We are in bondage

Commentary@ITRealms:

"I freed a thousand slaves. I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves"- Harriet Tubman

How can anyone describe Nigeria as a free nation when Sheik Othman Dan Fodio, the hero of the core Muslim north, the father of the Fulani Caliphate and the first Mahdi of Nigeria once said,

"Allah has bestowed on me and my people the historic duty to spread the holy faith of the Prophet throughout the Caliphate and convert these pagans. If they refuse to accept Allah and his Prophet we will wash the earth, the forests, the mountains, the rivers and the streams with their pagan blood. Ours is a holy and righteous calling. We are doing the work of Allah".

How can anyone describe Nigeria as a free nation when Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Saurdana of Sokoto, the Premier of the Northern Region and the second Mahdi of Nigeria once said,

"The new nation called Nigeria should be an estate of our great grandfather Othman Dan Fodio. We must ruthlessly prevent a change of power. We use the minorities in the north as willing tools and the south as conquered territory and never allow them to rule over us and never allow them to have control over their future".

How can anyone describe Nigeria as being free when General Muhammadu Buhari, the indisputable King of the north, the avenging sword of the Caliphate, the almighty President of the Federal Republic, the unquestionable leader of the African Mujahadeen and the third and last Mahdi of Nigeria once said,

"It is my intention to spread sharia to every part of Nigeria" and that "why should Christians bother when Muslims chop off the hands of Muslims in the name of sharia" and that "Muslims should only vote for Muslims" and finally that "an attack on Boko Haram is an attack on the north".

What portion do those of us that are southerners and Middle Belters have in this so-called "free country" and why have we been consistently denied the right to decide whether we wish to remain in it by having a referendum?

Were we born to be slaves whilst others were born to rule? God forbid it. My Christian faith teaches me that I am the head and not the tail.

It teaches me that it is a sore sight and a great evil under the sun to see the sons of slaves riding on horseback whilst the sons of the King walk around on bare feet.

It teaches me that we are the head and not the tail and that light is meant to overcome darkness and not that darkness overcomes the light.

The truth is that whichever way you look at it Nigeria is not free and Nigeria is not one nation.

We are in bondage and servitude to the sons and daughters of Futa Jalon and we are badly divided. That is the subject of this essay.

*Femi Fani-Kayode, a former Minister of Aviation & former Minister of Culture & Tourism, sent this from Ile-Ife, Osun State

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Gospel of broom & change witchcraft according to Fani Kayode

Commentary@ITRealms:

There is a deep rage in me that rises by the day. When I hear the voices of the voiceless and I see the suffering of the despised and the oppressed in our land it wounds my soul.

When I hear the cries of the poor and those that have been reduced to eating one meal a day by a King and court that delights in spreading nothing but hardship and poverty, it stirs my anger.

When I hear the wailing of mothers and fathers whose children, whether they be Shiite Muslims, Biafrans or northern Christians, have been butchered by the military or any of the other agents of our King and state, it kindles the spirit of the Man of War that resides in me.

When I see the tears of the mourners where entire communities have been subjected to genocide and where the weak, the vulnerable and the innocent have been slaughtered simply because of their ethnicity and faith it kindles a fire in my soul.

When I see the injustice and the wholesale persecution that is meted out to all those that dare to say "no more" and "enough is enough" to the tyranny of the tyrant, I marvel at man's inhumanity to man and the sheer depths of his cruelty.

Yet why bother feeling anything at all? Why cry more than the bereaved? Why should I care? What is the essence of writing poems in a nation that despises prose?

What is the point of lamenting about an evil regime before whom 90 per cent of the population that they torment cower, tremble and bow.

What is the point of risking life, liberty and limb for a docile and stoic people who are not prepared to stand up and fight for their own liberty and freedom and who have an obsessive aversion to opposition, activism and dissent.

Alas they do not possess the strength and power of the Vikings, the fighting spirit of the Spartans, the courageous soul of the Romans or the ferocious tenacity of the ancient Greeks.

They do not have the brave heart and decisiveness of the Zulu, the firm resolve and yearning for freedom of the American, the unconquerable resilience of the Russian, the gallantry of the French or the lion-heart of the British.

They do not share the passion and indomitable spirit of the sons of Israel, the courage of the Abyssinians, the pride of the Carthaginians or the decisive ruthlessness of the Hun.

Submission, conformity, timidity and a weak, debilitating and telling silence in the face of tyranny, persecution, incompetence and injustice has become the order of the day in our shores.

The more our government takes our people for granted, destroys their lives, sheds their blood, crushes their spirit, breaks their bones, shatters their dreams, drains and devalues their money, takes their jobs, violates their God-given and constitutionally-guaranteed rights and makes them suffer, the more they applaud them, cringe before them and smile.

What manner of "broom and change"-inflicted witchcraft is this?

They say that it is only in hell that the suffering and afflicted worship and praise the one that torments them. Yet it happens in Nigeria as well.

Just look at our modern-day kings and rulers as they sit and feast in their opulent palaces of pomp and pageantry and their citadels of wickedness and darkness whilst hunger ravages the people and hardship pervades the land.

Their wealth is both obsessive and obscene and their tyranny and oppression has no limits or bounds. They are the darkness that seeks the darkness and cruelty is their pleasure and delight.

They came from the second heaven and they are known as the Nephilim. Half human, half demon entities: hybrids whose life-force is Satan and whose disposition and genetic make-up is reptilian.

They rule our nation with an iron fist: killing, maiming, robbing, destroying, detaining and shaming all those that dare to oppose them.

Not even the women and children are safe from their wicked vice and relentless torment and perfidy.

Yet for the sake of our nation, our loved ones and our children, we that are strong must resist the harbingers of poverty, misery and suffering. We must reject the messengers of death and disease.

We must oppose the sons of perdition and the destroyers of our dreams and aspirations.  We must fight the servants of the Baphomet, the children of the devil, the bondsmen of Lucifer and the seed of the Midianites and the Amalekites.

And in this battle we must not fear because the Lord is with us, victory is assured and I hear the sound of abundant rain. The Finger of God has been loosed. The Hosts of Heaven have been stirred.

The army of the Lord is on the march. The Ancient of Days has risen with a two-edged sword in his hand.

Behold He comes, riding on a cloud, shining like the sun, at the trumpet call. Lift up your voice, its the year of Jubilee, out of Zion's hill salvation comes.

The Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Defender of the Faithful and the Bright Morning Star rises and roars in His power and glorious splendour.

He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Rose of Sharon, the Lily of the Valley, the Creator of the Universe, the Beginning and the End before whom the stars, the sun, the moon and the entire firmament bow.

Regardless of the darkness and suffering that we see in the land today and the evil grip of the tyrant, for our nation, deliverance is at hand and salvation beckons.

Why? Because the Lord is our light and our salvation, whom shall we fear?

Why? Because He is mighty in battle and none can stand before Him.

Why? Because in the end He makes all things beautiful.

Why? Because He is the comforter of our souls, the father of the fatherless and the husband of the widow.

Why? Because regardless of the darkness of the night, joy comes in the morning.

Why? Because there is no God like Jehova. Why? Because He never forsakes His own. Why? Because no matter how long it takes light always dispels the darkness and good always prevails over evil.

Why? Because at the mention of His name all things visible and invisible and all that is tangible and intangible must stand to attention and bow.

Why? Because all tyrants die and meet a bitter end. If nothing else remember this: behold He comes, behold He comes, behold He comes.

And when He does, we shall rebuild and restructure our nation, end the suffering, take away the hunger, restore our economy, strengthen our borders, enhance our unity, recognise and honor our ethnic nationalities, bring self-respect and dignity to our people, guarantee our civl liberties, engender and defend our freedom and make Nigeria great again.

By Femi Fani Kayode

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