By Jude Ndukwe
We read a press statement purportedly made by some self-styled Arewa Youth Forum in Abuja on Friday, July 14, 2017, under the leadership of one Gambo Gujungu wherein they accused the Ekiti State governor, Dr Ayodele Peter Fayose and former minister of aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, of being used by southwest leaders to destabilize the country and pitching the rest of the country against President Muhammadu Buhari and the north.
While we normally do not respond to the antics of juvenile delinquents exhibiting a regrettably deep sense of flippancy and nonchalance in a desperate attempt to warm themselves into public spotlight, we find it highly imperative to put the record straight this time round because we know that the macabre dance of these misguided youths is a response to the drumbeat of their elders hiding in the bush.
First, let it be clearly told that Gujungu cannot claim to be “the National President of AYF the umbrella body of all youths in the north” as he brazenly put it in that statement as a good number of reasonable northerners, including the youth, have since realized the evil antics of such contraption which is only used for electoral purposes after which people of the middle belt, northern Christians and other minorities are treated like scum by the same Arewa that is quick to mouth a non-existent “One North” during elections or as elections approach.
One wonders where these youths who claim to be speaking for the entire north were when Buhari whom they profess so much love for today watched while his army killed about a thousand innocent, harmless, armless, helpless and hapless Shiites, many of them youths, in December of 2015?
Where has Gujungu and his co-travellers been while their cousins, the Fulani herdsmen terrorists, have been moving through the length and breadth of Benue, Plateau, Niger, Adamawa, Taraba, Kogi etc leaving in their trails tears, sorrow and blood of farmers whose only offence has always been asking the marauding herdsmen not to destroy their farms, their only sources of livelihood, with their cattle?
Or are these innocent victims from these states not also part of Arewa?
We did not even hear anything from these emergency Arewa activists when the same Fulani herdsmen terrorists killed more than a thousand people over a stretch of time in Southern Kaduna. Or are Southern Kaduna people not supposed to be part of this expired contraption called Arewa? Or are they simply ignored because they are Christians and belong to the minorities in that part of the country?
The fact is that the Arewa Empire has since collapsed. Buhari’s ascendancy to power ensured its final cremation.
If these same Arewa Youths and their elders would see nothing against the evils being perpetrated against the many innocents not only in the north but in all parts of the country under the watch of Buhari, good men like Fayose and Fani-Kayode will not keep quiet because if they do they would ultimately share in the consequences that befall evil people.
The path this duo walks is not one they chose for themselves, it is one which destiny has bestowed on them. To shy away from such a noble but tough and unenviable task divinely placed on their shoulders is to offend God. And who would want to do that? Despite the toughness and risks of confronting Pharaoh, Moses still had to go deliver his divine mandate to the wicked king.
Let it be stated that Fayose and Fani-Kayode’s criticism of Buhari has nothing to do with where he comes from. If it does, then this duo would not be defending the Shiites, people of Southern Kaduna or victims of Fulani herdsmen terrorists who all come from the same north as Buhari. Nigerians will also remember very well that Fayose is one of Obasanjo’s ardent critics. Is Obasanjo also from the north?
Their criticism of Buhari is because the president has proved, with his words and actions, that he has the qualities of tyrannical Pinochet, despotic Stalin and totalitarian Sese Seko all rolled into one. If there is anyone who has pitched almost the entire country against the president, it is Buhari himself!
And if there is anyone peddling lies and falsehood to gullible Nigerians, even kindergartens will jubilantly tell you that it is the APC and their officials.
Rather than focus on Fayose and Fani-Kayode, the so-called Arewa youths will do well to help the president by telling him to be more humane in dealing with citizens according to the laws of the land he swore to uphold.
Those who are egging the president on despite his obvious critical ill health are those who actually hate him. Isn’t it amusing that these youths from the north claim to have gone to see the president, yet, top government officials within the ruling party do not even have an inkling of how bad the president’s case is? This goes a long way to confirm that this president is a president of only a section of this country!
Fortunately, Fayose and Fani-Kayode will not keep quiet. Nobody can silence them. We all own this country together. These two highly placed men of the country are too big for anyone or any group to use to achieve an agenda. They have minds of their own and until there is absence of official tyranny and gross abuse of presidential powers, they will continue to speak no matter whose ox is gored!
