AbdulRahman Agboola
A lot of aspersions are being casted on the leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) by Femi Fani-Kayode in an unholy calculated attempt to confuse the vast majority of Nigerians that subscribe to the importance of an opposition party in a fair political environment. It is on record that Fani-Kayode, a former aide to President Olusegun Obasanjo and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is leaving no stone unturned in his numerous attacks against APC chieftains, especially those of Yoruba origin.
It is imperative to dissect the claims of Fani-Kayode on the pursuance of an Islamic agenda by APC at the expense of religious freedom enshrined in the nation’s constitution, with a view to confirm the sincerity of the APC manifesto that tends to proffer solutions to the nation’s maladies and equally check the intentions and gains of Fani-Kayode in his relentless campaign of calumny against the APC.
Fani-Kayode has branded the APC as Almajiri Peoples Congress and haramist. In many of his articles, he labeled APC as an Islamic party with religious agenda on perceived possibility of emergence of Muslims as flag-bearers of APC for the offices of President and Vice President. He alleged APC to have turned Yoruba and the entire South into perpetual slaves and pursuance of anti-Christian agenda and more. It is important to dwell on these issues capable of deepening the chasm between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria.
For the avoidance of doubt, Nigeria as a nation blessed with many visionary, exposed and experienced personalities in all spheres of life, is too vast for any group to impose a religious agenda in any form on the people or the nation. Both the constitution and system of governance greatly forbid such exploits. The membership of political parties spread across all religions in Nigeria, then one wonders how APC would pursue a religious agenda at the expense of another religion which demeans the freedom of believe in the country.
Critical looks at the claims of Fani-Kayode clearly confirm the usage of under hand methods by some unsuspecting religious bigots to escalate the crises between some ignorant religious people misdirecting the affairs of our nation. PDP took over the mantle of leadership at the federal level since 1999. Three major political parties in Nigeria won elections into seats at the National Assembly with PDP having a slight majority at both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The defunct Alliance for Democracy had excellent control in the South-west, ANPP had strong dominance in North-central, North-east and North-west while PDP dominated some northern states, South-east and South-south.
In the struggle for democracy, civilians were united as Nigerians in crave for civil rule in Nigeria to an extent of religious fidelity among Nigerians as seen in the 1993 and 1999 Presidential Elections. In 1993, the leadership of the Social Democratic Party and National Republican Party both presented Muslims as presidential flag-bearers while in 1999, PDP and APP both presented Christians which earned the support of vast majority of the electorate without complaints by the religious leaders.
It is not misinforming to state that the hype in the religious sentiments comes to fore in the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, though a thorough analysis on that is not meant for this piece but it is important to note that the rise of sectarian crises in Northern Nigeria has been a serious matter claimants have used as grounds either to sustain arguments on the adversity of the current administration of President Jonathan and the adversaries of his re-election bid comes 2015.
It is on record that, in all the dealings above, there was no point a religious interest surfaced and one wonder the reason behind the wicked blackmail and campaigns against political leaders in the opposition party spearheaded by Fani-Kayode and co-travellers. An insight into the personality of Fani-Kayode reveals that he inherited his expertise of mischief and despondency from his father, who was a progenitor of disunity among the Yoruba people, pursued Christian agenda at the expense of public good and contributed immensely to the discord between Chief Awolowo and Chief Akintola, I stand seriously to be quoted on this.
In Fani-Kayodes’ romance with the Northern Muslims in power, he cunningly devised a plot to represent Christian interest in government following his participation in the struggle for the recognition of Northern Minorities which were majorly Christians at the Willinks Minorities Commission in 1957. In essence, Fani-Kayode was a religious bigot, flawed Yoruba interest in his life time andhyped the polarization of the nation’s Politics with religious interest.
It is essential to urge our political leaders to desist from actions that will bring disharmony to the masses, especially on the religious front. The characters, activities and actions of most of our political leaders contradict the teachings of both the Holy Quran and the Holy Bible, hence they should desist from using religion as a plot to advance their in the best interest of the nation.
The PDP and APC should present credible candidates with proven records of integrity in the bid to advance the cause of the entire people of Nigeria as we prepare for the 2015 General Elections stop faking Nigerians under any religious guise.
Comrade AbdulRahman is National Coordinator, Mass Action for Good Governance and Grassroots Development
