Saturday 31 July 2021

Alaafin shuns Ooni-backed group over alleged anti-Buhari posture

The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, on Friday, at the last minute, allegedly cancelled an appointment he gave to a Yoruba group, Ooni’s Caucus, on the alleged complaint that members of the group are “notorious critics” of the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).

The Ooni’s Caucus, which was inaugurated at the palace of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, on July 20, 2021, is made of many influential Yoruba persons and is being coordinated by a former Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria, Mr Akin Osuntokun.

Saturday PUNCH learnt that Osuntokun led about 14 members of the group to Alaafin’s palace for the alleged 11am appointment on Friday, but after waiting for about two and a half hours, the influential monarch sent words to them that he would not be seeing them.

According to a source, who spoke to Saturday PUNCH on condition of anonymity, some of the group’s members who went to Alaafin’s palace with Osuntokun were a monarch, the Olugbon of Orile-Igbon, Oba Francis Alao; a former presidential spokesman, Dr Doyin Okupe; a former commissioner in Osun State, Muyiwa Ige;  a former Minister of Defence, Mrs Dupe Adelaja; a retired Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Taiwo Lakanu,  Oye Oyewumi, Sola Lawal, among others.

A former governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, is also said to be a member of Ooni’s Caucus, but he was not on the delegation to Alaafin’s palace on Friday.

The source, who is a member of the group, claimed that the group had through the Olugbon secured an appointment with Alaafin since Monday, and the same appointment was confirmed on Thursday, only for them to get to the palace and the Alaafin refused to see them on the claim that they were anti-Buhari and were also loyalists of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The source explained that the main purpose of the meeting was for the newly-inaugurated group to get Alaafin’s blessings and to possibly discuss the issue of the embattled Yoruba Nation agitator, Chief Sunday Adeyemo, alias Sunday Igboho, who is currently being held and tried in Cotonou, Benin Republic.

The source said, “The Olugbon, a member of the caucus, was the one who booked the appointment, but he said the Alaafin said he didn’t want to see us because we’re notorious critics of the Buhari government.

“He (Alaafin) confirmed the appointment yesterday (Thursday). But when we got there today, he kept us waiting; after a while, he asked to see the Olugbon. He (Alaafin) didn’t come to see us; we were told he said he wouldn’t see us because we are notorious critics of Buhari’s government and that some of us are close to Obasanjo, who is also critical of the government.

“We were made to wait for about two and a half hours; he gave us an appointment for 11am; we got there at 11am and at about 1.30pm, that was when it was obvious to us that he wasn’t coming (to see us). But he initially asked to see the Olugbon, who went to see him for about an hour. When the Olugbon eventually came back, he said Alaafin would not see us, saying we are a group that is critical of the Buhari government and some of us are loyalists of Obasanjo.”

On whether the group’s mission to Alaafin’s palace was to discuss Sunday Igboho’s matter, the source said, “Of course, the issue (of Igboho) would come up but that was not the purpose of the visit. The issue of Igboho concerns all the Yoruba people but that was not our reason for going to him.”

On whether the group would try and book another appointment, the source said, “I don’t know; we were all surprised that a Yoruba oba can refuse to see his children on account of not wanting to be on the bad side of Buhari’s government. I would have thought that an oba is supposed to take everybody as his children, whether they are supporters of Buhari the All progressives Congress or the Peoples Democratic Party or whatever party.”

But when contacted by Saturday PUNCH, the Media Director to the Alaafin, Bode Durojaye, said the reason his principal did not see the group was because they did not have any prior appointment with him.

Durojaye said the Alaafin would be willing to entertain the group if they booked an appointment.

He said, “Those who came are men of honour and kabiyesi did not say he did not want to see them. He did not say he would not see them  because they are critical of President Buhari or they are former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s men. Obasanjo himself is a friend of Kabiyesi, so you can see that what you were told was not what happened.

“Kabiyesi said he could not see them because they did not give him prior notice that they were coming. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to see them again. They can notify him and he will give them an appointment. You cannot just come and say you want to see him, there are protocols to follow and due process is always adhered to at Alaafin’s Palace.

“There was no rancour, no ill-feeling even when they were going; I was there and I saw them off to their vehicles. If anybody told you that kabiyesi said he didn’t want to see them because they are critical of government or they are Obasanjo’s men, that is a lie.” 

By Oladimeji Ramon and Olufemi Olaniyi

Copyright PUNCH.

Another Angle to Abba Kyari news

This is my personal experience with DCP Abba Kyari...

When my aged father fell into the net of Fraudsters, it was Abba Kyari that saved his life. My father is the OLDEST man in my Clan and has been battling all kinds of age related diseases. If it wasn't for the kind intervention of DCP Abba Kyari, my father would have died a long time ago because he had borrowed money from his fellow pensioners to invest in what he later discovered was a scam. 

DCP Abba Kyari didn't only bring justice on the criminals, he followed up on my father's health every day... First thing in the morning, DCP Abba Kyari would phone my father and say "Daddy, you have no reason to worry, the criminals will bring your money back." And  that was exactly what happened. The criminals were arrested and they returned every cent to my father and my father in turn paid the other pensioners what he borrowed from them.

DCP Abba Kyari spent his personal money, airtime etc on that case.... When I asked if I should take care of his AIRTIME, he declined and said to me "Charles, what we do is for God, our nation and humanity".

Up to this moment, I have NEVER sent DCP Abba Kyari one kobo... But whenever I shared security concerns with him, he paid attention to it. He regularly shared messages of his team's exploits via whatsapp and he showed great passion for his job. The reward was that he emerged the most decorated Police Chief in Nigeria.

Yesterday, the first person who called me to discuss the indictment of DCP Abba Kyari was my father... He said to me "my son, let us pray for Abba Kyari. I am alive today because of this young man. He didn't allow me to be put to shame. I owe him my prayers at a time like this."

Now that you know how much I love and respect DCP Abba Kyari, let me delve into the merits of the indictments and share some lessons....

First, in my personal capacity as a Cybersecurity Expert, I knew that Hushpuppi was a fraud. By close observation, I knew he was involved in internet scam. I said this many years before he was arrested.

I understand the passion and compassion of DCP Abba Kyari and I also know that what is a strength on one hand can be a weakness on the other hand. This is the major lesson you should take home - your kindness can be a strength but also a weakness... Your ability to build friendships with both the poor and rich can be a strength and also a weakness.

Abba Kyari is not a friend of only the rich, he is a friend of the poor, the old and the young. This was his greatest strength but also his greatest weakness.

Hushpuppi took advantage of that strength and used it as a weakness to control, manipulate and now drag him into his mess.

Having studied the communication between Hushpuppi and our brother DCP Abba Kyari, I know for sure that the FBI wants his head on a plate.... I know the FBI... I understand their mentality... My job brings me in the way of major security agencies around the world and I am trained to understand how they operate individually. At this point, the FBI is not after Abba Kyari but the entire Nigerian Police Force. The FBI is angry with how the Nigerian Police treats wealthy internet Fraudsters and they feel that by going for our most decorated, they will achieve their aim. If you study the US 🇺🇸 court report, you will understand that the indictment wasn't actually on DCP Abba Kyari but on the Nigerian Police and the alleged monetary transactions were not paid to Abba as a person but an entire Police Team. Now the FBI knows that they can't go for an entire team of the Police force of a sovereign nation so they are using the media to blow hot on the team. Just in case you don't know, the Nigerian Government will do her best to protect her most decorated officer because by so doing, they are also protecting the NPF. The same way that FBI will not deliver their agent to Nigeria to answer to any allegation, is the same way Nigeria will resist delivering Abba Kyari to the FBI.

While we condemn the relationship DCP Abba Kyari maintained with Hushpuppi, we must also understand that he too was manipulated by Hushpuppi. The court papers revealed that Hushpuppi told him that Vincent is taking his job (the job wasn't specified)... Remember that Hushpuppi packaged himself as a Real Estate investor, Influencer who was a brand ambassador to many top brands including Gucci. Those who got closer to him like Daddy Freeze were manipulated to believe his lies... I believe DCP Abba Kyari may have been a victim of Hushpuppi's manipulation. A mutual friend told me that DCP Abba Kyari always thought that Hushpuppi was wrongly labeled by those who didn't understand him... Hushpuppi had a way of convincing everyone around him that he was legit. He was good with words and manipulation. 

This is why I choose to stay far from MONIED NIGERIANS who became wealthy over night..... I don't want to get close because I know that by getting close, you will have the opportunity to manipulate me, so I stay away.

In conclusion, I know DCP Abba Kyari will come out of this season stronger and wiser. Like my father, he has helped many aged pensioners to get justice and have fought for justice for those whose loved ones were kidnapped by the likes of Wadume and Evans. DCP Abba Kyari is not what the FBI and media are making him to look like.... Evans could have paid him Billions of Naira... Wadume could have paid even more..... But he chose to bring these Billionaire suspects to justice.

While I am grossly disappointed by his relationship with Hushpuppi, I still believe that he will have a second chance to separate himself from these events and focus on the huge responsibility that Nigeria has placed on him.

May we all learn how to disconnect from people who do not share our values because a day may come when they would drag us into their mess... Before you condemn Abba Kyari, ask yourself, DO I HAVE A FRIEND WHO IS A YAHOO BOY, A DRUG DEALER OR FALSE PROPHET? If yes, disconnect from such because even if you are HONEST, one day, the crimes of those people will destroy your good name, values and good work... And people will forget all the years you have been honest and righteous. Think deeply about this.

I once had a friend who I later discovered was involved in crimes, I disconnected from him immediately. He got arrested in Johannesburg on a day he was driving with another mutual friend.. Both he and that mutual friend are in jail today. The mutual friend knows nothing about his crime. He used to talk about Jobs, jobs, etc so if you are not critical, you will think he's legit. He is serving jail time but unfortunately, he took another naive friend down with him.

This is why I choose to be CRITICAL.... I don't see the 'doings' in Oba and just celebrate 'Grace'.. No. I critically analyze before I connect or agree. You can call me jealous but it being critical has saved me. If you post cash, I stay away from you - it's my policy. Be careful.. Don't be naive... Be intentional... Be critical. Learn from these events and don't ever celebrate the pains of a man who may have been manipulated by a criminal friend. 

Maranatha.

By Charles Awuzie

Friday 30 July 2021

Benin Republic cannot be trusted Part II

Do you still remember what I said the day we heard that Chief Sunday Igboho was apprehended in the Benin Republic, that: Benin Republic cannot be trusted! I pray that my assertions will not come true at the end. However, let me tell you a bit of why chief Sunday MAY BE deported to Nigeria at the end of the show. I used the world, MAY BE here, so, please, do not misquote me o, as this is the common behaviors of you.

Let me start by quoting what one of my blood brothers, Honorable Toba Osunrayi said recently which I totally agreed with him: “There is no other issue with Sunday Igboho than the Yoruba Nation’s syndrome.” With this, let me expanciate more on it.

When the issue like this comes to the table, the solution to it is based on that simple premise of the popular analogy of: “OPPORTUNITY COST AND ALTERNATIVE FORGONE.” In this scenario, the opportunity cost to the Benin Republic might be to GIVE-UP Sunday Igboho  to the Nigeria government for the GOODY-GOODY that the Nigeria government will give that POOR AND UNTHINKING NATION AS BENIN REPUBLIC at the end. So, chief Sunday Igboho and all the noise that came from the YORUBAs recently are nothing but ALTERNATIVE FORGONE to the Benin Republic.

The Nigerian government, as stupid as it is, is one of the donor/grantor of the Benin Republic, hence, the Benin Republic cannot betray the fingers that feed them. According to Honorable Osunrayi, which I think every educated Yoruba race should know by now about the Benin Republic is that: ”They act as errand boy to the Nigerian government. They survive as a country on Nigerian border. Remember whenever the Nigerian/Benin border is closed, Benin president will fly to beg Nigerian president.” So, the situation now is what the YORUBAs call (Fifi Ejo Ika sun Aje), the two of them are of Satanic bearings. Let the INTELLIGENTSIA among us take note of that.

Like I said sometimes ago, Benin Republic is own by the Yorubas, but the Ruling classes of that country are not of the Yoruba descendants, hence, he who has the RULING STICK, just as the STICK given to MOSES is the one that has the power, hence, what you are seeing today in Benin Republic. And history has it that, this ruling class in Benin Republic are TERRIBLE ENEMIES of the original owners of the country (the Yorubas) to the extent once killed all the Yoruba kings long time ago, buried them but using the heads of those Yoruba kings as their foot stools till today, hence, the human skeleton heads that you see under the foots of the other tribes kings in the Benin Republic. I know some of you will not verify this, but will starts abusing me as before, however, I HAVE SAID MINE, ORUN MI MO O. The day you know every details about your enemies, the day you conquer them. SHIKENA.

I pray that the miracle hands of God will BYPASS ALL PROTOCOLS and change all these POISONS on the YORUBAs and that of CHIEF SUNDAY IGBOHO now to BENEFICIAL BLESSINGS very soon. And at the end, we shall prevail. Ladies and Gentlemen, as observed, OTA PO JU ENEMIES CHIEF SUNDAY IGBOHO LO O. EHINKULE LOTAWA, ILE LASENI N GBE O. IRE O.

By Dr. Abejide Olusegun

Just Ponder On This

In the United States, an estimated 5.4m people have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. This figure is growing rapidly with the ageing population.

One of them was Steve Newport. His wife, Mary Newport, was a doctor. Dr. Mary learned that her husband had severe Alzheimer's disease.

When the doctor examined her husband at the hospital, he asked Steve to paint a clock. Instead, he drew a few circles and then drew a few figures without any logic. It was not like a clock at all!.

The doctor pulled her aside and said: "Your husband is already on the verge of severe Alzheimer's disease!"

It turned out that it was a test of whether a person had Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Mary was very upset at that time, but as a doctor, she would not just give up. She began to study the disease. She found out Alzheimers disease was associated to glucose deficiency to the brain.

Her research says: "The dementia of the elderly is like having diabetes in the head! Before one has the symptoms of Diabetes or Alzheimer's disease, the body has already had problems for 10 to 20 years."

According to Dr. Mary's study, Alzheimer's disease is very similar to Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. The cause is also insulin imbalance.

Because insulin has a problem, it prevents the brain cells from absorbing glucose. Glucose is the nutrition of brain cells. Without glucose, brain cells die.

As it turns out, these high-quality proteins are the cells that feed our body.

But nutrition for our brain cell is glucose. As long as we have mastered the source of these two kinds of food, we are the masters of our own health!

The next question is, where to find glucose? It cannot be the ready-made glucose that we buy from the store. It is not from fruits such as grapes. She started looking for alternatives.

The alternative nutrients for brain cells are ketones. Ketones are necessary in brain cells. Ketones cannot be found in vitamins.

*Coconut oil contains triglicerides. After the triglycerides in coconut oil is consumed, it is metabolised into ketones in the liver. This is the alternative nutrient for brain cells!

After this scientific verification, Dr. Mary added *coconut oil to her husband's food. After only two weeks, when he went to the hospital again to do painting and clock tests, the progress was amazing.

Dr. Mary said: "At that time, I thought, has God heard my prayers? Wouldn't it be coconut oil that worked ? But there is no other way. Anyway, it's better to continue taking the coconut oil."

Dr. Mary was now part of the traditional medical practice base. She clearly knew the capabilities of traditional medicine.

Three weeks later, the third time she took him to do a smart clock test, the performance was better than the last time. This progress was not only intellectual, but also emotional and physical.

Dr. Mary said: "He couldn't do his running but now he can run. He couldn't read for a year and a half, but he can read again now after taking coconut oil for 3 months."

Her husband's actions had already begun to change. He did not speak in the mornings. Now she noticed a lot of changes: "Now after he gets up, he is spirited, talking and laughing. He drinks water himself and take utensils for himself on his own."

On the surface, these are very simple daily tasks, but only those who have come to the clinic or have demented relatives at home can experience the joy: It's not easy to see such progress!

After frying the greens & onions in coconut oil, making cakes with coconut, after taking 3 to 4 tablespoons of coconut oil per meal, 2-3 months later, the eyes too can now focus normally.

Her studies proved that coconut oil can really improve the problem of dementia in the elderly.

Apply coconut oil to bread. When coconut cream is used, the taste is unexpectedly good.

Young people can also use it for maintenance of health and prevention, and can improve if they have symptoms of dementia.

Dementia is caused because nutrients cannot be transported to brain cells, and nutrients must be passed from the body to the brain by insulin.

Especially for diabetic patients its not easy to get insulin secretion. “Nutrition can't get to the brain. When brain cells are starved to death, they are deprived of intelligentsia.”

COCONUT OIL contains medium-chain triglyceride, which can supply nutrients to the brain without using insulin. 

So, it can improve Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.

After reading the article, don't forget to share it.

CHOOSE YOUR ECHO

A man was taking his son on a walk in a nearby forest. Suddenly the boy tripped, and feeling a sharp pain, he screams "Ahhhh!"

Surprised, he hears a voice coming from the mountain, "Ahhhh!" He was taken aback as it was his first experience of an echo. 

Filled with curiosity, he screams: "Who are you?", but the only answer he received was , "Who are you?"

This made him angry, so he shouted, "You are a coward!" and the voice answered "You are a coward!"

He looked at his father and asked "Dad what's going on. Whose he talking back at me?"

"Son," the man replies, " pay attention. Say something nice to him

Then he screams, "I love you!"  The voice answers, "I love you!"

Realising his son's confusion the man takes over the conversation with nature and shouts 

"You are wonderful!" and the voice answered, "You are wonderful!"

The boy is thrilled but still can not understand what is going on.

The father explains, "Son, people call this an ECHO, but truly it is LIFE.  Life always gives you back what you give out.  Life is a mirror, reciprocating your actions. 

If you want more love, give more love.  If you want more kindness, give more kindness.  If you want understanding and respect, give understanding and respect.  If you want people to be patient with you, then be patient with them.

This rule of nature applies to every aspect of our lives. An echo is nature's way of teaching us to do unto others what we wish them to do to us and wish for others what we wish for ourselves.

Life always gives you back what you give out...

Your life is not a coincidence, but a mirror reciprocating your own doings.

Choose your ECHO ! Send out blessings and receive blessings in return.

Thursday 29 July 2021

Cosmology is an integral part of Ifa, the world's first knowledge bank and religion

Orishas are basically cyclical philosophical and spiritual essences manifested through electromagnetic pulses emitted from various sources from humans, inanimate objects and most important planets.

Having diverged with the San 87,000yrs ago, our ancestors observed natural phenomenon and laws to  develop a philosophical framework based on cyclical essences. This African spiritual scientific knowledge spread civilization across the world, long before Whites evolved about 7,000yrs ago, and through war and propaganda claimed our history, science and philosophy as theirs.

Now, as the 2000yr Age of Olokun draws to an end, the Age of Shango lightening would reveal all lost knowledge in the sea beds of Olokun.

Orunmila is the beginning of wisdom and civilization, rightly named Elerin Ipin because all planets came from it and rotate around it.

The different orbits of the planets signify their complete cycles, the most telling of which is Obaluaye 29yr cycle that shows where we are in life. A good example is Obasanjo, the Obaluaye (structure) of Nigeria. His first Obaluaye cycle came to an end and new beginning in 1966 coups at age 29, the second cycle came to an end  when he was 58 and went to jail to come out as president. Now, he is reaching the end of his 3rd cycle around 2023.

Understanding the cycle of Esu, especially its retrogrades teaches you when to be wary of misinformation, loss of phones, contract reversals. Esu is the first planet after Orunmila, and you will find out most Babalawo have strong Esu influences at birth that gives an analytical mind. All prophets and martyrs have this influence - the likes of Abiola, Bola Ige, Falae, Yasser Arafat, and even Jesus.

Oya, the revolutionary change agent, 246yr cyclical influences are full reflected in nations, empires and civilizations. The timekeeper of the universe and reimcarnation. In people, they become revolutionaries.

Shangos 84yr cycles are reflected in nations quest of justice as well as technological advances.

The pyramid (Home of Ancient Wisdom)

In 1992 a wooden pyramid on a square base, 8ft by 8ft and the height 8ft was built in Ifa Yoruba Kabbalah Temple at Omi Okun, off Arubidi - Ondo Road Modakeke.

You might have heard or read about the pyramid of Egypt. A pyramid is not only a grave of the kings but also the home of ancient African wisdom.

The founder of ifa yoruba kabbalah temple (Dr S M Opeola) made a lot of research about the pyramid and realised pyramid is useful to all people of the world till today

You can gain psychic skills (including healing) if you mediate under the pyramid for at least 15minutes a day. You can also improve your dreams.

Persons who are interested in pyramids are for the most part also interested in self growth, in knowledge and their business or job.

Water kept in the pyramid for two weeks was used by Inaz Peltrit as a facial lotion.

Tests that can be run on oneself include drinking pyramid water instead of tap water, shampooling the hair and/or rinsing it with the pyramid water, brushing the teeth with pyramid water.

Water from the pyramid seems to taste sweater and flow smoothly into the stomach.

Fruits, meats, vegetables etc. Do lose water and dehydrate inside pyramids and hence preserved.

Praying inside  and in front of the pyramid as psychic power.  in 1997, the founder decided to built another pyramid at 48 Edena/Igbolokun St, Behind  Ooni of Ife Palace.  The age of pyramids began about the year 3000 BC and continued for about 500 years. Today pyramids has been built at Omi Okun, Off Arubidi Ondo Road and 48 Edena/Igbolokun St, Behind Ooni of Ife Palace.

The Healing Phenomenon

Headaches, arthritis, broken bones, stomach disorders are cured with pyramid power at ifa yoruba kabbalah temple. 

The pyramid  can also used to help people to sleep.

It also offers relief of pain and feeling of great vitality and strength.

Within the body of each individual exist things like supreme intelligence, Omnipotent will, these can be developed through the use of the pyramid. You can use it also to develop your spiritual awareness.

Visiting and Healing Hours

Monday - Saturday 12noon to 6pm.

The temple is an Esoteric school (the temple offers lessons on how to use the pyramid, pray in front of the pyramid, and also how to set an alter).

The founder Dr S M Opeola share his experience :

"March 1992, I was praying under the pyramid, suddenly my voice changed and I started speaking in Orisa language till today".                                              

Small wooden pyramids which can be used for healing and also for prayer request (set it, pray in front of it and 99% of your prayer request will answered) are available.

Wednesday 28 July 2021

Finally, Ooni Intervenes To Save Sunday Igboho

The Arole Oduduwa, Ooni Adeyeye Ogunwusi, Ojaja ll, the Ooni of Ife has inaugurated 22 man committee to investigate Yoruba freedom fighter Sunday Adeyemo (Igboho) matter.

The members are:

1. Olugbon of Igbon, Oba Olusola Alao

2. Senator Biodun Olujimi

3. Toyin Saraki

4. Segun Awolowo

5. Doyin Okupe

6. Otunba Gbenga Daniel

7. Prince Oye Oyewumi

8. Muyiwa Ige

9. General Olu Okunnowo

10. DIG Taiwo Lakanu (rtd)

11. Sola Ebiseni, Afenifere Secretary

12. Jimi Agbaje

13. Sola Lawal

14. Debola Oluwagbayi

15. Dupe Adelaja

16. Dele Momodu

17. Senator Tolu Odebiyi

18. Dr. Olusegun Mimiko

19. Dr. Seun Obasanjo

20. Makin Soyinka

21. Dele Adesina (SAN)

22. AIG Tunji Alapinni (rtd.)

Agitation for peaceful separation is not treason. It has happened historically and will still happen. The so-called unity of Nigeria is very negotiable!

------------------ 

SEPARATION IS NOT ABOUT WAR, IT HAS PEACEFUL ASPECT.

In 1776, the USA split from the UK

In 1830 Belgium separated from the Netherlands

In 1965, Singapore split off from Malaysia 

in 2002, East Timor got split off from Indonesia

In 1921, Ireland split off from the United Kingdom, and (possibly in the future) there will be secession of Scotland.

In 1944, Iceland split from Denmark with remarkable ease.

In 1905 Norway split from Denmark

In 1905, Norway and Sweden also peacefully split ways. One got the car. the other got the kids.

In 1947, the British India Dominion was partitioned into India n Pakistan. In 1971, Bangladesh secceeded from Pakistan.

In 1992-93, the two parts of Czechoslovakia agreed to each go their own way. Thus were born the Czech Republic and Slovakia after what's been named the “Velvet Divorce”., About the same time, another kind of separation occurred, of course, in Yugoslavia. This one led to a bloodshed.

in 1965, Singapore split from Malaysia for a variety of reasons, including religious (Malaysia is majority Muslim, Singapore isn't), ethnic/racial (Singapore has a very large majority Chinese population) and concerns over the Malaysian Bumiputra policy, which was (and is) basically a form of "Affirmative Action" for Muslim Malaysians - who make up the majority population in Peninsular Malaysia.

Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Sudan and South Sudan are now separate countries.

USSR is now broken down into several countries.

I see separation as an avenue for a healthy competition for development as the case of Singapore and Malaysia, India and Pakistan, Norway/Denmark/Switzerland.

In the case of Nigeria, I am sensing a healthy competitive development among the original component part, the North/West/East each making useful progress while competing with the others.

It is not about war after all there is nothing wrong for one to decide he is no longer comfortable with the union and therefore want to opt out.

LETS GIVE PEACE A CHANCE AND SEPARATE HONORABLY.

This is worth sharing over and over again...

British named them Burma. They rejected it, restructured & renamed themselves Myanmar.

-British named them Upper Volta, but they rejected it, restructured and renamed themselves Burkina Faso - Land of Incorruptible People.

-British named them Gold Coast, they rejected it, restructured and renamed themselves Ghana.

-British named them Southern Rhodesia. They rejected it, restructured and renamed themselves Zimbabwe.

-British named them Northern Rhodesia. They rejected it, restructured and renamed themselves Zambia.

-British named them Tanganyika. They rejected it, restructured & renamed themselves Tanzania.

-Germans named them colony of South West Africa. They rejected it, restructured and renamed themselves Namibia.

-France named them Dahomey. They rejected it, restructured and renamed themselves Benin.

-Belgium named them Zaire. However, they rejected it, restructured & renamed themselves Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

-Britain named a bunch of people - Nigeria. They rather kill to preserve it than restructure and give themselves a befitting new name.

"It is only an animal that bears the name that is given to it by his enemy" (Proverb).

THE FUTILITY OF PRESERVING NIGERIA

My angry reaction earlier today on APC UK platform:

Most of the Diasporans here living in Europe. Can you show me one multi-ethnic state in Europe where one group is positioned to dominate the rest that hasn't broken up?

For those who do not know, what you call ethnic groups in Nigeria are called nations in Europe.

There's nowhere in the world where the white man accepts domination from another white man in perpetuity.

It used to be so under the Roman empire and the like. Not anymore. The Communists tried it, dividing society into capitalists and proletariats, deluding themselves that ethnicity is effectively swept under the carpet, but what followed? The Communist edifices in Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and the big brother, USSR, all collapsed, while the two Germans that are ethnically the same but split by communism vs capitalism were reunited. Such is the power of ethnic nationalism.

Czechoslovakia was made up of two ethnic groups,  the Czech and the Slovakians. Both separated peacefully on 1st January 1993. The former is today 10.6 million people and the latter 5.4 million. Added together,  they're not up to Lagos. Yet, they split for peace. Two masters can't be in the same house.

Yugoslavia in 1991 was 23.2 million, barely more than Lagos population. It broke into six countries same year - all along ethnic lines, namely: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia.

Then the big brother, USSR. It had, at least, the following ethnic groups identified by their languages:

Regional languages:

Ukrainian

Belarusian

Uzbek

Kazakh

Georgian

Azerbaijani

Lithuanian

Moldavian

Latvian

Kyrgyz

Tajik

Armenian

Turkmen

Estonian

Minority languages:

Abkhaz

Bashkir

Buryat

Chechen

Finnish

Volga German

Korean

Ossetian

Tatar

& various others.

Today, your fingers will not be enough to count the number of countries that have emerged from the USSR.

Sit down there and be preaching unity in Nigeria as if you're the kindest gentleman on earth while you have no solution to the genocide in Southern Kaduna, the illegal but officially condoned arms in the hands of killer herdsmen roaming the country, and be condemning those better informed about the fact that the country is undergoing the strains of a forced union and should be peacefully restructured or let people go their separate ways.

In Europe, the two best examples of fairly stable multi-ethnic states are the UK and Switzerland.  The former is led by reasonable men who permitted regional autonomy to the Irish, the Scots and the Welsh, while the English dominate Westminster. That's something some of us are asking for, but you're fighting against it in your own country wracked by ethnic crisis. Your own people are better off under oppression of fellow black men because your people have bad leaders who can't do better than their new internal colonisers.

The latter country, Switzerland, has four ethnic groups. Each of them rotates the presidency annually through seven cantons that constitute the federation units. All the four languages of the four ethnic groups are recognized as official languages and school languages to boot, namely: German, French, Italian, and Romansch that has just a few thousand speakers!

There's nowhere in the world where the Caucasians allow the domination of their group by another.

In Canada, Quebec is the only full French-speaking province, aside a little section of New Brunswick.  The other seven provinces are English-speaking.  Yet, Canada is bilingual for the sake of Quebec! And each of the provinces is largely self-governing.

Here we are in Nigeria,  you have people arguing vehemently that a decrepit,  structurally-flawed, and crisis-prone artificial contraption badly configured by the British only needs good people to survive. Why not centralise the powers of the British regions to London and see what happens?

My Conclusion:

When many commentators read and repost  or share your articles  with many of their friends and contacts, they do so because they want others to learn.

NIGERIA'S 36 STATES & FCT RANKED IN ORDER OF LAND SURFACE AREA (KM²)

1. Niger State 76,363KM²

2. Borno State 70,898KM²

3. Taraba State 54,473KM²

4. Kaduna State 46,053KM²

5. Bauchi State 45,837KM²

6. Yobe State 45,502KM²

7. Zamfara State 39,762KM²

8. Adamawa State 36,917KM²

9. Kwara State 36,825KM²

10. Kebbi State 36,800KM²

11. Benue State 34,059KM²

12. Plateau State 30,913KM²

13. Kogi State 29,833KM²

14. Oyo State 28,454KM²

15. Nasarawa State 27,117KM²

16. Sokoto State 25,973KM²

17. Katsina State 24,192KM²

18. Jigawa State 23,154KM²

19. Cross River State 20,156KM²

20. Kano State 20,131KM²

21. Gombe State 18,768KM²

22. Edo State 17,802KM²

23. Delta State 17,698KM²

24. Ogun State 16,762KM²

25. Ondo State 15,500KM²

26. Rivers State 11,077KM²

27. Bayelsa State 10,773KM²

28. Osun State 9,251KM²

29. Federal Capital Territory 7,315KM²

30. Enugu State 7,161KM²

31. Akwa Ibom State 7,081KM²

32. Ekiti State 6,353KM²

33. Abia State 6,320KM²

34. Ebonyi State 5,670KM²

35. Imo State 5,530KM²

36. Anambra State 4,844KM²

37. Lagos State 3,345KM²

Anambra + Enugu + Abia + Imo + Ebonyi = 29,525KM²

Kogi = 29,833KM²

Ogun + Oyo + Osun + Ondo + Ekiti = 76,320KM²

Lagos = 3,345KM²

Niger alone = 76,363KM²

Niger State = Entire Southwest States - Lagos

The entire Southeast is a little less than Kogi State only. Just for our record. The North Has enough land for ranching and cattle colony.

We in the South West have little land mass. PLEASE LET US BE; LEAVE US ALONE TO MANAGE THE LITTLE LAND WE HAVE.

GLOBAL CATTLE BUSINESS: FACT SHEET

A. Top 10 NATIONS in terms of cattle inventory (2017).

1. INDIA 303 million 

2. BRAZIL 226 million

3. CHINA 100 million. 

4. USA 93 million. 

5. EU 89 million.

6. ARGENTINA 53 million

7. AUSTRALIA 27 million

8. RUSSIA 18 million

9. MEXICO 16 million

10. TURKEY 14 million.

B. TOP 10 MILK EXPORTERS

1. NEW ZEALAND  $4.4 Billion

2. GERMANY  $2.6 Billion

3. NETHERLANDS  $1.9 Billion

4. FRANCE  $1.5 Billion

5. USA  $1.4 Billion

6. BELGIUM  $1.2 Billion

7. AUSTRALIA  $852 Million

8. BELARUS  $637 Million

9. UK $569 Million

10. SAUDI ARABIA  $556 Million

C. TOP 10 BEEF EXPORTING NATIONS (2016).

1. AUSTRALIA  $5.6 Billion

2. USA $5.2 Billion

3. BRAZIL  $4.3 Billion

4. INDIA $3.7 Billion

5. NETHERLANDS  $2.7 Billion

6. IRELAND  $2 Billion

7. NEW ZEALAND  $1.9 Billion

8. CANADA  $1.5 Billion

9. URUGUAY  $1.4 Billion

10. GERMANY  $1.3 Billion

Additional Considerations:

1. Nigeria is not among the top 20 nations in the global cattle business. 

2. Non of the top cattle producing nations create cattle colonies or engage in primitive cattle grazing. All the top cattle producing and exporting nations utilise  modern technology and ranching methods to maximise production and profit.

3. Non of the top nations earning billions of dollars annually from the cattle business condone the killing of citizens for cattle.

4. Nigeria's cattle business requires a complete re-think now and not later, for posterity's sake.

Knowledge is power.

Igboho writes President Buhari

Your Excellency, I do not seek to rouse the ghosts of the slain victims of Fulani Ghoulish Nomads (FGN). Before you hasten to add hate speech charge to the list of rootless allegations your rulership has levelled against me, let me quickly state, sir, that ghouls are not only located in northern Nigeria.

They’ve sprouted and taken over every inch of the land ruled by your underachieving regime, wearing the masks of terrorism, corruption, rape, banditry, ritualism and daily bloodshed - kicking Nigeria in the teeth - with no end in sight.

Aare Buhari, though the dead have long buried the dead, their ghosts won’t just rest in peace. So, the spirits of the dead continuously hover over the face of the waters, crying for justice and seeking repose, but getting neither from your bullying regime.

Before my letter reopens the bleeding wounds of the past, permit me to do a brief and formal introduction of myself, sir. My name is Sunday Adeniyi Adeyemo. I’m a 48-year-old indigene of Igboho town in the Oke-Ogun area of Oyo State.

Your Excellency, if Oke-Ogun evokes some sense of utter disdain in you, I understand. It was Oke-Ogun that caused you to storm the Oyo State Governor’s Office, Ibadan, in October 2000, in company with some prominent Fulani leaders, on the allegation that some Yoruba farmers allegedly killed 68 Fulani herdsmen in a reprisal. Do you remember the incident, Baba Yusuf?

God bless his soul, Alhaji Lamidi Adesina, the first executive Governor of Oyo State in the Fourth Republic, who hosted you and your aggrieved entourage from the Caliphate.

Before he spoke on the occasion, Lam, as the governor was  popularly called, first called on the state Commissioner of Police, and the state Director, Department of State Services, both of whom told you to your face that the alleged death of 68 Fulani in the hands of Yoruba farmers was untrue.

Lam also called on his deputy, Chief Iyiola Oladokun, the Secretary to the State Government, Chief Michael Koleoso, both indigenes of Oke-Ogun, and the chairman of one of Oke-Ogun LGs, Chief Ademola Alalade, to speak. They all told the truth which indicted the Fulani in Oke-Ogun as the killers of their Yoruba neighbours.

Your Excellency, when he spoke to round off the meeting, Lam advised the Arewa Consultative Forum to seek the unity and peace of Nigeria at all times.

Baba Buhari, though I never attended a university, I’m not an illiterate. I can read and I can write, despite starting out as motorcycle repairer. Through hard work, self-improvement coupled with my belief in Ifa, I’m today an employer of labour.

Shugaban Nigeria, just like you don’t write your speeches yourself, I didn’t write this letter myself, too. Baba Zahra, mi o gbo oyinbo nla nla, walahi! I don’t understand big big grammar. But I understand justice and truth. This is why the cause I champion, which is the emancipation of the Yoruba from daily killings, victimisation and repression, is being supported by true sons and daughters of Oduduwa. The support is what produced this letter, Your Excellency.

Baba o, I am citizen Igboho, a creation of the abject Nigerian leadership. Like millions of my ilk living in the nooks and crannies of the country, I’m a product of years of government neglect.

When your government kept silent as Fulani herdsmen butchered my people day and night, I embarked on the road called self-help and employed bravery, street wisdom and defiance to rescue my people.

This was after Dr Fatai Aborode, Europe returnee, was killed in his Igangan community of Oke-Ogun by suspected Fulani herdsmen when he complained that his 400-acre cashew farm was eaten up by Fulani cows.

President Buhari, though Aborode’s murder was one death too many, your regime kept silent and did absolutely nothing to assuage the killing or assure the people of Igangan of their safety. Also, popular herbal trado-medicine practitioner, Alhaji Fatai Yusuf, aka Oko Oloyun, had over a year ago been killed along the Igbo Ora-Eruwa Road in Ibarapa, among many other deaths. Ironically, sir, hundreds of captured Boko Haram terrorists were granted pardon and rehabilitated into the society, after alleged deradicalisation.

Baba Halima, I’m not a criminal. The pervading sense of hopelessness, injustice and insecurity in the South-West was why I went to Igangan and gave the Fulani therein an ultimatum to vacate the land.

Sir, do you know that long after my seven-day ultimatum, the Emir of Muri Empire in Taraba State, Alhaji Abass Tafida, has also given a 30-day ultimatum to Fulani bandits. But he hasn’t been declared wanted. 

Your Excellency, as I said early on, I may not understand big big ‘turenchi’, but I can read and I can write.

I read on Sahara Reporters website that the emir didn’t only give a 30-day ultimatum for Fulani killer herdsmen occupying Taraba forests to vacate, he also said, “From now onwards, if anyone is kidnapped from this emirate, we will go into the bush and kill any Fulani man we see.”

General Buhari, if a Yoruba or Igbo monarch had said what Emir Tafida said, the fire emanating thereof from Aso Rock would’ve burnt the crown on the head of such a monarch into ashes. But because the emir is from the North, Aso Rock looked away like a corrupt invigilator who has been bribed by cheating students.

Baba Hadiza, what have I done wrong? I’m only fighting for my people, just like you took up the cause of your people and led a delegation to Lam in October 2000.

Oga Buhari, in 2019, you also led a delegation to the UN General Assembly in New York, where, in your own very words, you advocated ‘the rights of the Palestinian people to have their own country…and live in peace in their own land’.

Having said this to the ovation of the world in 2019, President Buhari, what is the justice in your rejection of the clamour for self-determination being championed by me and my fellow comrade, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, when southern lives are not worth a fart under your regime?

Baba Fatima, it’s natural if your health is diminished by old age, but I know your memory is still intact to remember that ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, in 2012, lamented that his government had been infiltrated by Boko Haram terrorists.

Ogagun Buhari, your own regime is no better. It’s even worse because whereas it was Jonathan’s government that was infiltrated then, it’s your cabinet that has been infiltrated by Islamic fundamentalism now.

A beloved member of your kitchen cabinet and Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, had, in a sermon years before he became minister, openly expressed views sympathetic to the notorious al-Qaeda group and Boko Haram, describing the slain al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, a worthy Muslim. Pantami also expressed happiness that infidels were being massacred.

Infidels in the eyes of the Pantamis peopling your cabinet would be no less than millions of Christians, traditional religionists and believers of other faiths in Nigeria.  With such a minister in your cabinet, Mr President, what’s the guarantee that the war against terrorism isn’t a lip-service by your regime?

Only God know how many innocent Nigerians were killed by Islamic terrorists who took up arms against perceived infidels having been fired up by Pantami’s destructive sermons.

Instead of investigating Pantami to check if he had been truly deradicalised or not, the Presidency rose stoutly to his defence, and said the leopard has changed its spots.

I, Igboho, didn’t say one-hundredth of what Pantami said. Today, Pantami is a free man but I and the supporters of my cause are being hounded by your regime. Two members of my family were killed when DSS attacked my house. This nepotistic attitude is unbecoming of a father,  mujin Aisha.

Your Excellency, I’ll close with the words of your forebear, Uthman Dan Fodio, “Conscience is an open…”

Thank you, sir.

By Tunde Odesola

Tuesday 27 July 2021

MY CANDID ADVICE FOR CHIEF SUNDAY IGBOHO

I have been following your activities for the past few weeks now and discovered that you are a child of necessity and a Messiah of our time when the authorities have failed in their duty of protecting us .

It will be beneficial if you can follow, if not all, the under listed advises:

1. I know that you always caution the people surrounding you not to abuse our kings and our elders.

Every oba and elders are needed in your struggles, therefore, never make the mistake of abusing any of them either they support you or not once the majority is behind you.

2. Always talk less now so that you don't divuldge  too much of yourself that the enemies can use against you.

3. You need to assemble a committee of loyal and trusted wise men and women that can be in the position of advising you before you execute any of your plans because you are facing a formidable opposition force .

3. Before any interview is granted , always plan ahead of what to say and what not to say .

4. Invite other Yoruba powerful men and women to combine resources together to achieve your goal of protecting our people.

5. In case the authorities concerned invite you for a dialogue, please embrace it for better deal for Yoruba .

6. Increase the security of your houses and your movements .

7. Be vigilant and watch out for traitors and saboteurs  that are sent to spy on your activities and strength.

8. Never give up on this struggle because it will spring up so many other things for our Good.

9. Note that not all conversations are good on phones for security purpose.

May God continue to protect you and your family. May you succeed in this struggle for the betterment of all Yorubas, Ase.

Blessings!

By Omo~Oba Dr. Akinyemi

Afro-Cultural Ambassador

Monday 26 July 2021

Sunday Igboho and the threat of war

FOR soldiers to escort murderous Fulani herdsmen back to a community in Ogun State from which they were earlier evicted and then to publicly whip members of that community for evicting them simply beggars belief. Have the people of the South West now become slaves in their fathers’ land? Have we finally been conquered and occupied?

It is utterly mind-blowing. It is wicked. It is evil. It is unacceptable. How much more bloodshed, carnage, violence, insults and humiliation are the people of the South West expected to take? Soldiers are whipping our people like dogs in the street in order to reinstate those that are killing, raping and maiming them?

Is our Army a Nigerian Army or a Fulani Army? Are the Fulanis superior to all others? Are they above the law? Is the Presidency a Nigerian Presidency or a Fulani Presidency? Why do they always speak out in defence of killer herdsmen and never for their victims? It is only when you have met someone whose whole family has been raped and butchered by Fulani herdsmen that you will know or appreciate what is going on in the South West.

It has become a daily occurrence.

They have kidnapped, maimed and slaughtered traditional rulers, businessmen, politicians, elder-statesmen, farmers, artesans, lecturers, teachers, students, artists, pure-water sellers, market women, hairdressers, the rich, the poor, women, children and so many others, including the beautiful daughter of Baba Reuben Fasoranti, the leader of Afenifere.

For Miyetti Allah, the ACF, the NEF or anyone else to say that the Fulani “own all the land in Nigeria” and that we are “being provocative”, “beating the drums of war” and “asking for a second civil war” by calling for the arrest and eviction of the killer herdsmen and murderous thugs from our land is insulting and provocative.

Only the ignorant, cowardly and uninformed talk like that. Only those that are secretly behind the carnage, that profit from it and that sent the herdsmen to unleash terror on us can say such things.

The Constitution does not grant the Fulani or anyone else the right to commit murder in Nigeria or to turn the South West into their killing fields. The Constitution does not regard Yoruba blood as being cheaper than others and neither does it prescribe that the Yoruba people are to be treated like sacrificial lambs and killed at will.

Some Yoruba leaders want to be president or vice president in 2023 and are, therefore, prepared to keep quiet and tolerate this rubbish that is being done to our people. I am not one of those leaders. Nothing in this world can make me trade in the blood and lives of my people. Nothing will make me turn a blind eye to their sufferings or betray them.

For me, my people come first and politics or political expediency comes a distant second. I will speak the truth no matter the consequences, no matter what it costs me and no matter whose ox is gored.

And the truth is that Chief Sunday Igboho, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, Afenifere, Professor Akintoye, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, SOKAPU, the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum, SMBLF, and all the other individuals and bodies that have spoken out against the murderous activities of the herdsmen in the South West and elsewhere are right.

And those that have supported or attempted to rationalise the criminal behaviour of the killers in the name of political correctness or political expediency are treacherous, shameless and irresponsible.

If you are a Yoruba man and you want to be president or vice president I wonder whose affairs will you be presiding over and who will you lead or represent at the national level if all your Yoruba people have already been killed?

Soon we shall start calling the collaborators and cowards out by name. You betray your own just for support, acceptance and promotion from Northerners whereas no Northerner worth his salt will ever sell his own people out for you? Nothing could be more reprehensible than that.

Shakespeare wrote ‘cowards die many times before their death’ and Soyinka wrote ‘the man dies in him who remains silent in the face of tyranny and injustice’. They were both right. The man has died in too many of our leaders today and the time to speak out is now. We all need to take a cue from Igboho. Enough is enough. Too much blood has been shed and too many lives have been taken by these herdsmen in the South West and elsewhere. They kill in the North, the Middle Belt, the South-South, the South East and everywhere else and they do it without remorse and with total impunity.

Peace-loving and law- abiding Fulanis are welcome in the South West but those that kill, steal, rape and destroy must leave and they must be brought to justice by the authorities. If this does not happen expect many more Igbohos to rise up.

The Buhari administration are complicit in these crimes and in this ethnic cleansing, mass murder and genocide. I say they are complicit because they have refused to disarm the perpetrators, arrest them or bring them to justice despite the fact that it is their constitutional duty to do so.

They have failed to maintain law and order and to protect the lives and property of the Nigerian people and they continue to pamper and encourage the killer herdsmen.

The Presidency no longer speaks for the Nigerian people but only for Miyetti Allah and the Fulani herdsmen. This is a tragedy of monumental proportions and no matter what they say they will never change.

Chief Fani-Kayode, a political leader and former minister, wrote from Lagos.

By Femi Fani-Kayode

Vanguard News Nigeria

Sunday 25 July 2021

Steps that must be taken before Yoruba Nation

This was actually a response to a boss of mine in a discussion on the agitation for Oodua nation and the present eventuality. The discussion led him into saying the Fulani supremacy drive caused this agitation and later asked for way out.

So, I responded to explain that the Yoruba also have within the enclave so called that name this inhuman supremacy tagged 'fulanism', and for 

the Yoruba nation to be on course certain steps must be taken before our Igbohos could be brought into a strategic but focused agitation - satyagraha, and if need be, the next level of it.

These people of fulani nature are equally abundant here among us. Obasanjo is Egba, the Kutis are Egba. Who attacked the Kutis? Fela was just singing criticism of government, the mother was just speaking truth to power, they did not attack customs at a border but Obasanjo attacked their house, the old woman was thrown down from a high rising building and she was killed. But the Obasanjos are Owu and the Kutis are Ake. Do the two communities see one another as cousins?

The Egba is not absolved in the conspiracy with the military that led to the killing of Abiola whose only offense was that he won an election. For 8 years as President, OBJ never mentioned anything about MKO or June 12. Abiola was Gbagura. Do the Ake, Owu and Gbagura see one another as cousins? OBJ openly, and from a position of an international figure and former Head of State, told the world that his 'cousin' was not the messiah Nigeria was looking for. He later found the messiah in himself, later in Yaradua, in Jonathan  and then in Buhari.

What about the killing of Bola Ige? Was the murder of this Ijesaman, an attorney of international repute with unequal erudition and a gift of the garb solely the Hausa-Fulani execution? He was from Esa Oke.

How many gubernatorial aspirants have the Hausa/Fulani killed? How many have been killed among ourselves by ourselves in the name of politics: Arojo, Dipo Dina, Bajomo, Funso Williams. These heinous crimes were committed in the Yoruba nation by Yoruba people against the Yoruba people.

How many minorities are under suppression and marginalisation by other tribes in the Yoruba ethnic group? The Yewa, the Remo, the Onko, the Ketu, the Ilaje and many others have been under that yoke for decades.

We have not united the Yoruba we are shouting Oodua nation, is that the way to go? I have no problem with Igboho's violent response to the fulani's criminal activities in his village; of course, I hailed him then. But when he was supposed to stay put to further protect the people, he left them to their fate as the bastards continued reprisals destroying and killing. He went to be chasing Oodua nation, a project about which he knows next to nothing.

The Ekiti parapo war/Kiriji; Ijaye war, Owu war, Adubi war, Dahomey and lately the Ife-Modakeke war, all have sustaining grave impact on the sociology of our internal unity - unresolved, but only suppressed by the emergence of the Nigerian state. The accremonies, enmity, supremacy (fulanism in us) that led to those wars are only taking refuge in the now bastardized union-state called Nigeria. If we get out of the union as we are now the refugees will come back home.

To pull out of the union we must first reestablish our socio-cultural decendancy alignment and solidarity. These have suffered rebellion over decades as a result of injustice within with many brake-aways already. Owu broke away from Oyo, Ijaye from Ibadan, Osogbo from Ijesa, Remo from Ijebu; Ijebu is even saying they are not Yoruba but from Wadahi, and many more.

While reuniting we must as a matter of fact reinvigorate equality and remove the sense of supremacy (the fulani sense) among the tribes. Even those that are not purely Yoruba or not of Oduduwa decent (because these two are not same) can become part of the Yoruba State by agreement. The Owu are not Egba, but they became part of the Egba Nation (first recognised modern sovereign in Nigeria) by agreement.

Therefore, the remnants of Ogu (Egun) in Nigeria in the north-west of Ogun State, the Ohori, the Ijebu, the Ibini, the remnants of Ijaw and Ilaje, the Igala, the Yoruba-Fulani in Ilorin (the mix is there), the Ica/Itcha (called Ago Ika in Abeokuta), the Onko etc, can agree to be part of the Yoruba nation.

A nation named Oodua will not pleasantly embrace all these subtribes but a Yoruba nation will do; because even though they can't trace their decent to Oduduwa they speak the Yoruba language. These are things any serious agitation group should consider before embarking on this all important project.

Lastly, it is better done when the political rotation of power gets back to the Yoruba not when the so called enemies are in power. Olorun lo n dajo afeyinperan.

By Yemi Akintunde

Ayizan

Ayizan is Queen of the Marketplace and a spirit of initiation. She is the lwa of primordial ancestors and the repository of mystic spiritual secrets. Ayizan is the spirit of the very first Vodou priestess (Mambo or Manbo). She is among the most primordial of spirits and must be treated with extreme respect. Address her politely as Mambo Ayizan. Should one be making offerings to a number of spirits, Ayizan must be among the first honored, if not the very first.

Ayizan’s name may mean “sacred earth.” In the Fon language of Dahomey, from whence she derives, Aïzan refers to earthen mounds heaped up in the marketplace intended to honor primal ancestors. Azan, a related word, refers to fringes of palm fronds used to demarcate sacred space.

Ayizan is old, truly among the elder spirits; she can’t be bothered with small, trivial problems. She oversees the initiation process of hounsi (Vodou priestesses). She is also the matron of women who work in the marketplace and assures their success.

Ayizan protects against the Evil Eye, malice, envy, and jealousy. She despises and punishes exploiters: rich against poor; powerful against the weak; adults against children; men against women; husbands against wives. If you perceive yourself as oppressed and exploited, she may assist you. (Don’t bother her if you’re on the wrongend of this equation.) Request that Ayizan protect you and supervise your spiritual growth.

She has an incredible knowledge and command of the spirit world. Ayizan may be petitioned to reveal information or serve as an intercessor (if she chooses). Ayizan banishes malevolent entities and exorcises them. She can cleanse and purify an area and create sacred space. She protects entrances, doors, gateways, barriers, markets, and public spaces. In her book, Vodou Visions, author and manbo Sallie Ann Glassman compares Ayizan to the Gnostic Sophia exiled in the material world: the initiatrix in the marketplace.

Also known as:

Aïzan

Classification:

Lwa

Manifestations:

She appears in natural phenomenon: palms and earth mounds but also as an elderly woman.

Iconography:

Ayizan is represented by a palm branch or earthen mounds, anointed with oil and surrounded by palm fronds. Images of Saint Anne, to whom she is syncretized, or Christ being baptized by John the Baptist (his initiation) also represent her.

Consorts:

As Queen of the Marketplace, Ayizan is Mrs. Legba. As Grand Initiatrix, her mate is Papa Loko.

Petition:

Women who seek Ayizan’s protection for home or store should obtain blessed palms (whether on Palm Sunday or via other rituals). Fix them into the shape of an X or cross and hang over your door while invoking Ayizan’s blessings.

Tree:

Palm

Colors:

White, silver

Metal:

Silver (traditionally the incorruptible metal)

Offerings:

White flowers, bananas, plantains, yams, hearts of palms; dirt from an outdoor market crossroads; spring water and sweet liqueurs.

Uthman Dan Fodio’s Dream: Fulani Will Collapse in 200 Years

"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 “. – Lord Frederick Lugard in a letter to his colleague, Walter H. Lang, on September 25, 1918.

“Under the circumstances of what has been happening in Plateau State, some people just have to die…… Any society that refuses to be just and fair shall become a jungle where only jungle justice shall operate……… Indeed, the majority of our killings were carried out in areas where there was strong government presence.”  – Mallam Sale Bayero, Fulani leader and secretary Sultan’s Farmer/Cattle Rearers Conflict Committee boasting as he justified the massacre of the Birom people while protesting the arrest of the Fulani murderers in the Plateau State of Nigeria, quoted in THE SUN NEWS of Friday, March 12, 2010.

Sometime towards the middle of the second decade of the 1800s (1815 AD or thereabouts), Uthman Dan Fodio was reported to have had a scary dream about his Sultanate empire that he had just built. This dream was said to have saddened him that the empire he had spilt so much blood to build would only last 200 years. As a courageous warrior that he was, Dan Fodio was reported to have summoned the will to interpret the dream and to make this prediction about the future of his Empire.

According to informed sources, as reported by Adewale Adeoye in The Nation of March 14, 2010, this fear of the realization of Dan Fodio’s dream was what informed the hurried movement of the capital of Nigeria from Lagos to Abuja. The report said inter alia:

“The source hinted that in the 1970s, Northern leaders of Fulani extraction had met and resolved that the capital of Nigeria be moved from Lagos to Abuja, in anticipation of the prophecy of late Uthman Dan Fodio. He said the meeting was propelled by the dream the then Sultan of Sokoto had when he saw his offspring, in years to come, being requested to obtain visa permits before entering the Southern part of the country….”

There are several deductions that could be made from the above:

That the entire Nigeria was and is still regarded as part of the Sultanate Empire of Uthman Dan Fodio.

That, therefore, is why the Fulani have been exuding this arrogant attitude permeated with the “BORN TO RULE” mentality.

That this is why they have always ruled Nigeria as if we are in the middle ages and considered the wealth of Nigeria as theirs to spend as they see fit.

That the recent liberation struggles in Birom, Niger Delta, and the rest of the Southwest or Southeast are being seen as the beginning of the end of the Sultanate Empire by the Fulani people.

That the Fulani people have been scheming and preparing to get ready for when they would leave or be chased out of Nigeria.

It is this writer’s view that there is nothing wrong if the Fulani have to pull out of Nigeria to sustain and maintain the remnant of their Sultanate Empire. It would definitely serve all concerned very well. But this writer is not convinced that the Fulani would let go very easily, regardless of their palpitation about the dreams of Uthman Dan Fodio. They are going to fight hard. Anyone familiar with their trickery and how they subdued all the fledgling Hausa States, one after the other using Hausa masses against their kings, would agree with this writer.

To this extent, I disagree with Lord Lugard that the Fulani (let us leave the Hausa ethnic nationality out for now), “has no ambition.” The Fulani has ambitions and great ones at that. The Fulani ambition is to always rule others whether they (Fulani) have the capacity to do so or not. The Fulani liked and still likes his empires, at least, that of Uthman Dan Fodio has been in place before Lord Lugard ever was born.

It is this inherent ambition that forced the Fulani to develop the methodology to use religion to mobilize the Hausa critical mass against their own Hausa rulers and replaced them with blue-blooded turban-carrying Fulani rulers as Emirs across what used to be Hausa kingdoms. As time goes on, the Fulani sought ways to modernize its means of extending the frontiers of the Sultanate and refined its tool that was used against the Hausa Kingdoms in preparation for the conquest of the ethnic nationalities in Nigeria.

What the Fulani came up with was a different brand of what they did to the Hausa kings and empires. The Fulani concluded that because of cultural and religious factors, it would not be easy to use the critical mass of other ethnic nationalities in Nigeria to be able to supplant the leaders of these ethnic nationalities. So, the Fulani to sustain its ambition to rule and dominate, cultivated corrupt satellites in every ethnic nationality in Nigeria while politically annihilating the true leaders of other ethnic nationalities.

Rochas Okorocha, governor of Imo state, fully turbaned in Fulani Islamic regalia to celebrate with Sultan of Sokoto & Presidnet Muhammadu Buhari recently.

In 1957, during the heated battles for self-government and independence, Sir Ahmadu Bello referred to Nigeria as “The mistake of 1914.” To correct this “mistake”, a meticulous plan to dominate the future Nigerian Armed Forces was surreptitiously embarked upon while the British were helping out on the political front manufacturing Parliamentary seats for the North against the South of Nigeria. Thus, barely six months after independence, Sir Ahmadu Bello was able to say with confidence in the Daily Times of May 3, 1961, the following:

“I’m set and fully armed, to conquer the Action Group, AG, in the same ruthless manner as my grandfather conquered Alkalawa, a town in Sokoto province, during the last century.”

The writer would like readers to pay due attention to the words used by Sir. Bello, in this quote. He used the word “conquer” not “negotiate.”

Ahmadu Bello executed this desired conquest of the West as he had planned. Though it backfired temporarily as it consumed him a number of years later, but the Fulani sentries in the Caliphate Armed Forces, euphemized as the Nigerian Armed Forces along with its surviving civilian wing, have adopted Sir Ahmadu Bello’s method of propping up political, economic and religious satellites in all ethnic nationalities in Nigeria to be able to maintain control from Abuja, Sokoto and or Gobir, the birthplace of Uthman Dan Fodio.

It would be alright, if the Fulani could live with others as others are willing and prepared to live with them in Nigeria and other parts of West Africa, at least. In Nigeria, there have been more than 100 years of evidence that various ethnic nationalities have accommodated, loved respected and cared for the Fulani in their midst.

There is abundant evidence that the Fulani have been treated as fellow human beings and accorded the same rights that the host have always enjoyed.

But it is very unfortunate that the Fulani have not had the same “live-and-let-live” approach to other ethnic nationalities in Nigeria.

The Fulani concept of living is that others have to die, so that the Fulani may live. As far as the Fulani are concerned, other peoples of other ethnic nationalities are second-rate slaves to be used, dumped, maimed, raped or killed for the good of the Fulani man. The Fulani see Nigeria as his great grandfather’s inheritance to be toyed with as he wishes and as he wants.

This attitude of the archetypal Fulani makes him believe that he has to rule wherever he is, regardless of his comparative intelligence and capability to that of his host, among other reasons.

Presenting a paper reviewing Paul M. Lewis’ book, Ethnologue: Languages of the World, (16th Edition), to a study group in Philadelphia recently, Professor Wola Awoyale, a linguist at the University of Pennsylvania noted that the Fulani are recent immigrants in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Benin Republic, Guinea, Senegal, Niger, Mali and Sudan. The Fulani symbol is the turban, flag, alukimba, mosque and book. The Fulani are “a very creative” people who are often very “tight-lipped, silent and secretive” in their approach. They are very “mistrusting, calculating and patient.”

Ceremonial pageant featuring the mounted horsemen deployed in waging Islamist jihad in Northern Nigeria by the ruling Fulani aristocracy before colonization by Britain.

The Fulani are described as “cold-blooded and ideological.” They are “ascetic, reclusive and tough-minded.” The Fulani places the premium on the role of the mosque in its culture and this is why in all of Nigeria, a Fulani would not be a part of ‘Jamaa’ (the congregation) where another man of different ethnic stock is leading Muslims in prayers.

The Fulani language, Fulfude, with its variations in ‘Fulah’, ‘Pulaar’ and or ‘Pular’ are very highly priced. It is their weapon to discuss in secrecy and manipulate and carry out their machinations.

The Fulani will freely learn the languages of others as a means of infiltrating them for economic, political and religious advantages while rarely speaking Fulfulde in the presence of others.

In the same March 14, 2010 edition of The Nation, Baba Oluwide, a former economic consultant to the United Nations (UN) was interviewed. Part of the interview read inter alia:

“To him, (Baba Oluwide) the frequent clashes ‘reflects a reawakening of consciousness among nationalities which territories were forcefully taken by the Fulani’ adding that it also ‘signifies the collapse of the Fulani Empire.’

 He said the ‘main cause of the downfall of the Fulani Empire’ was the defect inherent in their political and social perspectives which he says celebrates lack of tolerance for diverse culture and a resentment of pluralism of ideas.”

This writer, in disagreement with the interviewee, would not be so swift to sing the dirge of the Sokoto Caliphate or the Sultanate.

While one may agree that there is “a reawakening of consciousness among nationalities which territories were forcefully taken by Fulani,” there is still the need for the ethnic nationalities in Nigeria to remain vigilant.

It is one’s view that the battle to overthrow the yoke of the Fulani political imperialism/neo-colonialism, economic exploitation and religious extremism is just about to begin.

While it may be true that the Fulani are being haunted by the dream of Uthman Dan Fodio and are preparing for the D-Day when they would leave Nigeria or are chased out, it would amount to political suicide for the oppressed and enslaved ethnic nationalities in Nigeria to go to sleep, waiting for the time when the Fulani would voluntarily leave Nigeria. There may be eventual negotiations, but this writer doubts it, giving the characteristics of a Fulani man.

It is one’s view that freedom is not cheap, and neither is it free. There is always a price to pay for one’s freedom.

The Fulani are willing to loot, maim, and kill to hold on to their empire. This suggests that, to take it from them, all the ethnic nationalities have to be prepared for every eventuality just in case words and negotiations would not solve the problem.

It would be recalled that the Fulani embarked on ethnic cleansing of the Jukun ethnic nationality in Taraba State in the 1990s. The Fulani are vociferously claiming the ownership of Idi-Araba and yelled: “barao, barao, barao” meaning “thief, thief, thief” on the then Governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu in his own State.

The Fulani started a war on traditionalists in Shagamu in Ogun State over the celebration of Oro Festival.

The Fulani have tried to reduce the Tiv’s population by extermination during the First Republic.

The Fulani have tried to emasculate the Katafs in Kaduna before. The Fulani tried to cleanse Zakibiam of non-Fulani blood.

The Fulani have been killing owners of the land in Iseyin and Shaki in Oyo State.

Media reports noted that scores of owners of the lands in Oyo were left “dead, maimed or raped.” The Fulani are determined to wipe out the Birom people of Plateau from their ancestral lands.

The Fulani has just recently killed a policeman in Ekiti State after wounding the owners of the land. The Fulani has an Emir of Ilorin, a Yoruba town.

The Fulani is determined to have an Emir of Jos and possibly Enugu too, very soon

The Nation, in its report of March 14, 2010, also noted the following:

“In many West African countries, clashes between nomadic Fulani and indigenous communities are well known underlining the fact that the challenge is a sub-regional phenomenon.

In Cameroon, Ghana, Mali, Togo and Niger, frequent clashes between nomadic Fulani and land owners constitute a major security problem for national and regional governments.

Thousands of indigenous peoples of Taraba state killed in past 2 years by armed Fulani herdsmen militia. As much as one million indigenous peoples have been displaced in contiguous Benue and Taraba states.

In the Chad basin, clashes between Fulani and Shua Arabs have led to thousands of deaths, reliable sources claim. Many of the clashes were between indigenous communities and Fulani herdsmen accused of trespassing on native lands and in many cases, attempting to take over the lands by force of arms.”

This shows that the Fulani have a character that is antithetical to the hopes and yearnings of other ethnic nationalities in Nigeria and around West African sub-region. They are used to taking things that do not belong to them by force.

Exploiting the oil of the Niger Delta in the way and manner it had been for this long is not out of character for the Fulani.

Spending the national resources, to which they contribute next to nothing like a drunken “gambler”, is part of the Fulani nature.

The Fulani has no capacity to be compassionate where his interests are at stake. Thus, the murdering of a Ken Saro Wiwa here and a Dele Giwa there, or another Akaluka here and Oluwatosin there means nothing to the Fulani.

Murdering in a cold-blooded massacre, several Jukun women and children, has no meaning to the Fulani.

Wiping out the entire villages of the Birom people does not mean anything to the Fulani. Looting, raping, maiming and murdering innocent and generous Yoruba hosts has no meaning in the consciousness of the Fulani. It is just a way of life.

The essence of bringing this to the attention of the world, especially the ethnic nationalities in the bondage called Nigeria, is to let them know what they are engaged with in the struggles to be free and have self-determination. The Fulani is not prepared to negotiate if he is going to lose out.

The Fulani will fight. And he will be ruthless and cold-blooded in the fight.

The only language the Fulani understands is war and conquest. All you need to do is just listen to Mallam Sale Bayero in the quote above.

Listen to the posthumous voice of Ahmadu Bello echoing from the grave as he uses the words “ruthless” and “conquer” in speaking about his supposed fellow countrymen.

Listen to Mallam Bala Garuba in the West African Pilot newspaper speaking of “conquest” of his supposed countrymen.

Listen to Mallam Falalu Bello (MD, Unity Bank of Nigeria) threatening “there will be no real peace in this country moving forward,” because he feels the Fulani has no control over the resources and means of others.

Listen to Balarabe Musa making a case for permanent rulership of Nigeria by the Fulani. Listen to the Bala Usman of this world as to why no one of other ethnic nationality should be allowed to rule Nigeria.

Listen to the silent yells of Maitama Sule making the same case. Yes, the nightmare of Dan Fodio’s dream may hang like a noose around the Fulani’s neck, but the Fulani would never give up without a fight.

The Hausa people are still wondering how they have become so slavish to the Fulani. They are still wondering how their very valuable heritage has been polluted and dumped for that of the Fulani settlers.

The Hausa are still wondering how the great histories of their forefathers have been supplanted by that of the Fulani to whom they have shown great love and hospitality.

Every ethnic Nationality in Nigeria needs to be aware that the Hausa people are very confused right now. Some of their elites have been incorporated by the scheming and secretive Fulani.

The Fulani are very few in numbers and they have brainwashed the Hausa people to believe that their (Hausa) destinies are tied together with that of the Fulani because of Islam.

The Fulani use the Hausa numbers as a buffer to perpetrate Fulani evils in Hausa name. What they have done to Hausa people is to make them believe in the Fulani as the pathfinders for them (Hausa).

Now, it is the Hausa who are used to fight the Fulani fights and battles. This is what Sir. Ahmadu Bello, taking a page off the book of his Fulani great grandfather, Uthman Dan Fodio, has also done with other minority groups in the North of Nigeria – using them as tools for the Fulani conquest of Nigeria.

As pointed out above, this trick has been extended to all ethnic nationalities in Nigeria and as such, one could find among them corrupt leaders who hold allegiance to the Sultanate rather than their peoples.

This writer has his doubts if the Hausa people would ever wake up. Even, if and when they wake up, the benefits of greed and the unabated appropriation of resources for which they have never labored out of the Niger Delta and other parts of Nigeria would still guarantee the Hausa-Fulani cooperation.

The minority ethnic nationalities in the North are waking up. They are realizing that they are slaves in their own lands. They are just realizing that they have been fighting the battles of Fulani to their own and their peoples’ detriment.

They have just realized that cows are much more treasured by the Fulani than the Birom mothers, Tiv wives, Jukun sisters, Igala children, Nupe brothers and Kataf fathers.

The Fulani is a fiercely ambitious man, contrary to what Lord Lugard is trying to make us believe.

President Muhammadu Buhari is Life Patron of MACBAN which sponsors the Fulani herdsmen militia. More than 70 victims of herdsmen killings were given mass burial in Makurdi, the state capital on Jan. 11, 2018.

The Fulani would plunder, loot, rape, maim and kill in pursuit of this ambition.

The Fulani would take advantage of the weaknesses of his host and supplant him and appropriate his wealth and means.

The Fulani, for the last 200 hundred years, have been at loggerheads with every known hospitable host of his, not just in Nigeria, but also in the West African sub-region.

The Fulani ambitions are intolerant of the existence and well-being of others.

This is where one could agree with Lord Lugard – that the Fulani is “seriously diseased” and “a menace to any community to which he seeks to attach himself.”

The ethnic nationalities in all of Nigeria still stand a good chance to be free.

That chance would fizzle and dissipate without standing firm, strong and willing to make the necessary sacrifice that would be required. It is time to repel the Fulani imperialism and or neo-colonialism.

It is time to reclaim our freedom and rights. It is time to seek any means necessary to be free from the bondage called Nigeria.

Cows could not, should not, would not and must not be more important than our daughters and sons, brothers and sisters as well as our mothers and fathers.

Written by John Coker, 21 September 2017

Kano waters the ground for religious extremism

Most people who hear of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates never knew that long before it became the preferred bride of the Middle East, there was a city called Beirut in Lebanon, which was the hub of the region. It may not have been like Dubai, but it was a city people wanted to visit. It was seen as a regional intellectual capital, a banking haven, and a major tourist destination, attracting tourists and business people from around the world.

I heard of Beirut and Lebanon in the early 1980s while in primary school. The reason was that a relative in the Nigerian Army was sent on the United Nations peace-keeping mission to Lebanon. Why did Nigeria send troops to Lebanon? In 1975, religious intolerance snowballed into war in the country. The country went up in flames as warlords fought for superiority. While the war raged, the Green Line (a no-man’s land) emerged to separate the Muslim West Beirut from the Christian East Beirut. As peace vamoosed and insecurity took over, people fled the country. Tourists and businesspeople avoided Beirut. Lebanese people scattered to other countries of the world. Their business acumen, however, helped them to succeed in business across the world. Even though the war ended in 1990, Beirut as well as the entire Lebanon has not recovered from its impact.

Since nature abhors vacuum, the UAE developed Dubai and positioned it as a replacement for Beirut. Today, Dubai is playing that role excellently well. It has refused to allow any form of religious intolerance to take root within. It has also not stopped being a good Muslim country.

Pakistan has a similar story. When the United States produced a female vice president in January 2021 in the person of Kamala Harris, many people celebrated it as a huge achievement. But as far back as 1988, Pakistan had elected a female prime minister in the person of Benazir Bhutto. In my primary six in 1982, some of the things I memorised were the names of the heads of government of countries of the world. I never forget that Margaret Thatcher was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister of India; and by 1988, Benazir Bhutto became the Prime Minister of Pakistan: three great leaders!

Conversely, in Nigeria, we are still celebrating Dame Virgy Etiaba, my agricultural science teacher at Okongwu Memorial Grammar School, Nnewi, for being the only female governor of a state in Nigeria. Yet, she was not elected. She took over when her principal, Mr Peter Obi, temporarily lost his seat as the governor of Anambra State in 2006. This is to show how advanced in thoughts and freedoms Pakistan – a predominantly Muslim country – was years ago, ahead of many countries of the world, including North American and European countries known for championing liberties and equality. Note too that Pakistan is a nuclear state, a feat no African country has achieved.

Pakistan gained independence with India from the UK in 1947. On the day the UK granted independence to the old India, it divided the country into India and Pakistan, with India being predominantly Hindus, and Pakistan being predominantly Muslims. Decades later, Muslim extremists pounced on Pakistan. Anarchy descended on the country. Backwardness took over Pakistan. Today, while India is progressing in technology and other areas, Pakistan is retrogressing and being mentioned among the most terrorised countries in the world. Meanwhile, Bangladesh, which pulled out of Pakistan in 1971, is enjoying stability and is even led by a female prime minister despite being also a predominantly Muslim country.

Now, let us look at Borno State in Nigeria. Growing up, all I heard from relatives who lived in Borno were stories of Borno being a calm place. A prominent kinsman of mine is today known as Emma Biu because he lived in Biu in Borno State. Most people do not remember his surname. The most prominent figure from Borno while I was growing up was Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim who was the presidential candidate of the Great Nigeria People’s Party in 1979 and 1983. He was known for his mantra of “politics without bitterness.”

Then, early in the 21st century, Boko Haram began to gain root in Borno. By 2009, the sect had turned violent, employing suicide bombing as part of its modus operandi. Nigerians used to create jokes about how Nigerians loved life so much that suicide missions were not possible in Nigeria. But Boko Haram punctured that. The peace in Borno has been destroyed. The violence that started with religious extremism has spread to most parts of the North in the form of Boko Haram, bandits, and herdsmen. Mass killings and mass abduction for ransom have become commonplace. The activities of these terror groups have made Nigeria feature prominently in every list of most terrorised countries.

Today, the use of sharia law in Kano State to fight virtually every aspect of people’s life may sound good to those who believe that Kano is trying to live a true Islamic life of piety. But that is how religious extremism is nurtured in a society. Step by step, a vocal minority would want a total enforcement of the sharia as is obtainable in Afghanistan. The sharia police called Hisbah now determine how people should live their lives in Kano. They break the bottles of alcoholic beverages. They decide how people should dress, what music they should dance to, what hairstyle is allowed, and whether women should use smartphones and sunglasses. The most recent one was their ban on the use of mannequins to display clothes, with the excuse of promoting idolatry and eroticism. As they take these actions and step on the rights of other Nigerians, many people cheer, asking those who don’t like it to leave Kano.

However, that this is happening with the full endorsement of the Kano State Government makes it more worrisome. Our people say that the child sent to steal by the father breaks the front door with the foot rather than sneak in through the backyard. Boko Haram did not start overnight. It started from the fiery sermons and teachings of religious teachers. Some people sucked in these messages over a long period, believing that anybody not practising that type of Islam was an enemy. Subsequently, they saw themselves as warriors of Allah ready to die in the course of Islam because of the promise of eternal reward.

The second point is that the more some Northern states insist on enforcing the sharia law, the more they convince more Nigerians to agitate for separation from Nigeria, because of the fear that their safety is not guaranteed in a country where its constitution is breached and the Islamic law is enforced. India and Bangladesh are happy today that they are not in the same country with Pakistan. If they were still together, Pakistan would be costing them lives, money, peace and progress. Nobody wants to be associated with any country with a record of religious war, because it rarely ends. Nigeria has fought against Boko Haram for 12 years without any hope of victory.

Kano is the commercial hub of the North. When in 2013 the Central Bank of Nigeria published the names of the six states controlling 90 per cent of cash transactions in Nigeria, Kano was the only state from the North on that list. In addition to Abuja the Federal Capital Territory, the other five states were Lagos, Rivers, Anambra, Abia, and Ogun. When Mallam Aminu Kano was alive, he made Kano the centre of progressive politics in the North, standing out from the rest.

Politicians in Kano and other Northern states who use religion to gain cheap popularity among their citizens should think of the future of the people and not how to win the next election. They should realise that their actions are helping to divide the same Nigeria they fight tooth and nail to keep as one. The Northern masses need food, jobs, security, education and social amenities that will transform their lives, not politics.

By Azuka Onwuka

Copyright PUNCH 20 July 2021

Saturday 24 July 2021

Wickedness and barbarity is a human failing, and not of religion or race

When the Crusaders, led by Godfrey of Bouillon, took Jerusalem from the Muslims in 1099, they butchered every single Muslim and Jewish man, woman and child that they found in the city and they pulled down all their places of worship.

100 years later, in 1187, when the Muslims, led by Salahudeen Al Ayyubi, took the city of Jerusalem back from the Crusaders, every single Christian man, woman and child that they found in the City was given safe passage to leave, not one of them was killed, not one Church was pulled down and the Christians that chose to stay were given the right to worship in their Churches.

The barbarity of Godfrey of Bouillon, a Christian, was unprecedented and the compassion of Salahudeen Al Ayyubi, a Muslim, was second to none.

Again in 1982 when the Israeli-backed Christians in Lebanon attacked the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Chatilla they slaughtered thousands of defenceless and innocent Muslim men, women and children in cold blood.

Just as in the previous cases this speaks volumes. History proves that adherents of all faiths have committed atrocities in the past. This suggests that wickedness and barbarity is a human failing and not a religious one.

All monotheic faiths preach love, unity, peace, kindness and harmony. All monotheic faiths believe in the power and supremacy of one God: the Lord of the Universe and the God of Heaven.

All monotheic faiths derive from one righteous and earthly father whose name was Abraham: a man whom the Lord blessed and promised that he would be the "father of nations".

Good Muslims, good Christians and good Jews do not target and butcher the innocent.

Bad Muslims, bad Christians and bad Jews target and kill the innocent with zeal and pleasure and inflict pain upon the weak and helpless.

The bad ones do these things because they are inherently wicked people and not because their faith teaches them to do so.

They twist, use and misinterpret the tenets of their faith to justify their craving for violence and their lust for blood.

The morale of the tale is as follows: never generalise and never ascribe acts of evil to the adherents of one faith as opposed to another.

Adherents of ALL faiths and some individuals that have no faith at all fall short of the glory of God and they have all indulged in barbarous acts and committed atrocities throughout world history.

If you don't believe me kindly consider the following:

Hitler caused the death of 50 million people in World War 11 and gassed to death 6 million Jews, Gypsies and homosexuals: he was a Christian and not a Muslim or a Jew.

Kaiser Wilhelm 11 of Germany caused the death of 20 million people in World War 1: he was a Christian and not a Muslim or a Jew.

King Leopold 11 of Belgium killed 10 million Congolese Africans and cut off the limbs of 5 million: he was a Christian and not a Muslim or a Jew.

Josef Stalin killed 25 million citizens of the Soviet Union: he was an atheist and not a Christian, Muslim or a Jew.

Pol Pot killed 2 million Cambodians: he was an atheist and not a Christian, Muslim or a Jew.

Mao Tse Tung caused the death of 45 million Chinese: he was an atheist and not a Christian, Muslim or a Jew.

These monsters all committed these crimes because they were monsters and not because they were Christians, Muslims, Jews, agnostics or atheists.

All faiths and all agnostics and atheists have their own fair share of such monsters and all faiths and all agnostics and atheists have their own fair share of righteous and kind men.

Condemn the monsters but never condemn their faith or lack of it.

May God have mercy upon us all.

By Femi Fani Kayode 


Friday 23 July 2021

16 Sacred Palmseeds Of Òrunmila Consecrated or Not: Which is the best?

For example some babalawos believe e ni ti won ba rin ikin fun, ifa oni gbe while some babalawos believe until to ba to rin ikin ni ifa to ma dahun.

My reply:

Among the people known as Yorùbá today. There is no general consensus way of rìnrìn ikin & working with Ifá-Orisa... consecrations.

There are many ways of of consecrating Ikin & working with Òrìṣa's known and unknown according to different lineages which depends on their level of spiritual maturity. Ifá loves diversities. Ifa is never static in reasoning nor in expressions.

When we see other people working with Ifá & Òrìsà in a different form, different from ours, let's embrace their creativity.

The most important question to ask them & ourselves is that, is it working for them?

If the answer is YES.

Then, learn it and add it to your knowledge.

We are not in the position to say Ifá or Òrìsà is not working for people who don't do it the same way our own ancestors laid it down for us as individuals.

This shouldn't be leading to arguments. No one owns Ifá. It is the heritage of humanity.

Beyond Yorùba.

Ifá is never a Yorùbá spirituality alone, it cut across & beyond all tribes/nations within the lost ATLANTIS, a reflection of people known as Yorùbá Igbo, Igala, Urhobo, Nupe, etc....and it comes in different forms to them.

People share their understanding of Ifá and Òrìsà to the world in the way they are taught and it is working for them. It doesn't have to be the way you and I thought it was. Ifá and Òrìsà work for different people in different ways and forms.

Embrace the ways it was conceived globally and use it for the development of your Emi, Essence / Spirit / Atman for the benefit of humanity.

By Olusegun Daramola

Wednesday 21 July 2021

Dangote is a ‘beast’: An encounter with Africa’s most under-celebrated first son

“Suji my son, you must follow me somewhere, I want to blow your mind and quadruple your vision”.

This was a message I got from my royal father, the Ooni of Ife, HRH Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, the Ojaja II. I had to leave everything I was doing, and make my way to Ibeju lekki Free Trade Zone where Dangote has not only transformed the skyline, but also changed the social and economic value of the location, making it the new Lagos for all industrial and commercial opportunities.

It was a tedious experience traveling to a location that should ordinarily take us 40minutes, but we had to spend 1hour 30 minutes as a result of the unavoidable traffic on that route. However, I was stunned by the level of development that has unfolded in that area and I must appreciate the Lagos State government for the social and economic revolution of the Lekki Aja zone.

I enjoyed the trip which was filled with different interesting scenes, one of such is the sight of road-side hawkers, who reminded me of my days, hawking in South of France, and the endless joy when one finally makes that one sale. I saw one hawker with a carton of Gala delicately balanced on his head. I bought the whole box from him, not because I love gala but as a way to appreciate his hard work and bring joy to the face of a man who needs it the most.

We arrived Ibeju and I couldn’t but stop to appreciate the enormity of the project, the passion of the people and the humongous man-power. This was a place I had visited in 2016 with my friend Sulaimon Sanni Bello, and it was a simple desert land, all you could see then were many piles, trees and non-exhaustive swamp being sand-filled. Today what seemed like a dream has become a reality.

Getting to the gate where my name was already registered, a Hilux truck which was already waiting for us took us to Chief Edwin’s Office Wing, and we were ushered in.

I went straight, prostrated and paid homage to my most adored human – my King and mentor, Kabi o osi, Ooni of Ife, Ojaja-II, HRH Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, the first son of Oduduwa.

“Chief Edwin, meet my first son, the number one luxury real estate mogul. He builds skyscrapers in Ikoyi and Banana Island. He has disrupted everything mediocre in that space. I have a lot of them, my dream and vision is to inspire and motivate the great youths of our nation”.

I greeted everyone seated, the CFO Mr Femi Kolade, the MD Guiseppe Surace, the amazing GM Egbon Yinka Akande, Kabiesi’s friend and partner Mr. Rotimi Osobe and my very good aburo and friend Landwey – Olawale Ayilara. It was an incredible experience where we discussed the magnanimity of the project, the vision, the inspirations and the challenges.

Kabiesi said; “I know 24hours will not be enough to go around this 140 kilometer project but let’s start”.

I have traveled around the world and visited numerous industrial parks but never have I seen something this gigantic – a city in a city, a swamp transformed to 8 times the size of Victoria Island, and this is why my King said it’s an understatement to call the Dangote Refinery in IbejuLekki a city, we shall name it a NATION!

Concretely fencedaround approximately 3500 hectares of land, the largest single line refinery in the world producing 650,000 barrels a day! According to Chief Edwin; “The current world largest produces 420,000 barrels a day, what we have is 50% bigger than the biggest”. A 3-in-one industrial park where they refine petroleum and petro-chemical products, and also the biggest and largest producer of fertilizers not only in Nigeria but the whole of Africa with an annual capacity of 3 million tons.

I have unfortunately been amongst some big and influential people, who throw tantrums and comments about the Dangote Refinery dream. One said ‘’Dangote should have remained in cement, he has put his hand into what will swallow him, that project will never come to pass’’. Today the 22 billion dollar project is 90% completed. Sometimes, don’t blame people for their inability to assimilate your vision, because it’s only limited to the capacity of their imagination. I am sure this man today will be swallowing his words when the plant opens in few months Q1 2022, and the fertilizer which is 50% completed will start its first commercial sale this month of May 2021.

I am sharing this as an inspiration for myself and for our generation that if Dangote can do it, we too can do it! In a country where many see calamities, let’s see opportunities! Let’s transform our anger into hunger for innovation and together change our nation.

In 2007, Dangote approached the government to buy the Port Harcourt refinery, he paid and somehow the deal was frustrated. He was devastated but what looked like a disappointment is now a blessing! Today, less than 20 years later, Dangote is building and has almost completed a project that is 10 times bigger than what he thought was a disappointment.

Chief Edwin, the brainbox and Mr. Giussepe the MD of the project narrated with an overwhelming passion the vision and the project, for more than 2 hours. We couldn’t finish the tour of the fertilizer plant with a 3,000,000 ton capacity. We also learnt that Nigeria consumes 750,000 tons annually and Brazil their biggest market consumes 8,000,000 metric tons. The lesson I learnt which is very important is this; Chief Edwin made us understand the farming sector of this nation has not yet harnessed up to 10% of its true potential. We went on with Mr. Giussepe, passionately explaining the technical data, numbers and words, in his Italian accent, just passionately expressing the gigantic nature of the project.

A project which has taken about 4 years to complete. It is still a baffle how could one man assemble a team of over 15,000 expatriates, constructing about 50,000 homes in 9 months, 2500 construction equipment (making him the largest construction company in the country, bigger than JB), 350 Cranes, building 20 control rooms for 20 projects, grouped in 5 major projects, making it the largest industrial hub in Africa. A 5 billion storage capacity of oil product (which is 5 times the capacity of all the tank farms in Ibafo and the whole of Nigeria); a power plant generating a combined capacity of 500 megawatts; a business that is employing over 200,000 skilled and unskilled people daily, Dangote is an entrepreneurial BEAST!

We drove through the 86 pump station for tanker trucks, an automated station that fills every truck in 21 minutes. At its full potential, it should disperse approximately 198,000 litres of fuel daily, an efficient and illustrious project in sub-Saharan Africa.

We went on break to have lunch, a beautiful mixture of about 12 dishes from African fusion to the pastas of Italy. I rolled my sleeves to the hot Amala and Egusi with fresh goat meat. I didn’t care staining my white shirt, it was as delicious as my experience in the mega project of 140 kilometer road network (Phase1), which is almost like traveling from Lagos to Ibadan. It is HUGE!

We finished eating and got on the bus again and Mr. Giuseppe- the MD of the project, took us on another 3hours tour. The Italian born who has been in Nigeria for almost 20 years enjoyed taking us on the tour and giving us every detail, something he has done more than 200 times. At every junction, he will stop and give us a lecture on the project, the vision, the challenges and how they overcame them, (Kabiyesi, this place you stand now was a swamp, we sand-filled 65 million cubic meter of sand bringing 3 dredgers – 2 of them were the largest dredger ever built in the world).

“After sand-filling about 65 million cubic meter, we had to do a foundation of approximately 200,000 piles, stacking 350 piles a day, a total cost of over 300 million dollars. We were frustrated and had to do many things ourselves in order to meet deadlines. We set up our batching plant delivering 30,000m3 batching capacity on a daily basis, using about 1000 Tipper trucks and today we have done more than 2.5 million m3 of Concrete”. The same amount of concrete needed to build the BurjKhalifa.

Kabiyesi Oonirisa, Oba Oluitori, and everyone were so perplexed and wondered how one man could conceive this. Kabiyesi never stopped asking questions, technical questions that if I didn’t know him, I would have thought he had done a refinery project before. Everyone was left in awe every time the Oonirisa asked a question or contributed to the conversation.

It was a great experience, an eye-opener, and a lesson for any entrepreneur on earth. One of the lessons I learnt also was that Dangote had to build his own port, out of necessity and urgency. Apapa port capacity couldn’t support Dangote’s equipment which are 3 to 8000 tons, with the biggest single steel product in the world, weighing 3,000 tons. Sometimes, your location and environment should not be enough to swallow your vision.

The so-called miniport is not mini at all, it has a tonnage capacity 3 times that of Apapa. Though limited in size, it can still handle approximately 500 containers daily. It’s small but MIGHTY! If I were the NPA, I will immediately ease the Apapa already over-congested port and divert some ships to the Dangote port.

The undisputed 10 times Africa’s richest man never sleeps and is always active and welcoming when we appear in his home. I have been here for 31 years, I love it here! I come home, sleep, off to work and many times out of the country, you can’t be sleeping when you have such a humongous project at hand, especially in a rather tough terrain that is relatively new to us.

Alhaji came outside to usher us in, he bowed in greetings to the Oonirisa and welcomed us to his home with delicious ginger tea and fresh honey. We were hosted by his assistant Mr. Sam, who always politely gave us what we needed before asking.

“The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria “Private sector”, thank you for inviting us to your home. Alhaji, meet my first son, Sujimoto….”

“Oooo I know Sujina, he’s the luxury skyscraper man, keep up the good work Suji….”

Kabiyesi continued;

“Alhaji, we have come to bless and appreciate you as a son of Africa who has made us proud, for over 40 years! You have been consistent, moving up like this your plane on the table. You have confronted and fought the biggest battles and impacted our economy! You have made dreaming a possibility and inspired many generations. We are thankful to you and that’s why I bring you this artwork, as a symbol of wealth and good health.”

11th of May 2021, will be a day I will never forget in my life, actually one of the best days of my life! A day that changed my perspective, increased my vision and redefined my mission on earth.

We left the location around 10:30pm and I couldn’t stop thinking about my life, my vision and my projects. I told the Ooni about my Sujimoto Diamond City (SDC) – a smart city inside a city, where we shall have about 16 skyscrapers with the shortest one at 22 storey, 2 giant Malls, 2 exclusive 5 star Hotels, Amusement Parks, Games and Event centers with a 25,000 car park capacity, this trip has really inspired me and revamped my vision.

Entrepreneurship is about surrounding oneself with people, stories and events that inspires the hidden dreams in us. I shared the story on my TNL group where many appreciated and adored Dangote for his audacious project. Some were being critical and I had to vigorously address them, that it was a shame to only see the ‘hole’ when you are served a doughnut’. This is an investment of 22 billion dollar which will generate 27 billion annual revenue, with a profit margin of 15 to 25%. If this does not drive you, then I doubt anything will. If anyone wasn’t mesmerized- I was, as I even dreamt about the project again last night.

This trip has taught me that Fortune follows the Brave and life will only succumb to you if you persistently chase your dreams. 

By Editor

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