BY FEMI FANI-KAYODE
In the light of the horrendous events that took place in Paris I believe that it is time to eliminate and exterminate every single Jihadist terrorist on the face of the earth. We must show them no mercy and we must hold no quarter in our fight against them. We must prove to those that espouse the philosophy of radical Islam that no matter the degree of their savagery and no matter the number of their despicable and barbarous acts we shall remain strong in our resolve to overwhelm and defeat them and we shall continue to stand against them.
We must also acknowledge the fact that America and her European allies made many mistakes in their handling of the war against terror.
For example Saddam Hussein of Iraq, Muammar Ghaddafi of Libya, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Bashir Al Assad of Syria, despite their despotic ways and many shortcomings, suppressed the jihadists, the terrorists and the Islamic fundamentalists more than anyone else in the Arab world.
Despite that the Americans and the west fought against them, destroyed their countries and removed them from power. Out of them all only Al Assad remains standing and even at that he presides over only half of Syria and that is by the grace of the Russians and the Iranians.
Whilst the Americans and her western allies despise and seek to destroy the secularist leaders of the Arab world they appear to adore the ruling families, kings and despots of the Arab Gulf states who fund Islamist terror, who promote the Wahhabi philosophy and who export the violent and relentless Salifist tendency more than any other. It appears to me that this is the greatest paradox and contradiction of the modern age and frankly it is as inexplicable as it is inexcusable.
The fact of the matter is that the most powerful and deadly Islamic terrorist organisations in the world today, including Al Nosra, ISIS, Al Qaeda, Al Shabbab, Boko Haram, Islamic Jihad, Hamas and numerous others are funded by America’s greatest allies in the region, namely Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar.
The mess that we are witnessing in the world today, the terrible carnage that we witnessed in Sharm El Sheik and the Sinai desert three weeks ago, the slaughter in Ankara four weeks ago, the mass murder in Beirut two week ago and the butchery in Paris one week ago were not just acts of pure evil but they were also the ultimate manifestation of bestial savagery.
Sadly such savagery was wrought by years of doublespeak, subterfuge, weak, ineffectual, conflicting and counter-productive world leadership and Middle Eastern policies which was provided by the administration of President Barack Obama. Had it not been for President Putin of Russia things would have been far worse.
That is the bitter truth. Obama condoned and pampered the Saudis from the outset, he turned his back on Israel, he wined and dined with the Iranians, he supported Al Nosra, he refused to confront ISIS and instead he supported the destruction and murder of the Arab leaders that were prepared to do it for him
Yet in all of this the people that are faced with the greatest challenge when it comes to the fight against terror are the Nigerians. I say this because every single day for the last six months since President Buhari has been sworn into office there has been an obvious resurrection of the power, might and confidence of Boko Haram yet our people have failed to recognize or acknowledge it.
They are still studying what they describe as Buhari’s ‘’body language’’ and they have chosen to ignore the fact that the economy is collapsing, people are suffering, regional and ethnic tensions tensions are boiling, food prices are rising, fuel queues are returning, corruption is thriving (e.g. the Remita scandal), the banking sector is dying, businesses are crumbling and human rights and civil liberties are being violated on a daily basis.
They have chosen to ignore the fact that a full-blown nazi-like dictatorship is now evolving in our country. This is a country where the freedom of speech and the freedom of association is discouraged, where peaceful demonstrators are shot dead and where the homes of innocent citizens are raided in the dead of the night and they are either dragged away or placed under illegal house arrest with their families.
This is a country where the rule of law is treated with contempt, where the intelligence agencies act with impunity, where court orders are ignored by the state security, where those that stand as sureties for suspects and the accused in a court of law are arrested, intimidated and threatened and where perceived enemies of the state are subjected to all manner of persecution, demonisation and misrepresentation.
This is a country where those that saw through the bogus mantra of ‘’change’’ are ridiculed, humiliated, criminalized, declared guilty until proven innocent, threatened and molested and, in some cases, hounded into exile, detention and death.
The unacceptable way that President Buhari is treating Colonel Sambo Dasuki, the former National Security Adviser, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the pro-Biafran movement and Dr. Bukola Saraki, the Senate President is instructive and it confirms my worst fears about him.
He has lost touch with reality and he believes that he can do anything to anybody simply because he is in power. Worse still under his watch the Department of State Security has been transformed into something akin to a modern-day gestapo with all its attendant consequences.
In the case of Dasuki the President ordered his arrest even after he was illegally detained in his home for three weeks and despite the fact that a court of law had granted him permission to travel abroad for urgent medical treatment. I find it curious that the President would order his incarceration based on the findings of an INTERIM report as opposed to a final one. This is especially so given the fact that he was never invited by or asked to give his own side of the story to the panel that probed the arms procurement for which has was purportedly indicted and found wanting. If it is true that Dasuki did not buy any arms or military equipment then how on earth did the military manage to recapture 22 local government areas back from Boko Haram when he was National Security Adviser? Did they use sticks, stones and Molotov cocktails to achieve this?
Again if it is true that no arms were bought by Dasuki how on earth did the Jonathan administration manage to regain virtually all of our lost territory, push Boko Haram out of Abuja and all of the north and confine their activities to more or less the Sambisa forest by the time they left office?
These question must be answered and we as a people need to be far more discerning and circumspect when any government churns out grave allegations against their perceived enemies. Those that are ready to crucify Dasuki based on a string of unproven allegations and the findings of a questionable interim report that was submitted by a committee which was set up by his persecutors and tormentors ought to think twice. It appears to me that Buhari’s determination to shame, humiliate, discredit, destroy and ultimately jail Dasuki for no just cause borders on the obsessive and one wonders why.
Yet the Presidents inability to curb Boko Haram and his reluctance to even acknowledge the fact that the war against terror is in a much more dangerous place than it was towards the tail end of the Jonathan administration is the most glaring testimony of his inability to lead this nation on the right path and to deliver her from her demons
The bitter truth is that the events that took place in Paris last night, with its massive civilian casualties, occur in one Nigerian town or the other in the north-eastern region of our country virtually every other day but such events are ignored by our local media, covered up by our government and no longer even get a mention on Al Jazeera, BBC or CNN.
Despite the gallant efforts of our courageous soldiers, from town to town the atrocities of Boko Haram are legion and they have slaughtered almost 8,000 innocent souls since President Buhari came to power almost six months ago.
Worse still the bombings and killings have also returned to Abuja and other towns outside the north-east such as Lokoja and Okene and the terrorists appear to be slowly making their way to the southern part of the country.
Nigeria is saddled with a President who was a great defender of Boko Haram up until last year and who was once nominated by them as their spokesman and negotiator in proposed talks with the previous administration.
Rather instructively he is also the life patron of the Fulani Cattlerearers Association whose members have been committing acts of terror by butchering, raping, pillaging and abducting many southerners and Middle Belters over the last few months.
We have a President that is implementing a clearly northern and Islamic agenda and who sees the south-eastern part of our country as nothing but a colony of slaves. Under such a man it seems hardly likely that Boko Haram will be stopped or that the war against terror can be won. Worse still the Nigerian people appear to have been left on their own by the international community to fight that war against terror and radical Islam.
Even though it is clear that not many in the international community empathise with us when our people are slaughtered by Boko Haram, it is gratifying to note that our people, as generous and as compassionate as ever, have expressed immense sorrow about the sad events in Paris and they have expressed immense solidarity with the people of France through the social media.
This is very touching and that is the Nigerian for you. He is resilient, faithful, compassionate, generous, true, caring and always ready to sympathies with others and to offer words of encouragement in difficult times. Even though our blood is being shed by Boko Haram on a daily basis without the world seeming to care or batting an eyelid, we share their pain and mourn with them when their blood is shed and when their people are killed by the terrorists. I guess that is a testimony to our humanity: it is what makes us who and what we are.
May God protect our nation from these evil and desperate beasts who kill the defenceless, the weak and the vulnerable in the name of their god and may He deliver us from them. May the souls of all those that were murdered in Paris last week rest in peace, may the blood of the innocents that was shed be avenged, may the Lord comfort their families and loved ones and may He be with the people of France at this difficult time.
Permit me to end this contribution with the following. In an intervention titled ‘’Re: France!’’ posted on his Facebook wall on the morning of 15th november, Mr. Favour B. Afolabi wrote the following:
‘’President Goodluck Jonathan addressed the United Nations General Assembly a few years ago and told world leaders that “terrorism is a global problem’’ (not just a Nigerian one) and that the whole world MUST stand up united against it rather than play politics with it or mock those currently dealing with it. What did the Nigerian Intelligentsia do? They largely mocked him and called him “weak and clueless” – today, those Nigerians shamelessly and hypocritically “claim solidarity with France” while they largely continue to pretend as though they don’t know that 40,000+ of their own citizens have been killed by Islamic terrorists in the course of the last 5 years. While playing the negative politics of “Jonathan is to be blamed for this’’ no serious nation would have allowed such madness on their own soil! Today, Jonathan is no longer President – largely blackmailed out of office by the people that became ever-willing partners to Boko Haram – ‘praising them’ as they killed Nigerians and morally elevating their demonic ways over the sovereignty of the Nigerian State and the institution of the Presidency. Today those same people are seeking support for the same Presidency versus Boko Haram. If you belong to any of these groups I have listed above, you should ask God to forgive your sins as you head to church in the morning!’’.
I say a loud ‘’amen’’ to that.
Femi Fani-Kayode is a legal practitioner and former minister.
