The recent call for Sharia in Oduduwa Land of Ekiti and Oyo by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, is nothing but a 'ganuology' or meddlesomeness beyond his sphere of faith role in the caliphal domain!
Nothing reveals the civility of the Yoruba people of Oduduwa Land in Nigeria like the 'ganucious' trend made popular by King Wasiu Ayinde Marshall; aka KWAM 1 the ultimate, as his fans will usually refer to him. In his dissatisfaction of the conducts of Alfas (Muslim clerics) who came for the 8th day prayers of his mother, Hajia Halimotu Shadiya Anifowose. If the memory of the departed souls to eternal rest deserves the phrase ‘celebration of life’, the one of Hajia Halimotu does at 105 beautiful years!KWAM1 used the word, 'ganu' for their avaricious desire to harvest where they were not invited. Ace Journalist of The Punch Newspaper, Tunde Odesola, joined the 'ganu' trending class as a lecturer, in his words; “Ga nu sí’ is a six-letter Yoruba phrase with three syllables; the first syllable, ‘ga’, means to ‘set open,’ the second syllable, ‘nu’, is a contraction of ‘enu’ (mouth), while ‘si’ means ‘to’ or ‘upon.’ Therefore, a literal English translation of “ga nu sí’ is to ‘set open the mouth upon’ an ultimate outcome that is coveted. While I totally agree with the definition of Odesola and explanations of the word, I will differ with the examples he made and so, I will make my own examples: (1) Sultan ‘ganusi’ votes of Yoruba Muslims. (2) Fulani ‘ganusi’ Oduduwa Land to expand beyond the Hausa Land in order to perpetuate yourself in power. As for Tinubu, it's a 'ganusi’ Igbo Land of 2023 template to beat the Fulani in their game of religious politics for angling for Oduduwa Land.
The recent call for Sharia in Oduduwa Land of Ekiti and Oyo by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, is nothing but a 'ganuology' or meddlesomeness beyond his sphere of faith role in the caliphal domain! It is now time to question the indulgence of the Sultan in the politics of Nigeria and its polity. How was such an intolerable indulgence of the Sultan roused and perpetuated for far too long under the guise of Islamic religion?A pristine Islamic religion is pro-development as demonstrated by the brand of Islam that is has evolved in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates! This is contrary to the sultanic genre of Islam in Nigeria that is crypted on the ideals of Usman dan Fodio or Fodionism; and, its impact on Hausa Land, especially Sokoto, the seat of the sultanate that is devastatingly impoverished. Barbarism, was once in history a way of life, virtually every ethnic group had a share of it at one time or the other! Yes! This is on record historically! Colonialism was immersed upon ethnic territories along the same pattern. This provided the alibi for ethnonational colonialists to argue that the diverse ethnic groups in Africa were incapable of governing themselves by their indigenous system of government or statecraft; I consider such stance, at best, as acts of barbarism.If the colonial claim of the British to Nigeria respected the rights of the diverse ethnic groups to self-governance, the British gave us independence and left, leaving with us their religion of Christianity, with different denominations to administer without their incursion into state affairs, why would the "fodionism" faith be perpetuated on Oduduwa Land by the 'ganuology' of Fulani!
Catholicism is in Nigeria without holding to any thrones of the ethnic territories of its adherents in any part of Nigeria; ditto, the Protestants sects of the Christian faith, especially The Anglican Church in Nigeria that had to break ties with the Church of England over differing doctrinal interpretation. What KWAM1 said in Ijebu Ode, right or wrong, is the civility expected of a modern man; the courage to question culture and traditions within the frame of ethnicity, religion and other areas of social contract. Had the Anglican in Nigeria not questioned same sex marriage, men would have been marrying men and women marrying women in Nigeria of today!The church in Nigeria is not without doctrinal challenges and some unwholesome practices, but not reinventing the wheel of nature expecting 'progeny' from the union of a man with a man!
The invasion of Usman dan Fodio of Hausa Land in 1804 follows the pattern of the British in unilateral amalgamation of diverse ethnic territories into a single entity called Nigeria. The avowed suzerainty of Usman dan Fodio over Hausa Land and the inordinate quest of his descendants to spread such hegemony to other parts of ethnic territories in Nigeria by gangster killings to dethrone autochthonous monarchs and install Fulani as emirs to reign is antithetical! Yet, the suzerainty of Usman dan Fodio over Hausa land was extinguished by British ethnonational colonial rule on 20th March 1903; same day, a new Sultan was selected and installed on 21st March 1903 by Lord Lugard, the erstwhile suprelimo of the British rule in Nigeria. Thus, the Lugardian exercise of 20-21 March 1903 restored the autochthonous statecraft of ethnic groups to its pristine pre-colonial status but on titular basis; making the sultan like any other monarch such as those of other settlements in Hausa land like Gobir, Katsina, Daura, Kano, etc. It’s now time to question the supra-ethnic claims of the Sultan in Nigeria on the inalienable rights of the freedom and liberty of ethnic groups enshrined in the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia; and, to declare the religious independence of all ethnic groups in Nigeria! The ethnic groups should be free and be at liberty enough to determine how best to practice their religion the way they want. What exactly is the role of the Sultan; a titular monarch of Fulani ethnic group in Nigeria or a ‘monarch’ of Muslim religious faith in Nigeria? What then is the position of the leaders of Islamic religious sects in Nigeria such as Usmaniyya, Tijjaniyya, Qadiriyya, Izala, Shi’ia, etc? Let the Sultan and his religious cohorts, irrespective of ethnicity, stop hiding behind the guise of Islamic religion to preserve their hold on or relevance in political power games. It’s regrettable that the Fulani genre of Islam in Nigeria or "fodionism" is defined by terrorism as an instrument of power politics! It is obvious that for the Fulani ethnic group, pristine Islam is simply a cover up for religion while they pursue Usmaniyya or "fodionism" for worship.
Pristine Islam is simply a decoy for the Fulani to gain access to the value of the resources of Hausa ethnic group in terms of language, marriage, history, couture, population and culture for political power ascendancy and survival!Pristine Islam was immersed in Oduduwa Land without strife but via Islamic missionary works in educational and medical services for which the Ahmadiyya towers as a Cedar in Lebanon unlike the fodionism of the Fulani! Besides the Fulani, the Yoruba Islamic cohorts don’t deploy terrorism under the cover of Islam religion for ethnic balance of power in Nigeria; ditto, other diverse ethno-national feudal fighters in Nigeria. The Yoruba is the ethnic group that constitute the “local identity of residents” of Oduduwa Land; despite their historical sour taste of the Afonja altruism turned debacle with Alimi, including similar inexactitude in inter-ethnic relations with the Fulani, the sultan, is the monarch of Fulani ethnic group and hence, has no basis to be the ‘monarch’ of Yoruba Muslims going forward, and such time is now!It’s regrettable that under the guise of Islamic religion, the sultan seeks to surreptitiously and clandestinely usurped or undermine the agelong monarchy of settlements in Oduduwa land in his avowed role as the ‘monarch’ of Muslims in Nigeria; to wit, the Timi of Ede kneels to the Emir of Ilorin as unto to the ultimacy of the sultan. Yet, the throne of Ede is pristine in its hold in the scheme of things; ostensibly, what the forebears of the sultanate couldn't achieve by guile or by war, their offspring want to walk over it by use of Islamic religion.If the Sultan wants to contest the sovereignty of Nigeria as secular entity, let him come clean to a formal status of it! rather than keeping rebels to the law of the federal republic of Nigeria *in cells of Nigerian forests to unleash terrorism on law abiding citizens under the guise of implementing Sharia courts established in a secular country!*
The Sultan should be impeccable enough with his terror-orders to call out his “fighters” embedded in forests to war to face the armed forces of the federal republic of Nigeria and stop hiding behind religion!The Sultan has flown a kite already in seeking to test the waters about challenging the sovereignty of Nigeria by inviting and hosting a controversial international fugitive Dr. Zakir Naik; the uproar associated with the episode is yet to settle. The guest of the Sultan is reckoned with as a preacher of violence and terror; upon arrival in Nigeria, Dr Zakir Naik publicly challenged the authority of the government of the federal republic of Nigeria, its constitution and sovereignty when he declared the Sultan as the “Head of State” of Nigeria! In addition, the invitee brazenly tagged the Nigerian Air Force and the Nigeria Immigration Service as “Islamic” establishments. Obviously, the Sultan has publicly held out who his friend is; an international fugitive banned in India, UK and Malaysia for terrorism, violence and money laundering!
Is the clarion call of Sultan for immersion of Sharia in Oduduwa Land of Ekiti and Oyo another litmus test of the sovereignty of Nigeria by the Sultan? The action or inaction of the authorities of the Federal Republic of Nigeria will define the constitutional status of Nigeria or leave us with no option than to conclude that certain persons whose ways of blood and violence are above the law! A Yoruba adage says; 'a fi ese kan si odo, oni nfaa...," meaning we put one leg in the river and the crocodile pulls it, if care is not taken it will aim to swallow our whole body!The Tinubu administration has struggled so far to deliver inclusiveness in its poise in governance against the status of its uni-faith vagaries. Without prejudice, 3/4 (three quarter) of my extended paternal family are Muslims but Nigerians must withdraw the liberty of the Muslim/Muslim ticket foisted on Nigeria by this Government! A balanced ticket of Muslim/Christian or Christian/Muslim should suffice in 2027! "Eni kan ki je ki ile fe" meaning "what is good for the goose is good for the gander".The Sultan and his cohorts need to understand that people are often misled to desire their own self ruin; while the road ruin is paved, and those who travel it pay the fare! The political meekness of Christians in Nigeria has been taken for granted by the Sultan and his fellow political travelers who want to cause religious unrest for political gain of perpetuating themselves in power!Fulani have a penchant for the use of the geographic description of the term "North," which is not a territory of Hausa Land that was hospitable enough to accommodate them when they were but strangers before they betrayed the confidence of their host Hausa autochthones by turning the table against them. Nigeria has been loving enough to give the Fulani settlers the privilege of citizens of foreign origin. The Yoruba must not be blind in their love for Islam to grant the political arithmetic wishes of Sultan to subjugate the demographic and electoral dominance factor of Oduduwa Land cum Hausa Land for political negotiations by 6 million Fulani under the deception of religion!"Ki Sultan ma gbe sara e koja Sokoto"! Meaning; Sultan should keep his sacrifice to Sokoto. Let the sultan stop the game that has kept a relatively tiny fulani ethnic group in power by subterfuge of the value of the resources of their ancestral host ethnic group of the Hausa Land. The invasion of Yoruba territory under guise of implementing sharia for political machinations will not work!Besides the Yoruba and Hausa ethnic groups, the Igbos is the third ethnic group in Nigeria with a commanding demographic and electoral factor in this country over and above the Fulani but have never held the psyche of Nigeria to ransom for not ascending to political power as the Fulani have done with terrorism. Yet, the Fulani have ascended to political power in Nigeria many times over; this pattern questions the integrity of democracy as a game of number!As a corollary, it’s only Ijaw ethnic group that has same demographic and electoral factor as the Fulani has had a shot at the political power of Nigeria, albeit by default; other ethnic groups of the same demographic and electoral ranking as the Fulani or Ijaw have never had a chance to ride any shots at the political power of Nigeria, and, yet haven’t held the psyche of Nigeria to ransom as the Fulani do. Religion is the card of the Fulanis, strip them of it and they will lose all the governorship cum other elective seats in Hausa Land in one fell swoop in 2027 or any election cycle in Nigeria!I
If Catholicism wasn't resisted, it wouldn't have respected the rights of others to freely associate and worship in how they wish to. Christianity wouldn’t have become the petals of a beautiful flower it is today!
The defining date was 24th October 1648 with the signing of the Treaty of Westphalia, historically in the northwestern region of Germany. Therein, the concept of Minority emerged as a tenet of the doctrine of freedom and sovereignty (liberty) that holds sway with wide ranging applications in diverse fields of human endeavours.The label of Protestants will stick on the adherents of faith led by John Calvin and Martin Luther, as epitome of non-Catholic Christian proponents considered as "minority" within the dominant Christian faith of Catholicism in the reigns of Popes and Emperors as leaders over kingdoms. From being used for 'minority' within the Christian faith, the word found application and extension in comparing demographics of ethnic groups to this day. The use of the word minority in demographic analysis of ethnic groups has assumed a pervasive role. Truth is, had Calvin and Luther not led their followers to protest the marriage of the State and the Pope that granted Catholicism the power to suppress them, the world might have remained in the associated chaos!Imagine a world without the beauty of choice! Nigerians must rise in unison to protest the hold of the Sultan on the Nigerian State through the back door of Fulani genre of Islamic religion! The call of Sultan for Sharia must be exposed for what it is! Risala of 1903as the "Zionism" agenda of the Fulani ethnic group espoused from the Hadith of Usman dan Fodio.If Fulanis are pure Muslims and strict followers of Prophet Muhammad and the Quran, Let the sultan explain the mystery surrounding Hubbare; the place of the tomb of Usman dan Fodio, where there is a well of water, a market and a mosque; for every Thursday, where Fodionists, not Muslims still carry out their 'Jumat' there. Fetched water from the well for spiritual cleansing, petitioned in prayers to Usman dan Fodio. I need not question Fulanis embrace of immorality beyond the comprehension of the Quran and Islam in this piece as there is no need for it, now!Pristine Islam in recent times hasn't been barren of lessons. The United Arab Emirates is today the practical example of what Nigeria would have been, through regional federalism but for Fodionists, claiming to be Muslims. The 1963 constitution was thrown away like a baby and the bath water. It is time to rescue 'baby Nigeria', by going back to the 1963 federalist constitution and reviewing the same in line with current realities!It is shocking that at a time that data about the security cum welfare of citizens are out to the shame of the Sultanate, it doesn't bother the Sultan and his army of fulanisation agenda! The deception of the Sultan and his sultanate should no longer be tolerated. We can't continue to live in the pretense of our reality! We are either at war with one another or someone is manipulating the system for war against the rest of us!
Nothing outside Sokoto State, the seat of the sultanate, can justify the figures coming from the NBS! The NBS data reported by Daily Trust of 18th December 2024 shows that 2.23 million people were kidnapped in Nigeria in one year, which is more than the populations of 50 Members of the United Nations (UN) and not just the 15 Members captured by the publisher as below:
Lesotho - 2,120,000
Slovenia - 2,118,697
Latvia- 1,871,871
Equatorial Guinea - 1,669,000
Guinea-Bissau - 1,663,000
Estonia- 1,360,546
Cyprus -1,358,282
Mauritius - 1,235,000
Djibouti- 1,052,000
Comoros - 860,600
Cape Verde- 491,100
Sao Tome and Principe- 228,300
Seychelles- 105,000
Luxembourg -673,036
Malta- 539,607.
In addition, the cited report also shows that 614,937 Nigerians were killed during the same period than the 67,000 killed in the Russia-Ukraine war; the casualty figure in Nigeria is more than the population of 29 Member countries of the UN indicating almost 10× more than the casualty figures in the Russia-Ukraine war!Those statistics should bother the Sultan not the administration of Sharia for Fodionism expansion to which his blood-soaked throne is committed! The sultan should not loose sight of the fact that the economic implications of activities perpetrated by people who are inspired by his leadership and persuasion is worrisome. The number of kidnapped people in Nigeria at 2.23 million quoted by the NBS is of course generated from the officially reported cases. Many families of victims would rather cooperate with the kidnappers by not reporting to the police! The cited NBS data reported that the sum of N2.2trillion was paid as ransom at an average of N2.7million per person; that's how much criminal entrepreneurs of certain extremism are pocketing from our crippled economy!A careful analysis of the NBS data of kidnapped or/and killed persons in Nigeria suggests that the productive labour force and indeed the entire sum total of the population of the cited Member countries of the UN could be taken out of Nigeria without us losing our sleep nor our political class disturbed about how WE feel or what may be OUR reactions! The UN has 195 member countries; 193 are signatories of UN charter and 2 are observers (Vatican City and Palestine). If the word 'stupidly docile' doesn't describe us, I don't know what adjective to qualify OUR brand of hope!If the UN doesn't consider our situation as a global emergency, then we should take our destiny in our hands by declaring a state of emergency on the Nigerian Constitution!If after reading this, we are just still concerned about our hustles and how God should protect us and our families without critically thinking about this situation, then we aren't better than herds tossed around by herdsmen until the time appointed for their slaughter! Then we deserve to die the way we are dying!
Dr. Bolaji O. Akinyemi is an Apostle and Nation Builder. He’s also President Voice of His Word Ministries and Convener Apostolic Round Table. BoT Chairman, Project Victory Call Initiative, AKA PVC Naija. He is a strategic Communicator and the C.E.O, Masterbuilder Communications.
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