain silent for reasons they cannot divulge. Oyegun and his ilk turn out to be gangsters adorned in the tunic of party authority.

“Oyegun has engaged in the strange math where five is greater than six. This smacks of how the PDP conducted its affairs and orchestrated its own downfall. Tinubu disparaged such malpractice when it was not in his party. Tinubu surely disowns it now that it has invaded the party he helped bring to fruition.

“Tinubu has consciously refused to hold any official position with the party to avoid the perception that he was trying to control all and sundry. Tinubu has even kept his peace for some time despite many things that happened within the party that were not quite right. He exercised this forbearance because the party is young. A collective endeavor cannot avoid the mistakes and errors of organizational newness and evolution.

“Yet, the wrongs Oyegun committed had nothing to do with newness or the mistakes occasioned by the path of reform. His actions are in the nature of the old wrongs that have afflicted our national politics much too long. If Oyegun wants to walk backward into the past, he has every right to it. However, he has no right to drag the party or any of us with him. Against our choosing.

“The informal title of national leader of the party was given to Tinubu at the onset which he accepted it as a sign from those who wished to recognize my contributions to the party’s formation. It is an honorific title which he has been proud to wear until today. I would rather not have any title yet reside in a party that honors democracy than hold a title in a party that says it honors me but that treats justice with indecency. I find greater honour and comfort where democracy and fairness are found and respected.

“Oyegun has done the irredeemable. His coup is an insult to party and to patriot, to reason and to the reform agenda of this government. To remain silent would be to admit the defeat of the reform and progressive change many have labored to bring forth. While the forces resistant to change and reform are strong, Tinubu dare not submit to them. Tinubu encourages all party members not to submit to them. If we acquiesce in this wrong, the one greater than this shall cascade upon us.

“Oyegun’s transgressions are a warning. He is but the mercenary of forces that seek to return the nation to the old ways. If they get away with this infraction, no telling what or whom they will undermine tomorrow. Much is at stake. On the chopping block, lies the future of the political party in which the majority of voters had placed their confidence. To rescue the party, Oyegun must go. He has shown that he and democratic fair play cannot exist in the same party at the same time.

“If Tinubu is to choose between John Oyegun and progress toward a better Nigeria, the choice has already been made. For those who care about the party, who care about Nigeria and its chance for a better tomorrow, now is the time to stand against this brewing evil before it grows to encompass all we have built and all we hold dear.”

·         Source: Daily Post