By Bolaji O. Akinyemi.
Men are apt to mistake the strength of their feeling for the strength of their argument. The heated mind resents the chill touch and relentless scrutiny of logic – Williams E. Gladstone.
The argument for Muslim/Muslim ticket found strength in the ambitions of the one who was behind it. His emotion and that of his political cronies couldn’t accommodate reasoning in view of history and the reality of today. Their hand was on a vehicle without wheels on the sandy path of reality. Hard they pushed; too stuck and stranded they have come. But desperate minds don’t let go their grips.
A secular state of 55% Christians and 45% Muslim or 55% Muslim and 45% Christian whichever statistics support your sentiment. That’s how bad religion has been allowed in our politics and polity that useful development data are left to the mercy of political interpretation and manipulation.
Logic demand that anyone seeking to lead a state such as ours should be transparent, fair and just to all but ambition found argument in emotions.
From Kano came the first move against Muslim/Muslim with a calculated attempt to discredit it in the name of supporting it. The Governor and Government of Kano State played host to some Islamic Clerics who openly declared it as a Jihad against the secularity of the Nigerian state. It achieved its aim as many who appreciates secularism made up their minds not to have anything to do with it. There was no such gathering called in 2015 and 2019, news of who to vote for were spread in the same Kano and across the country by the Clerics. What has changed?
The Governor of Kaduna State is one of the supporters of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s choice of Muslim/Muslim ticket. Reference was made to his exploit in Kaduna and the success of Muslim/Muslim ticket of his administration and the successful marginalization of the Christian populace in his government and the attendant insecurity of community of christians in the state by one of the cleric in Kano. So from Kano came the warning of an intention to make Kaduna as it is today out of the bigger space called Nigeria. El-Rufai has been sighted at campaigns calling on citizens of Kaduna state to vote for his pair of Governor and Deputy Governor on the ticket of APC. But that they should vote for Baba for the President, the electorate are consequently left to the free choice of the individual they can relate with as Baba! North for who they are, showing class against our crass in politics.
On Friday 20th January 2023 came the turn of Plateau state to show the world the Baba of the preference for 2023 presidential election. Citizens shut down stores, and Muslim faithful were seen leaving Mosques across the city heading on the path of history of the largest political crowd ever in the city of Jos. All roads led to Rwang Pam Stadium, Jos, from all the 17 LGAs came the stream of human flood culminating to what became the sea of heads and the stadium could take no more, all glory to God who didn’t allow a stampede. Organizers were embroidered with crowd control.
A video slighted earlier gave the impression of possible low turnout as some people gathered in front of Labour Party Campaign Council Office in Jos to decry non availability of funds for mobilization. If mobilizers were not paid as alleged in the video, where in the world did that crowd without ‘sisi’ come from. I am sorry for the inventor of the video as no damage was done to the Obi-dients as desired. The aftermath of a successful Obi-dient rally is the need to quickly move in to the state for damage control. To the same Christian Community in the state who lack the capacity to produce a Vice President, APC decided to run, pulling faces that have come a long way at building their personal integrity. The likes of Prof Yusuf Turaki, Prof Aboi Madaki, Dr Zuwaqhu K.A. Bonat, Prof Pandang Yamsat, Dr Manzo Maigari, sincere and unsuspecting as they may be are being levelled with a dishonourable belly seeker, a political parrot, a rhetor, planted on a panel of six (6) discussants without any given topic of discussion.
Femi Fani Kayode is one of the best rhetor alive under heaven today. For years he composed public discourses in manners that affect his audience or broader community’s thinking and action. He mesmerized the public, particularly the audience of Christians in the Middle Belt until I wrote; “Femi Fani Kayode; The Spy Who Fooled Us”. If these Men of pure conscience failed to count the cost of the invitation to seat with a rhetor whose bank roller is yet to be revealed they may have themselves to blame. When to a table of filthy lucre you are invited, long spoon of online participation is the only way to eat with the devil on the same table.
Gal 5:9
A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump- King James Version
Easy English Version, put it this way, ‘Only a small amount of yeast can cause a whole lot of bread to rise’, as people say.
An appearance with FFK on APC platform is the little yeast needed to get a whole bread to swell to the size of its baker. The work of a rhetor is to create responses in the audience in order to make them agree with his point of argument. Nobody has done this better than FFK since 1999. If according to Bishop Prof Dapo Asaju who in a recent interview he granted said; PDP killed Nigeria and APC buried her. FFK was part of the killer gang and the undertaker. He will successfully skew the narrative to justify Muslim/Muslim ticket and advance it among Christians of any academic ranking in Nigeria. The only way not to fall prey to him is a no show! To be forewarned is to be forearmed.
This propaganda approach by APC was greeted by sensitivity as it drew the attention of the leadership of a Coalition of Northern Christian Organisations (CNCO) to the desperate antics of the All Peoples Congress (APC) to woo the unsuspecting Christians of Northern Nigeria through the gates of the Church on the Plateau.
A statement made by the organization with specific reference to the “Town Hall Meeting” been organized by the APC PCC stakeholders special duties directorate in Jos today, Sunday, 22nd January 2023, states in a press release; “After consultations with our members, Christian organisation leaders Northern Christian stakeholders it became necessary and urgent to warn thus:
1. We strongly advise Christian and church leaders not to allow their names and integrity to be dragged into the mud by the sinking APC government on the Plateau or at the National level.
We are suspicious that, this “Town Hall Meeting” will be used to project the endorsement of the APC by Christian leaders and indigenous Christians.
2. The gross failure of the Lalong administration on the Plateau is obvious from whatever prism. It is on record that apart from the British – American to Tina and Lamingo junction road initiated with a questionable loan and overbloated contract fee, there is no evidence of any meaningful project on the Plateau.
3. It is on record that as part of their deceit and antics, the Lalong administration was quick to declare public holiday on the arrival of President Buhari to flag off the APC campaign in a state with a low IGR and groaning under an undesirable debt load created by Governor Lalong’s penchant for debt and financial recklessness.
4. While Plateau state remains underdeveloped with no meaningful roads constructed not to mention dirts in the city of Jos that makes mockery of Plateau as home of peace and tourism, overnight, with the coming of the APC campaign flag off, money was available to patch roads, clear dirts and paint streets and houses.
5. It is also on record that C.A.N, the leading Christian organisation in Nigeria and a host of other Christian churches and parachurch organisations have since denounced and rejected the APC Muslim – Muslim ticket.
6. After our ongoing consultations, we shall make our position known with regards to the fourth coming elections in February 2023.
In conclusion, we are aware of the plans of the APC to use the town hall meeting with church leaders, Christian organisations and indigenous Christians as a media and publicity stunt to showcase their support on the Plateau with the aim of cajoling other Christians across Nigeria. This is unacceptable.
God redeem and restore Nigeria.
The press release was signed by Evangelist Joshua Moses, as the
Coordinator and Apostle Mai yaki Lucas,
Organizing Secretary.
The news should go round churches this morning, once beaten, twice shy an English adage says, a people beaten twice, in 2015 and 2019 have no excuse if beaten the 3rd time.
Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. Muslim/Muslim ticket is a stone thrown from the glass house of ambition, for which stones are being hauled back at a once beautiful edifice, now totally shattered. When Tinubu loses this election, he shouldn’t lose his name. The effort of those who truly love him should be concentrated on how to save his name. For a good name is better than silver and gold.
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