Femi Fani Kayode
"I
won't be surprised if the man arrested for naming his dog Buhari is arraigned
before Justice Okon Abang. There is nothing beyond this government"- Mr.
Deji Adeyanju, Twitter, 20th August, 2016.
Mr.
Adeyanju, who is a young and rising bright star in Nigeria's political
firmament, is absolutely right.
When
the likes of Mrs. Oby Ezekwezile, the former Minister of Education and a
hitherto great supporter and friend of the Buhari administration can publicly
proclaim that
"President
Buhari does not deserve to be President", then you know that this
government has indeed gone beyond the pale, that the meltdown has started and
that the corpses are beginning to smell.
Yet
nothing is more indicative of the Federal
Government's misplaced priorities and more reflective of their total and
complete moral degeneration and psychotic paranoia than their behaviour towards
the owner of a dog that was named Buhari. Consider the following.
One
year and two months ago when President Goodluck Jonathan was still in power, a
man named his goat "Goodluck Jonathan".
After
doing so he took a picture of himself with the goat and proceeded to splash it
all over Facebook and Twitter.
As
insulting and provocative as this was, no-one in government raised an eyebrow
and neither did President Jonathan take it in bad faith.
Again
one year and two months ago whilst he was still in power President Goodluck
Jonathan was maligned, misrepresented
and labelled as being "clueless", "weak" and
"incompetent" by many.
We
took advantage of his meekness, decency, sense of restraint and humility and we
took the basic freedoms that he gave us for granted. It didn't stop there.
On
several occasions during the course of the 2015 presidential election campaign
he was stoned in parts of the core north by violent groups of hungry-looking
and thuggish almajiris whilst the First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, was
unfairly and cruelly portrayed as an illiterate, a drama queen, a clown and
somethiing akin to a female court jester.
She
was even referred to as a "hipoppotomos" by no less a person than our
Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka whilst Jonathan himself was described as
"a pig" by Mr. Japhet Omojuwa, a young and dynamic blogger and
political commentator.
Yet
despite all these unwarranted, crude and provocative insults the President did
not lose his cool, the heavens did not fall and his government did not query,
warn, threaten or arrest anyone.
One
year and two months later things appear to be very different. Permit me to
explain. A few days ago a man who named his dog "Buhari" was promptly
arrested by the police and remanded in custody. His name is Joachim Chinakwe
and he lives in Ogun state.
The
police told members of an incredulous public that they took and kept Mr.
Chinakwe in custody "for his own safety" and that they intended to
arraign him in a court of law in a matter of days for having the effontry to
name his dog "Buhari".
According
to them, giving his dog that name was a provocative act that could have lead to
an ethnic and religious conflict because Mr. Chinakwe's neighbours were
Hausa-Fulani.
Apparantly
those neighbours were not too happy with the name that he had given to the dog,
in view of the fact that our President shares the same name, and therefore they
threatened to kill him for it.
As
far as I am aware this is the first time in the history of our country that
anyone has been arrested simply because his dog shares the same name as our
President.
It
is also the first time that the victim of a serious crime and an individual
whose life was threatened ended up being thrown behind bars whilst those that
threatened to take that life ended up being the complainants in the case.
And
all this because of a poor dog named Buhari which, we are told, had to be
quietly put down and sent to the great beyond by its owner so that it couldn't
be used as evidence against him in court!
The
whole episode sounds like a second rate Hollywood script but sadly it really
happened. I guess that is "Mai Chanji" for you.
Yet
examples of the startling contrasts that exist between the Jonathan era and the
one that we are in today refuse to abate.
Things
have got so bad in this country that Mr. Ebube, a regular and increasingly influential commentator on Twitter, posted
the following words on his handle yesterday. He wrote,
"Under
this misfortune called APC people are
arrested for writing about EFCC, naming a dog and criticising a
governor".
I
guess that is Mai Chanji for you. When one considers the economic situation
things are even worse. Mr. Oshioke Audu, a public commentator, put it well when
he posted the following words on Facebook. He wrote,
"Twenty years ago the South African economy was 7.5
times the size of the Nigerian one. At the end of 2012 the South African
economy was only 1.4 times the size of the Nigerian one. By 2014 Nigeria
officially became Africa's number one economy and the 23rd in the world. Then
the APC took over with inept Buhari in 2015. By 2016, Nigeria is now the
40th world economy and the third in
Africa".
What
a tragedy! Yet no-one captures it better than a young and courageous politician
from Anambra state by the name of Prince Henry Nwazuruahu Shield who wrote the
following on Facbook:
"Recession
does not speak politics. It is simply a result of one man's ignorance about the
management of the economy. A robust economy benefits both APC supporters and
PDP's. We need to agree that Buhari is the SOLE problem of Nigeria".
This
insightful young man has hit the nail on the head. Permit me to conclude this
contribution by touching on a matter that has brought many of us in the
Christian community immense sorrow.
Southern
Kaduna is on fire and its people are being slaughtered on a daily basis by
blood-sucking Fulani herdsmen. Despite thls the Federal Government has done
nothing to abate it or to bring the perpetrators to justice.
The
truth is that those that commit these heinous crimes and their powerful rich
friends that secretly buy them arms and that covertly encourage, protect and
support them are nothing but the sons of Lucifer: they are the seed of Al Shaitan.
Pastor
Luka Ubangari was one of their latest victims. His cold-blooded murder in
southern Kaduna a few days ago by Fulani militants together with the slaying of
Pastor Eunice Elisha by Muslim fundamentalists in Kubwa, Abuja a few weeks back
means that in the last 3 months no less than two Redeemed Christian Church of
God (RCCG) Pastors have been butchered by islamist terrorists in northern
Nigeria.
The
government's slow response, irresponsible attitude and inexplicable refusal to
clamp down on them has further emboldened the Fulani terrorists and militants.
This is dangerous and unacceptable.
The
matter is simple: if the government does not do something fast to stem the tide
of violence and provocative acts of terror, self-help and self-defence will be
the only recourse left for those that are being subjected to genocide and
ethnic cleansing.
I
hope that Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye and Vice President (Pastor) Yemi
Osibajo, both of RCCG, both of whom I have immense respect and affection for,
are taking note of this gruesome and tragic horror movie as it unfolds.
I
hope that they are also taking note of the body count of Pastors and believers
that is slowly building up.
Femi Fani Kayode
Ditto
my friend and brother Pastor Tunde Bakare of Latter Reign Assembly and Pastor
Kumuyi of Deeper Life, both of whom have expressed their support for President
Buhari in the last few days in spite of the sheer carnage that members of their
wider flock and Christian brothers and sisters are being subjected to all over
the country on a daily basis by the President's kinsmen.
Things
have got so bad in this respect that Mr. Babatunde O. Gbadamosi, a Lagos-based
businessman and social commentator, accurately reflected the mood of the nation
and the growing anger when he wrote the following words on Facebook. He said,
"Buhari
is condoning organised genocide in Nigeria. And Nigerians are too scared to
speak out".
The
latest development is that eight Christian
polytechnic students were burnt alive in Zamfara state for allegedly
making "blasphemous comments" against Prophet Mohammed. Clearly the
madness is spreading.
I
hate to say "I told you so" but I guess that we all have to live with
the consequences of the choices that we make. That is "mai chanji".
Those
amongst us that are still "too scared to speak out" and that live in
a state of perpetual bondage and fear have much to learn from the words of
Alexander the Great, one of the greatest kings and warriors that ever lived. He
said "conquer your fears and you will live forever!"
The
people of Nigeria have much to learn from those words.
May
He that rules in the affairs of Heaven and earth and who holds the universe
together by the power of His word arise in defence of His children.
May
the souls of the servants of the Living God and Christian believers that were
cut short by the agents of the evil one in the last few days and weeks rest in
peace.
May
the Lord God of Hosts, the Ancient of Days, the Man of War, the Seven-fold
Spirit of the Living God and He that holds the four winds of the earth in the
palm of His hand avenge them speedily.