Fani-Kayode to DSS, Police: Call Sheikh Gumi to Order, Lest he Ignites Religious War
A bigwig of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, has called on the Department of State Services, DSS, and the Nigerian Police to reign in famous Kaduna State-based Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, before he ignites an ethno-religious war in the country, with his ‘unguarded utterances’
Fani-Kayode, a former Aviation Minister, made the plea in an opinion article he wrote and titled, “Ahmad Gumi: Cleric of Blood, Face of Hate”, which PRNigeria obtained.
According to the APC chieftain, if Sheikh Gumi is not tamed, he will set Nigeria on fire.
He noted that the “dark forces that the Kaduna-based religious preacher represents have little to do with the great and compassionate faith of Islam which insists on equity, justice, tolerance, submission to the will of God and peace”.
He said: “I am a Christian. I was born one and I will die one. I take my faith very seriously and I count it as being more important to me than anything else in life.
“Despite that I supported and campaigned vigorously for a Muslim/Muslim ticket in the 2023 presidential election because I believe that religion has no place in politics and that competence is the relevant factor when it comes to leadership rather than faith.
“That does not however mean that as a Christian I will stand by quietly and allow anyone to denigrate my faith.”
He pointed out that both Christians and Muslims should and must be given their due respect and that leaders of both of great faiths must let love guide their every word and action and strive to live together in unity, peace and harmony.
He cautioned that where there were danger signals and circumstances and individuals that might threaten the peace and harmony Nigerians must challenge and expose them, call them to order before it was too late and bring them to the attention of the authorities.
“The dark forces that Ahmad Gumi represents have little to do with the great and compassionate faith of Islam which insists on equity, justice, tolerance, submission to the will of God and peace.
“When he was confronted with a barrage of criticism & outrage from Nigerians after his sermon Ahmad Gumi expressed no remorse & instead he said, “I will not respond to irritants in democracy!”
“The only saving grace in this whole ugly episode is the fact that some Northern elders have displayed true leadership & commitment to the peace & unity of Nigeria & disowned Gumi over his threats.
Fani-Kayode noted that the Chief E. K. Clark-led PANDEM, Bishop El Buba, Sunday Igboho and Asari Dokubo have also spoken out against him and his divisive rhetoric on behalf of the Church, the South West and the South South respectively.
“I am simply astounded by the hateful disposition & divisive rhetoric coming from a man who lays claim to being a pious & peaceful religious leader…
“He does not represent reasonable, rational, peace-loving, pious and serious-minded Northern Muslim leaders like the Sultan of Sokoto, the Emir of Kano, the Shehu of Borno, Sheik Dahiru Bauchi, Professor Isa Pantami, Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima, Sheik Muhammad Sani Yahaya Jingir Jos, Sheik El Zak Zaky and so many others that we know and whose integrity and commitment to the peace and unity of Nigeria we can vouch for: he only represents the violent, extreemist and murderous beasts that are on the lunatic fringe.
“Yet whichever way you view him one thing is clear: Gumi is attempting to ignite a religious & ethnic war in Nigeria & someone needs to call him to order before it is too late.
When he says Southerners & Christians “cannot be trusted with security”, that the FCT Minister is “satanic” simply because he received the Israeli Ambassador in his office & that those of us that supported a Muslim/Muslim ticket are worthless hypocrites, money-mongers & accursed citizens who chased dollars for pleasure & worldly purposes, it is clear that he has lost touch with reality & that he is looking for trouble.
“Someone please tell him that there is no longer any place for religious or ethnic politics & bigotry in Nigeria.
He dismisses the fact that the President, the Vice President, the Minister of Defence, the Minister of State of Defence, the National Security Advisor, the DG of DSS, the DG of NIA, the Chief of Air Staff, the Chief of Army Staff, the Chief of Staff to the President, the Speaker of the House of Reps & the Chief Justice of the Federation are ALL Muslims & insists that Muslims must also be in charge of the command & control structures of ALL our security & intelligence agencies & the three arms of the military, namely the Army, Navy & Airforce.
“He made his most absurd & asinine point when he ended his sermon by saying that because Nyesom Wike, the Minister of FCT who happens to be a Southerner & a Christian, received the Israeli Ambassador in his office it meant that the Tinubu Government are planning to turn Abuja “into Tel Aviv where Muslims would be targetted & killed”.
I do not believe or subscribe to the erroneous notion that the Minister of the FCT is the exclusive preserve of Northern Muslims & neither do I believe that Nigeria, a nation with over 120 million Christians should EVER sever its diplomatic ties with the State of Israel.
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“A Christian cannot head the FCT because it is in the North but a Muslim can head NNPC whose oil is in the South?”
FFK also expressed his dismay over the claim by Gumi that Nigeria was safer when Muslims were in power & when they controlled the guns & that Christians cannot be trusted with power.
“At this point I really do wonder whether this man is above the law & I am amazed at the fact that he has not been arrested.
“He said so many other explosive & provocative things which can be seen in the full text of his sermon including the absurd, wild and unsubstantiated allegation that President Goodluck Jonathan, a man that is regarded by many as one of the most restrained, gentle, kind, compassionate and rational Presidents that Nigeria has ever had and one who simply refused to abuse power, had planned to murder him when he was in power simply because he was a Muslim!”
On Gumi’s comment that Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sir Tafawa Balewa & other Muslim leaders were killed by mutinous Christian soldiers on the night of January 15th 1966, the former aviation minister pointed out that Chief S. L. Akintola, Brigadier Ademulegun, Colonel Unuigbe, Chief Festus Okotie Eboh, Colonel Yakubu Pam, Colonel Sodeinde & many other Christian political leaders & military officers were killed by the same people on the same night.
_He failed to mention the fact that the mutinous soldiers, led by Major Emmanuel Ifejuana & Major Kaduna Nzeogwu murdered BOTH Christian & Muslim leaders on that terrible night….
“Even though it is true that the Jan 15th 1966 coup was primarily a Christian one it is also true that it was crushed and aborted by primarily Christian officers like Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon, Captain Paul Tarfa, Lt. Col. T. Y. Danjuma, Lt. Col. Martins Adamu and so many others.
“In the Northern Officers revenge coup of July 29th 1966 which came 6 months later, 300 Christian Igbo officers were killed together with a Christian Head of State, General Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi & a Christian Governor of the old Western Region, General Adekunle Fajuyi.
“This “revenge coup” was led by Northern officers of both Christian & Muslim extraction like Lt. Col. T. Y. Danjuma, Lt. Col. Martins Adamu, Lt. Colonel Yakubu Gowon, Lt. Colonel Murtala Mohammed, Lt. Ibrahim Babaginda, Lt. Muhammadu Buhari, Lt. Col. IBM Haruna, Lt. Ibrahim Abacha & others.
“He said Christians killed the Head of State, General Murtala Ramat Muhammed, in the 1976 Dimka coup but he forgot to mention the fact that Lt. Col. A.R. Aliyu, Lt. Col. T.K. Adamu, Lt. A. B. Umaru, Capt. A. A. Aliyu, Lt. Mohammed & a number of other Muslims were also involved in the execution of that coup & that Christian officers like Lt. Akintunde Akinsehinwa were also killed by the plotters.
“However if he insists on arguing that the 1976 coup was a Christian coup then he must conceed the fact that the officers that thwarted it were also mainly Christian & were led by General T. Y. Danjuma, the then Chief of Army Staff.
Religion and matters of faith are never a factor when people are plotting coup d’etats and military insurrection. Anyone that thinks otherwise is clearly blinded by his own bigotry.
He says Christians like to kill but can he tell us if it was Christians that killed over 100,000 innocent Igbo Christian civilians in 3 months of genocidal pogroms in core Northern Nigeria in 1966?
This is a road we must never go down because it is known as the road to Kigali.
The bitter truth is that Gumi’s attempt to depict our peaceful Christian faith into one which takes pride & relishes in taking life & shedding human blood is unacceptable.
There are good Christians & there are evil ones just as there are good Muslims & there are evil ones.
No-one should attempt to demonise or paint ALL of the adherents of either of these two great faiths in the colours of psychopaths & cold-blooded murderers.
More often than not both Christians & Muslims manifest & display love & kindness to others.
The fact that some do not is not a reflection of their faith but rather a reflection of their personal disposition, human failings & character.
This is the point that men like Gumi fail to appreciate & conveniently ignore and we will not sit by silently & allow them to do so.
Anyone, no matter how powerful, influential, wealthy, well-connected, loved, reverred or highly placed, that tries to use religion or ethnicity to divide our people, trouble our peace, undermine our security or destabilise our country will not only face the full wrath of the Living God & the Nigerian people but will also be brought to justice.
Nigeria is a multi-religious, multi-cultural, multi-ethnic secular state & therein lies our strength, pride & joy.
There are Nigerian Muslims and Nigerian Christians & each of these groups have every right under our constitution to express their views, practice their faith & aspire to man any public office in the land.
We do not practice racial segregation, racism, religious bigotry or apartheid here & we do not harbour slaves & slave masters.
By the grace of God our nation & our people are ONE & nobody, not even a self-seeking, self-obsessed, vicious, divisive, destructive, fiendish & mischievous little rabble-rouser & ethnic & religious bigot like Ahmad Gumi can divide us!
I call on the DSS & the NPF to call this reckless malefactor to order before he sets Nigeria on fire.
By PRNigeria
