Femi Fani-Kayode

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Femi Fani-Kayode: ​A night of darkness and the law of Karma

Given the fact that we are still commemorating the fifty year anniversary of the January 15th 1966 coup I have decided to write a follow-up essay to last week’s column. It is interesting to note the fact that virtually every single one of those that actually carried out the killings and pulled the triggers during the course of that horrendous night of slaughter met a terrible end themselves.

This is a fulfilment of the scripture that says ‘’he who lives by the sword shall die by the sword’’ and we must all learn from it. Shedding innocent blood is an expensive business and drawing the first blood in any conflict always comes with a very heavy price. In secular circles this is known as the ‘’law of karma’’ but in spiritual ones it is called ‘’the law of reaping and sowing’’.

Nothing reflects this principle better than what happened to those that actually murdered others (as opposed to those that simply participated) during the course of Nigeria’s first military coup on the night of January 15th 1966. The facts are as follows.
Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna, who was the leader of the coup, went to the home of Brigadier Zakariya Maimalari (who was the Commanding Officer of the Second Brigade) and personally shot him. This was despite the fact that he was one of his most trusted officers and confidantes and despite the fact that earlier that evening he had attended a cocktail party in his house. After killing Maimalari, Ifeajuna went to Ikoyi Hotel, where Lt. Col. Abogo Largema, who was the Commander of the Fourth Battalion in Ibadan, was staying and he personally shot and killed him too.
After that both he and Major Donatus Okafor, another of the mutineers, abducted Sir Tafawa Balewa, the Prime Minister, from his home and took him to the Officers Mess at Dodan Barracks. Once it was clear to them that the coup was unraveling they fled from Dodan Barracks, drove to the Lagos Abeokuta road, shot the Prime Minister and then dumped his body in a bush. The Special Branch reports show that both Ifeajuna and Major Okafor shot Tafawa Balewa at point blank range in the head and body.

Yet their end was no better. Ifeajuna, after fleeing to Ghana after the failure of the coup, returned back to Nigeria the following year to fight for Biafra during the civil war. He was later accused of plotting a coup to remove Colonel Emeka Ojukwu as Head of State of Biafra and he was executed on Ojukwu’s orders after being court martialled. Major Okafor’s end was even worse. He was locked up in Abeokuta prison after the coup failed because he was unable to escape. Six months later, on July 29th 1966 during the northern revenge coup, he was dragged out of his cell and buried alive by northern soldiers.

Major Anufuro, who in my view was the most bloodthirsty and brutal of all the mutineers, personally shot and killed four people in Lagos on the night of January 15th 1966. He went to the homes of Colonel Kur Mohammed, the Chief of Army Staff, and Lt. Col. Arthur Unegbe, the Army Quarter-Master General, both of whom lived in Apapa GRA and shot them both to death in front of their families. After that he went to Dodan Barracks where some of the other mutineers, led by Major Humphrey Chukwuka, had forcefully taken Lt. Col. James Pam, the Adjutant General of the Nigerian Army, and Chief Festus Okotie- Eboh, the Minister of Finance.
As the coup started unraveling Anufuro fled Dodan Barracks and took Lt. Col. Pam and Chief Okotie Eboh with him. As he drove further into Ikoyi he stopped the convoy of vehicles, parked his car and told Pam and Okotie-Eboh to step down. As they did so he shot them both at close range, put their bodies in the same Bedford truck that the bodies of Col. Kur Mohammed and Lt. Col. Arthur Unegbe had earlier been dumped and drove to the meeting point at the Lagos Abeokuta road. On arrival at the meeting point Anufuro and his men proceeded to remove the four bodies from the Bedford truck and as they did so they discovered that Okotie-Eboh was still alive though badly wounded. Anufuro asked the Minister to walk into the bush and as he did so he shot him in the back of the head. After that the four bodies were dumped into a shallow grave and the mutineers fled.
Major Anuforo’s end was as bad as the end of those he murdered, if not worse. After the failure of the coup he was captured and locked up in Benin prison. One year later after the civil war began, Federal troops discovered that he was locked up in Benin. They promptly stormed the prison, found him in his cell, dragged him out and beheaded him. Given the fact that Anufuro had been so heartless on the night of January 15th I am not surprised by the brutality of the Federal troops.

Major Timothy Onwuatuegwu was one of those that led the Kaduna operation of the mutiny. He went to the home of Colonel Ralph Shodeinde, the Deputy Commandant of the Nigerian Military Training College, and he personally shot him to death. He also wounded his wife. After that he went to the home of Brigadier Samuel Ademulegun, the Commandant of the First Brigade, burst into his bedroom and personally shot him and his eight month pregnant wife to death with a machine gun.

Onwuatuegwu’s end was no better than that of those that he murdered on the night of January 15th 1966. He was captured and locked up after the failure of the coup. During the civil war, which started one year later, he fought on the Biafran side. A few days after the end of the war he was lured into a hotel room in the east by a group of men and women for a meeting where he was murdered in the most gruesome manner.
I will not give details of how he was killed here because they are far too gruesome for publication. Little did Onwuatuegwu know that the men and women that had invited him into the hotel room were working for the Nigerian secret service and that they were in the company of Federal troops. What an irony it is that he had killed others in the presence of their wives whilst he himself was killed in the presence of strange women.

Major Kaduna Nzeogwu, the leader of the mutiny in the northern part of the country, stormed the home of Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Saurdana of Sokoto and the Premier of the North, in Kaduna on the night of the coup. He personally shot the Saurdana, his wife (whose name was Habsetu) and his traditional bodyguard (whose name was Zarumi) and who had fought back with a sword. After the coup failed Nzeogwu was captured and locked up. He fought on the side of Biafra during the civil war but he was badly wounded and eventually killed in the Nsukka sector whilst he was on a reconnaissance night mission by Federal troops.
Captain Emmanuel Nwobosi led the Ibadan axis of the mutiny that took place on the night of January 15th 1966. He led his soldiers to our house and he took my father, Chief Remilekun Fani-Kayode, the Balogun of Ife and the Deputy Premier of the West, away. I witnessed the whole affair and the abduction and, as I wrote in this column last week, it was frightful and horrific. After leaving our house Nwobosi led his soldiers to the home of my uncle, Chief S.L. Akintola, the Aare Kakanfo of the Yoruba and the Premier of the West. When they got there Chief Akintola resisted arrest and there was a one hour long gun battle.
After his ammunition ran out Akintola stepped out of his house and he was shot by virtually every single one of the soldiers as he did so. This was because two of them had been badly wounded by Akintola and his policemen during the course of the gunfight. The first was a soldier by the name of James, who had his fingers blown off, and the second was a soldier whose name was not recorded but who screamed very loudly after his ear was blown off.
Interestingly of all the officers that personally shot anyone that night it is only Nwobosi that remains alive. He fought for Biafra during the civil war and after the war he was given a very key position in the Guyanese army. After serving for a number of years there he left Guyana and went to live in Canada for many years. He has since returned to Nigeria and he now lives in Onitsha. His end has not yet come but I have little doubt that he is still haunted by the innocent blood that he shed that night even if he finds it difficult to admit it.
I wholeheartedly condemn his actions that night and I still mourn my dear uncle S.L. Akintola and all the other innocent souls that were killed that night yet I do not judge him or any of the other mutineers. It is God alone that can judge us for our actions and inactions and I harbor no hate, bitterness or malice for those that abducted and murdered our fathers, leaders and heroes on the night of January 15th 1966. I simply leave them to God.
I will say though that I find it instructive that every single one of those that actually pulled the trigger and killed their victims during the course of the operation and that participated in the heartless orgy of violence and slaughter that took place that night, with the exception of Nwobosi, ended in a terrible way. Of the eight majors and one captain (Captain Ogbo Oji) that were the ringleaders of the coup it is interesting to note that only Major Chukwuka and Major Ademoyega never killed anyone during the course of the operation.

They participated fully in the mutiny, they terrorized and abducted people from their homes but history records that they didn’t actually kill anyone or pull the trigger themselves at any time. The two fought on the Biafran side during the civil war, under Lt. Col. Victor Banjo, and they not only survived the war but they also lived for many years thereafter.

Ademoyega died in 2005 whilst Chukwuka is still alive and lives in the east. I have little doubt that they would both have shared the same miserable fate of their co-conspirators and fellow mutineers and they would both been also cut short if they had personally shed innocent blood on the night of January 15th 1966 as well. The Lord is merciful to those that show mercy: He visits His judgement upon those that delight in spilling blood and in taking the life of their prey.
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Entertainment

Femi Fani-Kayode reacts to Dokpesi's claims that Goodluck Jonathan was a wrong presidential candidate

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Chairman of
the People’s Democratic Party national conference organizing committee, Chief
Raymond Dokpesi in a media briefing held in Abuja recently claimed that fielding
former President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan in the 2011 and 2015 election was a huge
mistake by the party Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He said making the ex-Nigerian
leader the only presidential candidate of the party was not only responsible
for their loss but it also caused disaffection amongst party chieftains from
the North.
“There
was impunity, imposition of candidates and breach of the zoning arrangement as
well as lack of a level-playing field for members. Make no mistakes, the PDP is
aware that there were errors made along the way. We admit that at certain times
in our past, mistakes have been made. We did not meet the expectations of
Nigerians. We tender our apology. But the past is exactly what it is. We call
on all party faithful, supporters and sympathizers to partner with us going
forward.
“You asked about
the mistakes the party made. The Ekweremadu report is very explicit on that. It
acknowledged the fact that the party made a lot of strides during the last 16
years. But also, there was no internal democracy; there was impunity within the
party. There was no level-playing ground for members of the party.
“The zoning
principles of the party were abandoned and a gamut of all other issues which
will come up during the conference. And for all these and for the people who
have been offended, for people whose toes were stepped upon, we tender
unreserved apology.
“While
we should not forget the past and its errors, we must look forward and begin to
show true leadership within and outside our party.” The DAAR Communications founder said.
Reacting to the development,
spokesperson of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organization, Femi Fani-Kayode said
“It was not a mistake for PDP to field Jonathan in
the last election and neither is an apology for doing so appropiate or
necessary.” The ex Aviation Minister
affirmed.

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Entertainment

Nnamdi Kanu and The Cry For Biafra | By: Femi Fani Kayode

I am not a Biafran and neither am I Igbo. I do however believe that it is the inalienable right of any human being or ethnic nationality to aspire to be free and to be able to determine its  own destiny. The right  to self-determination is enshrined in international law and it is guaranteed by every moral stricture known to man.
It is a right that has been exercised successfully over and over again in world history and it has led to the creation of new nations which were carved out of older ones. The denial of that right and the suppression and persecution of those who attempt to exercise it leads to nothing but defiance, dissent and resistance and, if not properly managed, it eventually spills over into war and carnage.
This has been the primary cause of most of history’s most brutal civil wars, including the American, Russian, French, English, Indian, Sri Lankan, Sudanese, Nigerian, Angolan, Congolese, Zimbabwean, Yugoslavian, Ukrainian, Nicaraguan, Cuban, Irish, Syrian, Libyan, Indonesian, Korean, Vietnamese, Spanish, Iraqi, Italian, Lebanese ones and countless others. I do not believe in violent change and neither do I believe in war, revolution, terror or the use of arms in the pursuance of even the most noble causes.
I do however believe in the power of ideas and the right of any man, woman or people to yearn to be free from bondage and to peacefully and freely express that yearning. It is in this context that I situate my belief in and support for those that view the Nigerian federation as an oppressive entity which has effectively enslaved its people in an attempt to create what is essentially an artificial and unworkable state.
Those that believe in Nigeria have every right to continue to do so and to voice their resolve to keep Nigeria one. What they do not have the right to do is to refuse to offer the same degree of freedom of expression to those that do not believe in a united Nigeria and who instead believe in the peaceful dissolution of our nation to speak their minds and voice their views. What is good for the goose is surely good for the gander. You cannot grant one side of the divide freedom of expression whilst you deny it to the other.

This is all the more so because freedom of expression is the lifeblood of any democracy. It must be accorded in equal measure to those that believe in Nigeria and to those that do not. It is in this light that we must consider the plight of Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, the Director of Radio Biafra and the man that has been described by the Igbo World Assembly as ”Buhari’s first political prisoner”.
We may not like his style, we may not like his radio station, we may not share his views or approve of his methods but one thing that we cannot take from Mr. Kanu is his right to hold such views and to express them in a peaceful and lawful manner no matter how distasteful those views may be to some. To deny him this most basic human right is not only an act of intellectual terrorism but it is also the most grave and barbaric manifestation of what is essentially an evolving police state where different or contrary views cannot be accommodated by those in power.
When Mr. Alex Salmon and his Scottish Nationalist Party began the agitation for the dissolution of the United Kingdom and for the establishment of Scottish independence many years ago, they were not charged to court, locked up indefinitely or murdered by the British authorities but instead they were eventually given the opportunity to participate in a referendum and test their ideas. The same thing happened in the Catalan region of Spain where the agitation for the establishment of a new nation is compelling and very popular.
The same thing happened a number of years ago in the Quebec region of Canada. It also happened in a region called East Timor which opted to leave Indonesia and in Singapore which opted to leave Malaysia. The same process was adopted when Georgia, the Ukraine and all the other former Soviet states opted to leave Russia and when the Czech Republic opted to break off from Slovakia. The utility and importance of conducting a referendum on such matters in order to determine the true will of the people and to honor the findings of that referendum cannot be underestimated and it remains the only path for peace.
Sadly, President Buhari who, like most in his generation, are still stuck in the mindset of a civil war general, has refused to learn from this. It is rather absurd to lock up Mr. Kanu  indefinitely and to effectively throw the key away simply because he dared to call for the establishment of Biafra.
As far as I am aware Mr. Kanu has not used or advocated the use of violence whilst expressing himself and neither have any his supporters. One therefore wonders what has panicked the Federal Government to such a point that they not only have to lock him up but that they also have to violate the law of the land by not allowing him to see his lawyer and by not presenting him before a court of law and charging him within the constitutionally-prescribed three days.
State-sponsored violence and intimidation, the violation of human rights, illegal incarceration, the murder of innocents and the vicious suppression of legitimate ideas leads to nothing but hardened hearts, greater defiance and the spread of anger and dissent. The principle is simple and clear: the more you fan the flame of tyranny and repression the more the passion and fire of liberty spreads.
It follows that the biggest favor that President Buhari’s security agencies could have done for the Biafran cause was to lock up Mr. Kanu and thereby transform him from being a little-known secessionist into the living symbol of the Biafran struggle, a respected freedom fighter, a champion of the Igbo people and an internationally-acclaimed political prisoner.
It is no wonder that leading politicians from all over the world, including the former Home Secretary and former Leader of the Labor Party in the United Kingdom, Mrs. Harriet Harman QC, have called for his release. The Russian and Israeli governments have also expressed concern and done the same.
Their call was the right and proper thing to do and I add my voice to that call. I have never met or spoken to Mr. Kanu but I am moved by his passion and courage. I am also persuaded by the logic and force of his public assertions.
It is left for those that do not agree with him to make a better case and to stem the Biafran tide. That is the monumental challenge that those that do not agree with Mr. Kanu’s views or his methods have. I have not always been on the same page with our Igbo brothers, yet  one thing is clear: only the callous would deny the fact that they have suffered immeasurably in the Nigerian  federation over the last 50 years.
Only the uninformed would deny the fact that they have been butchered, murdered, persecuted, broken, humiliated, insulted, cheated and treated with contempt and disdain more than any other ethnic group in the country since July 1966.
What the Nigerian state is confronted with in the new generation of Igbo who refuse to be cowed is a time-bomb. Unlike their fathers they cannot be appeased or intimidated. They are not prepared to settle for crumbs and neither do they fear death, conflict, defeat, incarceration, butchery or persecution.
They are imbued with a spirit that cannot be suppressed and the more they cry ”Biafra”, the more the spirits of the millions that were slaughtered on the Biafran side during the civil war are invoked. The more they cry ”Biafra”, the more the souls of the hundreds of thousands of their people that were butchered during the pogroms in the North in the mid-60s and thereafter are remembered. The more they cry ”Biafra”, the more they remember how their fathers were stripped of everything after the civil war and how they have been denied the opportunity to rise to the highest office in the land. The more they cry ”Biafra”, the more they acknowledge and recognise the bitter fact that the Buhari administration regard their kith and kin as nothing more than third class citizens and pitiable prisoners of war. The worst thing that the Nigerian authorities can do is to treat them with levity or contempt.
They are angry, they are fed up, they refuse to be enslaved, they want a brighter future and they have come to realise that they have nothing to lose. The most inappropriate thing that President Buhari can do is to continue to underestimate the power of their resolve or the clarity of their intent. The worst thing that they can do is to begin to jail them, to shed their blood and to take their lives.
The more you lock up the Biafrans, the more they will rise up. The more you mock them, the more they will shout. The more you treat them like slaves, the more they will aspire to break off and take their destiny into their own hands.
This is a fact that we must all accept and it is with this in mind that I urge President Buhari and the Federal Government to not only release Mr. Nnamdi Kanu but also to tread with the utmost restraint and caution when dealing with those that are agitating for Biafra.

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Entertainment

Femi Fani-kayode comes for President Buhari In New Article, "An Ode To The Tyrant"

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There comes a
time in the life of a man when he must be a man and stand up and speak the
truth, even when others are too timid and intimidated to do so.

By the grace of God I have today reached that point
and I will bare my mind to the sickly tyrant. And after I have had my say I
shall gallantly take my stand and with faith proclaim: let the demons of hell
be invoked and conjured up and let them come forth and do their very worse, for
they shall not pass and neither shall they prevail.
And so it shall be as I stand on these holy words
and boldly proclaim, o wicked tyrant, I stand and I fight against you. I stand
and I fight in the name of the Living God. I stand and I fight in the name of
Harrow and Cambridge. I stand and I fight in the name of Kelly and London. I
stand and I fight as the son of my father. I stand and I fight as a proud and
strong African. I stand and I fight as a resilient and irresistible Nigerian. I
stand and I fight as a man of courage. I stand and I fight as a beautiful and
irrepressible black man.
I stand and I
fight as a man of faith, a Christian who knows that his God is mighty and can
never be defeated. We are what we believe ourselves to be. I am unbeatable,
irrepressible and indestructible. I am a covenant child of the Living God, a
prince of the Faith and a son of the Kingdom. My head may be bloodied but it is
not bowed. I do not know the meaning of fear and I have learnt to master the
affliction of pain. I do not flinch.
I stand and I fight with my whole being: with my
body, with my spirit and with my soul. I stand and I fight to win and not to
lose. I stand and I fight, tall and proud and by the power of the God that I
serve, I shall always prevail. I stand and I fight because children of Israel
are never alone. I stand and I fight because all tyrants must be resisted. I
stand and I fight because God’s word says “He shall cut off the spirit of
princes” and “He is terrible to the kings of the earth”.
And so to the tyrant, I have just this to say: you
can detain me, you can malign me, you can arrest me and you can misrepresent
me. You can persecute me, you can subjugate me, you can lie about me and you
can scatter my household and my loved ones. You can vilify me, you can torment
me, you can jeer at me and you can mock me. You can sack my associates, you can
query my loyalists and you can cause my friends to flee the land.
You can humiliate those who stand for me, you can
pour scorn on those who love me, you can threaten those who speak for me and
you can bribe those who work for me. You can plan, you can scheme, you can
assign and you can direct and delegate destruction at my doorsteps and at my
gates. You can intimidate and torment and you can use your kingly power to
abuse and to destroy. You can do all these things yet ultimately you will fail
because, like all beastly tyrants, you have forgotten the power of God in all
your subterranean wickedness and in all your sinister schemes.


Let him plot and plan both night and day. Let him invoke strange spirits,
consult the stars, torture, detain, defame, destroy, charge, frame, kill and
maim. Let him “cry havoc” and let slip the horrific dogs of war. Let him break
and let him crush the very spirit of the people. Let him enslave the whole of
our nation and cower us all into silence and submission. Let him unleash his
kinsmen and cattle-rearers on the southern part of our country. Let him
engender the philosophy of Boko Haram. Let him turn us into cowards and
quislings, let him plunge us into darkness and let him bewitch our feeble
souls.
Holding on to power at all costs? That is nothing
new, Saul tried it and failed. Agag tried it and failed. Herod tried it and
failed. Pharaoh tried it and failed and so did Nero and Caligula and Jezebel
and countless others.
For the God that stopped them is still alive and
continues to rule in the affairs of men and He alone forges the destiny of
nations. And in all this know one thing: that you cannot break me, you cannot
kill me, you cannot defeat me and you cannot destroy me. This is because I am
anointed for greatness and I am truly blessed by He who sits above the circles
of the earth and by He who created all that is. The lines have fallen for me in
pleasant places and yea I have a goodly heritage. My future has been
established and decreed by the oracles of God. It has been inscribed in the
stars and it has been written in the books of heaven. It cannot be altered or
aborted by you or your invocations and spells and your wicked ways.
And yet perhaps you should know another: that your
end has already been decreed by the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the
God of Jacob and it is only a matter of time before it suddenly comes. For my
soul stands defiant against you. I defy you with all my being. My contempt for
you is resounding, for you are nothing but sickness and weakness and failure
and deceit and emptiness. You are nothing but the darkness that seeks the darkness,
both you and the Amalekite foundation from which you come.
My God has spoken and on His word I stand. My spirit
is lifted and it is filled with joy and strength. I stand and I fight because
my victory is assured. I stand and I fight because I despise the shame. I stand
and I fight because there is a greater tomorrow. I stand and I fight because I
will never bow before this beastly and deceitful tyrant. I stand and I fight
because I am who I am. I stand and I fight because my God is “a man of war”.
I stand and I fight because the Lord has steeled my
body, my spirit and my soul. I stand and I fight because the fewer the number,
the greater the share of honour. I stand and I fight because King David stood
and fought, and Gideon and Joshua and Jehu that went before him. So let the
sickly tyrant rant and rave. Let him do his very worse. Let him, like Nero,
play his fiddle whilst Rome burns and let him make merry in his wickedness and
inglorious ways.
Let him plot and plan both night and day. Let him
invoke strange spirits, consult the stars, torture, detain, defame, destroy,
charge, frame, kill and maim. Let him “cry havoc” and let slip the horrific
dogs of war. Let him break and let him crush the very spirit of the people. Let
him enslave the whole of our nation and cower us all into silence and
submission. Let him unleash his kinsmen and cattle-rearers on the southern part
of our country. Let him engender the philosophy of Boko Haram. Let him turn us
into cowards and quislings, let him plunge us into darkness and let him bewitch
our feeble souls.
Yet in all his treacheries and schemings let him
know one thing, that we are not shaken and neither are we moved. For even if he
were to carve up our flesh and send our dismembered limbs to the four corners
of the kingdom, our God is able to put us back together again and give us life,
even more abundant. And even if he can kill our weak and worldly bodies, he
cannot break our spirits and neither can he take our souls. For if our God can
move mountains who and what is he?
We stand and we fight because the Lord
is our defence and the Holy One of Israel is our king and our God. We stand and
we fight because His word boldly asks, “who is this uncircumcised Philistine
that has chosen to defy the armies of the Living God?” We stand and we fight
because He goes on to affirm that “I have found David my servant and with my
holy oil have I anointed him”. We stand and we fight because His holy word
proclaims “who art thou o mountain before Zerrubabel? Thou shalt be made a
plain”.
If our God be for us, what can he possibly do? Our
God’s word says “who is he that sayest a thing and it cometh to pass when the
Lord God of Hosts has commanded it not?” It says “who is he that lays a charge
before God’s elect, is it not Christ that justifies?” It says “whose report
will you believe and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” It says
“who can separate us from the love of the Lord?” and that “nay, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us”.
We stand and we fight because we are indeed “more than
conquerors”. We stand and we fight because tin pot tyrants come and go: they
are a dime a dozen, soon to be forgotten. We stand and we fight because heroes
and martyrs, even if they fall in their course, will always live forever. We
stand and we fight because we serve a mighty God who never fails and who will
never leave us or forsake us. We stand and we fight knowing that the victory is
ours. We stand and we fight for our honour, for our nation, for our women and
for our children. We stand and we fight with courage, strength, defiance and
joy knowing that though weeping may tarry in the night, “joy comes in the
morning”.
We stand and we fight because His word says “once
has it been spoken and twice have we heard that all power belongs to God and
the heavens do rule in the affairs of men”. We stand and we fight because we
have no other choice, for good will always triumph over evil and light will
always overcome the darkness in the end. We stand and we fight because we fear
not death, we fear not the tyrant and we fear not his gods and idols. We stand
and we fight because our God will always love us and through Him and by Him our
salvation is secure. We stand and we fight because we have been prepared for
war.
We stand and we fight because the Lord is our
defence and the Holy One of Israel is our king and our God. We stand and we
fight because His word boldly asks, “who is this uncircumcised Philistine that
has chosen to defy the armies of the Living God?” We stand and we fight because
He goes on to affirm that “I have found David my servant and with my holy oil
have I anointed him”. We stand and we fight because His holy word proclaims
“who art thou o mountain before Zerrubabel? Thou shalt be made a plain”.
We stand and we fight because we wax strong in battle.
We stand and we fight because we cannot be defeated. We stand and we fight
because we are not in the hands of men but rather we are under the power of
God. We stand and we fight because He is our shield, He is our glory and the
lifter of our heads. We stand and we fight because He will “pour out His wrath
upon the heathen that have not known Him and upon the kingdoms that have not
called upon His name.”
So let it be and so it is and yet until then, we
stand and we fight, we stand and we fight, we stand and we fight.
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Entertainment, Opinion

The herdsmen from hell | By: Femi Fani-Kayode

“Throughout history it has been the inaction of those who could have acted, the indifference of those who should have known better and the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most that has made it possible for evil to triumph”– His Royal Majesty Haile Selassie 1, Emperor of Ethiopia.
//
If there was ever a time to remember the words of Haile Selassie and speak out against evil this is it. With the abduction of the elder statesman and June 12th struggle hero, Chief Olu Falae, from his home by a group of Fulani herdsmen in south western Nigeria it is time for us to seriously consider the expulsion of all Fulani herdsmen from the southern part of our country.

We thank God and commend the efforts of the Inspector-General of the Nigerian police that Chief Falae was returned home safely after a harrowing three days. Given his status in Yoruba land, had this not been so there would have been cataclysmic consequences for the unity of our country.
It is because we wish to avoid such a scenario that it is important that we get these marauders and vandals out of our territory as quickly as possible. This is especially so given the fact that, by Falae’s testimony, it is clear that the Fulani herdsmen that abducted him were working hand in hand with Boko Haram.
These herdsmen have become the pests of our nation. They are like the east African tsetse fly: wherever they go they suck the life blood out of their hosts and, like the locust, they destroy everything in their path. They are like leeches: they indulge in a parasitic mode of nutrition and they suck the blood of the carcass until their victim is left for dead.
Like the Arab Janjaweed, they are only known for the most hideous of things. This includes terror, intimidation, theft, murder, rape, abduction, mutilation, the violation of the rights of others, the destruction of the land and crops of farmers and the destruction of property.
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Anyone that doubts this should ask the people of the north central zone what they have been suffering in the hands of these vagabonds and vagrants for the last 50 years. This is especially so in Plateau, Benue, Niger, Kwara, Nassarawa, Taraba and Adamawa states.
Yet up until 20 years ago this was essentially a northern problem and it did not affect the south. Sadly that has changed. It has now become a national plague that knows no boundaries and whose poison threatens to consume us all.
In the last few years the Fulani herdsmen have attacked, ravaged and pillaged many rural communities south of the River Niger and they have slaughtered and raped thousands of innocent people in the south-south, the south-east and the south-western zones of our country.
We recall how, after a violent clash between them and some Yoruba farmers in Oyo state in 2000, General Buhari (as he then was) led a strong delegation of northern leaders to see the late Governor of Oyo state, Governor Lam Adeshina. On arrival Buhari put the following question to him: “why are YOUR people killing MY people?” This was a classic case of a Freudian slip. The Bible says ‘’out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks’’. The general had spoken his mind.
Governor Adeshina was shocked with disbelief and he responded by telling Buhari that he was rather surprised that a former Head of State would refer to one ethnic group as “his’’ people whilst referring to another as someone elses’. He said that this was especially so given the fact that people were killed on both sides of the divide in what was a sad and unfortunate conflict.
The insensitivity of Buhari to the Yoruba farmers and their plight in the hands of the Fulani raiders was noted from that moment on. Ever since that conversation took place the lines have been drawn and the south west has been on alert.
The abduction of Falae may well have brought things to a head because today virtually every self-respecting Yoruba man is calling for strong resistance to these alien cattle-rearers whose criminal activities have led to nothing but blood, tears and carnage. If the government refuses to stop them then it is very clear that some communities may end up doing so themselves.
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Yet there is an even more sinister dimension to this problem than most people care to admit. That dimension is best illustrated by the following question. Can there be any truth in the assertion that the Fulani herdsmen are nothing less than the vanguard and covert armed wing of the Fulani ruling class which has managed to infiltrate the south under the ingenious guise of selling cows?
Are they sleeper cells of a much bigger army and a much wider cause? Are they, as Falae has suggested, working hand in hand with Boko Haram? If a major conflict were to arise would those sleeper cells be activated and would they commence the wholesale slaughter of the indigenous population in their host states? As painful as it may appear these are questions that we must ask.
The fact that the herdsmen demanded for a 100 million naira ransom from Falae speaks volumes. The question is this: what do mere cattle-rearers want with 100 million naira? Even more instructive is the fact that when they were offered 2 million naira they responded by saying that that amount would not be enough for Boko Haram.
Given all this it is clear to me that we must begin to look at the wider picture. We must accept the ugly reality that there may be more to all this than meets the eye. This is especially so given the fact that up until the time of writing this piece not one of Falae’s captors has been apprehended by the police and they seem to have vanished into thin air. One wonders what transpired. Were they granted amnesty or are they ghosts?
Can there be any truth in the suggestion that there was some kind of official collusion in the abduction? Was it an attempt to put Falae, and by extension the Yoruba, in their place for vigorously supporting the idea of a national conference? Is it an attempt to intimidate those from the south west that opposed President Buhari in the 2015 presidential elections? If so it will not work.
Afenifere, the leading socio-cultural group of the south west of which Falae is a leading member, and the Yoruba people generally have a way of rising to the occasion when they are threatened, cheated or persecuted. History proves that. Worthy of note are the words of Dr. Frederick Fasheun and Otunba Gani Adams, both leaders of the Odua Peoples Congress (OPC) in this matter. Only the unwise would ignore their counsel.
Another curious twist to the tale is the fact that it took the Buhari administration two days to make any formal announcement on Falae’s abduction and just the day after they finally did so the elder statesman was suddenly released.
The question is this: who is pulling the strings from behind the scenes and who is attempting to test our resolve and test the waters? Whatever the answer to these questions are one thing remains clear. The days of killing people with impunity and stripping them of their lands and possessions are long over.
The Fulani herdsmen may well believe that they have one of their own in the Villa today but that does not mean that they will get away with their murderous ways or their sheer impunity. It is most unwise for them to continue to test the resolve of the people of the south in this way. I say this because collectively southerners are slow to anger but irresistible in battle. When pushed to the wall they often indulge in what Dr. Amanze Obi, the respected columnist for Nigeria’s Sun newspaper, once described as ”southern fury”.
Permit me to conclude this intervention with an interesting and relevant contribution from the famous British historian, writer and educationalist Dr. T.R. Batten. He wrote:
“The Fulani were at their most influential in Gobir.Then a dispute broke out between their Imam, Usman Dan Fodiyo and Sarkin Gobir Yunfa.The Fulani rallied behind their leader who encouraged them to defy their Hausa Chief. He began a jihad and fighting broke out. Thus the Fulani seized the country by force against the will of those who lived there. The enmity had nothing to do with religion for among those who fought (against the Fulani) were many Muslims. It was about the Fulani’s wish to seize power from the Hausas.”
It follows that the herdsman and those that they represent conquer by infiltration, assimilation and guile. Those that doubt this should find out what became of the ancient Hausa kingdoms. May God deliver us from the vagabonds and vagrants in our midst.
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Opinion: Femi Fani-Kayode needs to shut up!| By: Jola Sotubo

Femi Fani-Kayode
Fani-Kayode has unfortunately been very vocal in
recent times with his numerous postulations on Nigeria’s “satanic foundation”
and how it’s destined to fail and various conspiracy theories of impending Northern
domination.

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Ever Since Femi Fani-Kayode blamed Reeva
Steenkamp for her own death at the hands of paralympian boyfriend, Oscar
Pistorius and called her “a creature from the sea” who came “into this
great man’s life just to destroy it”, I knew he wasn’t someone to take
seriously.
However, his response to elder statesman. Olu
Falae’s abduction just takes the cake. Falae was kidnapped from his farm in Ondo State on Monday September 21, 2015 and Fani-Kayode’s response
was to threaten the Federal Government.
 “We cannot sit by idly and watch our leaders
and elders being endangered, shamed and humiliated in this way,” the former minister wrote in a statement.
“Let
it be clearly understood that if anything happens to him and if he doesn’t come
home hale and hearty we will hold the Federal Government responsible and there
will be consequences. Those that are in power would do well to take what I have
said very seriously,” he added.
Fani-Kayode has done
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nothing to hide his disdain
for the Muhammadu Buhari administration and, in June, even linked the president to asuicide bombing in Maiduguri, Borno State.
However his recent utterance shows an
utter disrespect for himself and an immense insensitivity
towards the delicate security situation in the country.
It is in fact, Fani-Kayode who has “shamed and
humiliated” our elders as it appears that he either just loves to make
headlines to stay relevant or is so oblivious of his own
ridiculousness that he can’t be saved.
After listening to the former minister
embarrass himself severally, I have to say that enough is truly
enough and Femi Fani-Kayode just needs to shut up!
Written by Jola Sotubo.
Source

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Buhari: Nigerian President Or King Of The North?| By Femi Fani-Kayode

“In 418 B.C. Herodotus, the Greek philosopher who is known as the ”father of history”, said “a man who does not know anything about the events that took place before he or she was born will remain forever a child.”
 Not only was he right but one must go a step further by saying that those
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who refuse to learn from their history are condemned to repeating its mistakes.

In 1957, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Saurdana of Sokoto and the Premier of the North, said the following: “We the people of the north will continue our stated intention to conquer the south and to dip the koran in the Atlantic ocean after the British leave our shores.”

Three years later, on 12 th October 1960, he went a step further by saying the following words to the Parrot Newspaper: “The new nation called Nigeria should be an estate of our great grandfather Uthman Dan Fodio. We must ruthlessly prevent a change of power. We must use the minorities in the North as willing tools and the South as a conquered territory and never allow them to rule over us and never allow them to have control over their future”.

That same year he said: “I will allow Sir Tafawa Balewa to go and become Prime Minister and lead the unbelievers of the south whilst I will stay in the north and lead the faithful”.

One year later, in a television interview with the BBC (which can still be viewed on Youtube) he was asked whether his “northernisation policy” would be a temporary or permanent feature. His response was as follows. “
In actual fact the policy is a northerner first. If you cannot get a northerner then you get an expatriate like yourself on contract. If we cannot get that then we will employ another Nigerian from the south on contract too. This is going to be a permanent policy as far as I forsee”.

Not to be outdone, in January 1947 on the floor of the Northern House of Assembly, Sir Tafawa Balewa, a man that was to become the first Prime Minister of Nigeria 13 years later, said the following words:
“We do not want our Southern neighbours to interfere in our development. We have never associated ourselves with the activities of these people. We do not know them, we do not recognise them, and we share no responsibility in their actions. We shall demand our rights when the time is ripe. If the British quit Nigeria now at this stage, the Northern people would continue their uninterrupted conquest to the sea”.

The passion for the total domination of the Nigerian state by the north has not in any way diminished over the years. As a matter of fact it appears to have become even more pronounced and, for some, it has become an obsession.

Consider the following.

On 2nd October 2014, one Aliyu Gwarzo said the following to Pointblanknews:

“When I say that the Presidency must come to the north next year I am referring to the Hausa-Fulani core north and not any northern  christian or minority tribe. The Christians in the north are nothing and the minorities know that when we are talking about leadership in the north and in Nigeria, Allah has given it to us, the Hausa-Fulani. They owe us everything.

This is because we gave them Islam through the great Jihad waged by Sheik Usman Dan Fodio. We liberated all these places and all these people by imposing islam on them by force. It was either the Koran or the sword and most of them chose the Koran. 

In return for the good works of our forefathers Allah, through the British, gave us Nigeria to rule and to do with as we please. Since 1960 we have been doing that and we intend to continue. No Goodluck or anyone else will stop us from taking back our power next year. We will kill, maim, destroy and turn this country into Africa’s biggest war zone and refugee camp if they try it. Many say we are behind Boko Haram. My answer is what do you expect? We do not have economic power or intellectual power. All we have is political power and they want to take even that from us. If they don’t want an ISIS in Nigeria then they must give us back the Presidency and our political power.

 Their soldiers are killing our warriors and our people every day but mark this: even if it takes one hundred years  we will have our revenge. Every Fulani man that they kill is a debt that will be repaid even if it takes 100 years. The Fulani have very long memories”.

The full text of Gwarzo’s contribution can be read on Pointblanknews or elsewhere. His words are self-explanatory and they need no further analysis. Thankfully his views do not represent the thinking of the majority of Hausa Fulani people but he does speak for a dangerous and vocal minority and his
words constitute a clear statement of intent. 
Simply put, it is his desire to conquer and subjugate southern Nigeria and to restore northern domination and supremacy in the affairs of our nation in perpetuity.

The quest for northern domination in the affairs of our country is as old as the hills. It led to a brutal civil war between 1967 and 1970 in which millions were killed. It led to pogrom after pogrom and slaughter after slaughter in the north. It led to a series of military coups and counter coups. In 1991 it led to a coup by Major Gideon Orkar which, if it had been successful, would have resulted in the excision of the core northern states from our country. 
It led to the annulement of Chief MKO Abiola’s presidential election of June 12th 1993 which almost
resulted in a second civil war. It led to the brutal suppression of the south by General Sani Abacha and the murder, torture, incarceration and exile of many southern leaders.
 It led to stiff opposition to the government of President Olusegun Obasanjo in the north which came in the guise “political sharia”. And finally it led to it’s most barbaric and hideous expression in the relentless opposition to the regime of President Goodluck Jonathan
which came in the form of Boko Haram.

Judging from recent events, with President Buhari now in power it appears that those that have been lusting for total northern domination for the last 55 years have finally had their way.

The inability to think deeply or profoundly is a curse. The inability to read widely and learn from others is a pitiful and costly affliction. If there were ever a time for profound thinking and deep and sober reflection when it comes to the affairs of our nation it is now. I say this because  only three months after President Buhari has been sworn into office the power configuration, vis a vis north and south, has resulted in the following mess.

1. President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria – north.

2.Senate President- north.
3. Speaker of the House of Representatives- north. 
4. Chief Justice of the Federation- north. 
5. President of the Court of Appeal- north. 
6. Chief Justice of the Federal High Court- north.

7. Secretary to the Federal Government- north. 
8. Chief of Staff to the President- north. 
9. Chief of Army Staff- north. 
10. Chief of Air Staff- north. 
11. Comptroller General of Customs- north. 
12. Director-General of State Security Services (SSS)- north. 
13. National Security Advisor- north. 
14. Director General NIMASA- north. 
15. Chairperson of the Independant Electoral Commission (INEC)- north. 
16. Comptroller-General Immigration- north. 
17. Accountant-General of the Federation – north. 
18. Commander of Civil Defence Corps- north. 
19. Chief Security Officer to the President- north. 
20. ADC to the President- north. 

21. Principal Secretary to the President- north. 
22. Senior Special Assistant to the President on media- north. 
23.Chairman of the EFCC- north. 
24. MD Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA)- north. 
25. Head of Service- north. 
26.DG National Communication Commission (NCC)- north.

27. Chairman NDLEA- north. 
28. CEO AMCON- north.

There is no gainsaying that this is unacceptable. Some of us warned that this would happen but we were insulted and lampooned for doing so. These appointments are not only lopsided but they are also a manifestation of the fact that in just three months southern Nigeria has finally been relegated to being little more than an occupied region and a vassal state. 
The people of the south appear to have been placed in servitude and bondage. Our chains may be invisible but they are very much there.
The question must be asked: is Buhari the President of Nigeria or is he the King of the north? Some have argued that the federal character formula has no place in our affairs anymore and that merit ought to be the only criteria for government appointments. Permit me to qoute a young man from twitter who responded to that absurd logic rather well by saying ”if federal character isn’t important, why is the Vice President also not from Daura? Educated people should not speak like illiterates”.

Others have said that we should wait for the ministerial list and that after that things would balance out. Again this is absurd logic and those that spout such convoluted thrash appear to have forgotten the fact that the President is compelled by law and the constitution to appoint a Minister from every state of the federation, including each of the southern states.

Whether he is President of Nigeria or King of the north Buhari would do well to retrace his steps. The consequences of not doing so for both his government and the unity of our country will be grave and costly. The south cannot be subjugated and treated with contempt and the people of the south will never be slaves. Fairness and equity in the distribution of national resources and key government appointments are a fundamental pre-requisite for peace, security and national unity in our country.

It has served our collective interest well for many years. Those that seek to upset the applecart and jettison it today are not considering the inevitable and monumental consequences of their actions. Power may have returned to the north but the people of the south must be treated with respect, sensitivity, dignity, fairness and decency. Those that refuse to accept this counsel and that insist on charting a different course do so at their own peril.
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What Did We Do to Deserve This | By: Femi Fani-Kayode

Sometimes last year, I watched the Hollywood blockbuster titled ”12 Years A Slave” starring Brad Pitt and the Nigerian-born actor Chiwetel Ejiofor.  After watching the film I was at a loss for words. It was a masterpiece. It was a powerful rendition of a true and heroic story.

After watching the film I could not help asking myself the following question: what did the black man ever do to deserve such wickedness and suffering? What did our forefathers do to deserve such barbarity and mindless torture in the hands of those that held them captive in a distant land?

May God forgive those that brutalised and enslaved us. I cannot hate them. I can only love and forgive them because only love and forgiveness can drive out hate and heal the wounds that they inflicted on the souls of our people.

What they did to us was far greater, far more damaging and far more devastating than the Germans ever did to the Jews. Though we are compelled to forgive by scripture, we must never forget.

And never must such a thing be allowed to happen again. No minority, whether he or she be black, brown, yellow, red, white or in any other way ”different” should be allowed to suffer like that or to feel the pain of humiliation, indignity, servitude, persecution and the denial of the most basic and fundamental rights because we are all God’s children.

It is incumbent on us all to stand up for the weak, the vulnerable, the deprived, the despised, the enslaved, the voiceless, the ”different” and the persecuted wherever and whoever they are because to love others as we love ourselves is God’s primary law.

They must never be allowed to walk alone because it was that spirit of standing up for others and fighting for the weak and helpless and the display of such love and selflessness that eventually freed the so-called ”slave” from his hideous captivity in the film titled ”12 Years A Slave”.

It was the goodness, love, kindness courage and inherent power of those who refused to remain silent and who were ready to take a risk and stand up for truth and justice that caused the man to regain his freedom and to be returned to his family in Washington after being enslaved for twelve long years. What a man. What a film. What a great and powerful rendition of truth and what a testimony of man’s inhumanity to man.

What compelling evidence and confirmation of the eternal truth that tells us that no matter how dark the night may be, ”joy comes in the morning”. What an affirmation of the undeniable fact that ultimately good always triumphs over evil. What a magnificent example of God’s power, grace, manifold blessings and great mercy.

I urge as many as possible to find the time to watch ”12 Years A Slave”. You will never be the same again.   Having watched this film I believe that the case for reparations for the slave trade must continue to be made. If the world can give the State of Israel back to the Jews as compensation for persecuting them for thousands of years and killing 6 million of them during the Second World war alone why can’t that same world pay reparations to the African for enslaving him for thousands of years and for killing at least 30 million of our people over the ages.
Why can’t the western powers be made to pay reparations to Africa for what they subjected our people  to even after the institution of slavery and the slave trade was formally abolished and particularly during the colonial era? 
As a glaring example of the sheer cruelty of the Europeans during that period, King Leopold 11, who ruled Belgium from 1865 to 1909, actually owned the Congo and all that was in it as part of his personal estate.

By virtue of his supposedly blue blood, one man owned millions of Africans and all their land and chattels even though he resided thousands of miles away in a distant Europe.
Such was this man’s inate brutality and monstrous power that he orchestrated and directed the slaughter of no less than 15 million Congolese Africans whilst he ruled from Brussels. This was so even though he never set his foot in Africa throughout his long reign.
Yet the world sat by silently and did nothing. As a matter of fact many of his fellow Europeans actually applauded his actions and described him as a good example and indeed the epitomy of all that was noble and all that ought to be expected from the very best of European royalty. I ask again, what did the black man do to deserve this?

What about Cecil Rhodes, the Englishman man who, according to European historians, ”literally and lawfully bought” a large part of southern Africa and all that was in it and who named that new frontier after himself by calling it ”Rhodesia”? He also sent millions of Africans to their early graves. This is the same Cecil Rhodes who established the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship for Oxford University and whose money has helped, and still helps, to educate some of the western world’s most distinguished and celebrated leaders by paying for their fees at Oxford. One of those leaders was a young man by the name of Bill Clinton who took immense pride in being a Rhodes Scholar and who later became the President of the United  States of America.
Little did Clinton and all those other ‘’great’’ future leaders of the western world know that the money that was used to pay for their ‘’Rhodes scholarship’’ at Oxford was in fact blood money which had it’s origins and roots in the suffering of the tormented souls, wasted lives and barbaric slaughter of millions of dispossesed and enslaved southern Africans that were bought, sold, maimed, enslaved and butchered in the diamond mines of Cecil Rhodes’ De Beers company.
It was this pernicious state of affairs that provoked Mr. Ronald King to post the following words on his Facebook page on august 3rd 2015: 

‘’Every black child in grade school is taught that Adolf Hitler killed 6 million Jews and is the worse human being that ever lived. On the other hand our children are taught that the ‘’Right Honorable’’ Cecil Rhodes, the founder of the De Beers diamond company in South Africa, who killed ten times that number of Africans is a hero and a statesman and if they study hard and do well in school they may win the Rhodes Scholarship, the oldest and most celebrated international fellowship award in the world. They don’t mention that those scholarships are paid for by the blood of their ancestors’’.

Such was the power of Rhodes’ sinister, evil, pervasive and malevolent legacy that it took over 100 years and a bitter and prolonged 15 year civil war (from 1964 to 1979) for the black Africans of that country to secure their rights, to be recognised and acknowledged as being human beings, to win the right to vote and to install democracy and majority rule.

It was only after all this was achieved, in 1979, that the name ”Rhodesia” was dropped like a hot potato and was changed to ”Zimbabwe”. I ask again, what did the black man do to deserve this?

We need not go into the sufferings of our black brothers and sisters in apartheid  South Africa at the hands of the white Boers from the day that the Dutchman, Van Riebek, arrived on the southern African coast in 1604 and saw what he graphically described as ”stinking black dogs”. We need not talk about the humiliation and enslavement of our fellow black Africans at the hands of the Arabs of the Sudan, whether it be in Darfur or Southern Sudan for over 500 years.
We need not go into the sheer barbarity and inhuman suffering that our brothers and sisters were subjected to in the sugar cane fields and the coffee and bannana plantations of the West Indies and South America for many centuries.

Everywhere we look throughout world history the story is the same: Africa and Africans have been pillaged, raped, tortured, humiliated, enslaved, butchered, wrenched from their families, scattered, bought and sold, considered as chattel and treated with the most explicit and extreme forms of brutality and violence by those who have a different skin color to us and those from outside our shores.

Yet still there have been no reparations and no formal apology.  Instead what they have given us today is the the ”second slavery” of foreign debt and humiliating servitude by every single African country to the western monetary agencies such as the IMF, the Paris Club, the Bretton Woods Institutions and the World Bank.
Those evil and opaque bodies and their paymasters and agents are today’s slave masters and they have turned successive African governments into little more than desperate pimps, shameless prostitutes and indebted and pliant little beggars.
They have squeezed the very life out of our people, destroyed the future of our respective nations and blighted our collective destinies. This is neo-colonialism in it’s most primitive and raw form. I ask again, what did the black man do to deserve this?
Yet thankfully there is still hope and God’s power still remains sure and ever present. He is ever faithful and His promises are ever sure.
Nothing drives that point home more than the fact that despite all we have suffered over the centuries in the hands of those that enslaved us and that viewed us as nothing more than worthless chattel, today it is a black man of free African descent, whose forefathers were never slaves and whose proud ancestry can be traced to modern-day Kenya on the east African coast, that is the most powerful man in the world.
That man’s name is Barack Obama, President of the United States of America. The fact that such a man with such a heritage can be President of a nation that once prided itself on slavery and that once regarded the black man as nothing more than a glorified chimpanzee is a testimony to the power of God. Yet the African is not alone in this respect.
Apart from the Jews, the Red Indians of North America, the Armenians of Asia and the Aborigines of Australia there is only one other group of people that have suffered almost as much as the African in the hands of other races in human history.
Those people are those that were once known as the ”serfs”- the slave under-class of slavic Russia. Like the African, the serfs and peasants of Russia were also treated with disdain, regarded as chattel and viewed as being sub-human by the Tsars and ruling class of the Russian Empire.
They also suffered immeasurably in their millions for thousands of years under successive Russian governments and rulers. Like the African, they were also ”owned” by their rulers and they lived or died at the pleasure of the nobility.
It is yet another irony of fate and another testimony to the awesome power of God that today the second most powerful man on the planet  is a proud, confident and strong-willed Russian whose ancestry can be traced directly to the serfs of mother Russia and who comes from equally humble origins. His name is Vladimer Putin, the President of the Russian Federation.
The world has indeed been handed over by God to the seed and lineage of those that were once oppressed and that were once treated as sub-human by others. The meek and the once despised have indeed inherited the earth. Yet that is not good enough. We have far more to do.

The case for reparations can and must still be made for Africa and Africans in particular and we must begin to make that case without fear or favour right from today. We must pick up the gauntlet and take over the baton from where others  left off. We must acknowledge the fact that if we, as men and women of color, do not do it ourselves no-one will do it for us.
May the souls of all those that suffered and perished as slaves continue to rest in peace. God bless Africa.
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Photos: Femi Fani-Kayode celebrates court victory, changes name.

Ex Minister Of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode who was discharged and acquitted of money laundering charges by a Federal High Court today held a feast to celebrate the victory. Interestingly, he has also changed his name. The PDP stalwart now wishes to be addressed as Chief Oluwafemi Olukayode.  Read his press statement below.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted, humbled and relieved by this verdict. In the last seven years, I have been subjected to the most malicious, vicious, sinister, well-orchestrated, insidious and devastating form of political persecution and wickedness.

The whole process almost destroyed my life, my family, my reputation, my health and my career. I thank God for his goodness, his mercy and for the fact that today, the whole nightmare has finally come to an end.

Initially, I was accused of stealing N19.5bn of public funds when I was Minister of Aviation. It was thrown out by the courts. Then I was accused of stealing N6.5bn. It was thrown out by the courts. Then I was accused of laundering N200m. It was thrown out by the courts. Then I was accused of laundering N99m. It was thrown out by the courts. Finally, I was accused of laundering N1m and N1.1m respectively, and today, both of these charges have also been thrown out by the courts. I give thanks to God for today’s verdict.

It is the doing of the lord and it is marvelous in our sight. Once again, he has proved that he is faithful and true and that he always honors his word. I wish to thank my family members, leaders of the Body of Christ, intercessors, pastors, political associates and friends who never doubted my innocence and who stood by me through thick and thin.

I wish to thank my lawyers who worked so hard and so diligently over the last seven years throughout this case. I wish to thank the Nigerian judiciary for dispensing justice in an honest and God-fearing way and for refusing to be intimidated by anyone or guided by anything other than the evidence presented before them in this case.

They dispensed justice with candor and fairness, and throughout the proceedings, they were fair to all, honest, courageous, professional and true. I thank them for refusing to send an innocent man to jail and for refusing to allow themselves to be used as tools for personal and vindictive vendettas or political persecution. This gruesome ordeal started seven years ago and throughout that period, it was grueling and difficult.

They took seven years from me but they couldn’t break me or end my life. It was a very difficult period for both me and my family which came with enormous and unimaginable challenges, yet from day one I never doubted that I would be vindicated because God had assured me of it and I know the God that I serve. He never lies and He never fails. He said, through his Holy Spirit, that my innocence would speak for me and that he would fight this battle for me and he did. He said that he is the author and the finisher of my faith, my shield, my glory and the lifter of my head and he was. 


He has proved all that throughout my life and he has proved it once again with the verdict in this case. To him alone be all the glory.
When the ordeal began seven years ago the Lord ministered that it would last for seven years but that in the end, I would be declared innocent, I would be vindicated and I would be delivered. 

Again he honored his word because the whole nightmare started on 1st of July 2008 when I was arrested in the premises of the Nigerian Senate after the public hearing on the N19.5 billion Naira Aviation Intervention Fund. I was cleared of any wrong doing in the administration of that fund by the Senate Commitee on Aviation yet despite that, immediately after the sitting before the Comimitee, I was abducted and arrested in an unceremonious and shameul fashion and locked up by the Farida Waziri-led EFCC for 10 days and charged to a magistrate court in Abuja.
Today, the 1st of July 2015, seven years to the day from that day when I was first arrested and first put into detention, I have been discharged and acquitted of all remaining charges by the courts. The Lord has, once again, honored his word, to him alone be the glory.

As a mark of honor and respect for the Lord and as an everlasting testimony of my love for and dedication to him, I wish to make it known to the Nigerian public that as from today my name will be changed. It will no longer be David Oluwafemi Fani-Kayode but instead, it shall be David Oluwafemi Olukayode. Olukayode means “the Lord has brought me joy” and today he has done precisely that.

As from this day, in honor of him and as a small tribute to my love for and total dependance on Him, that shall remain my family name. Once again, I give thanks to God for all that has happened to me and for this great deliverance. To him be all the glory. I swore that I would not leave the shores of Nigeria until this matter was finally brought to an end and the courts had pronounced my innocence. That was seven years ago. I kept faith with that oath and it gives me pleasure to tell you that now that the whole ordeal is over I shall be leaving the shores of my beloved country for the first time in seven years for a short holiday and a long overdue medical examination.

They not only threw the whole book at me but also the entire kitchen sink but the Lord was with me. I stood on His words in Isaiah 50 v.7-9 and I never faltered or doubted Him even in the most difficult times. Now they know that I serve a mighty God who never forsakes His own.

I thank the media for their constant support and attention and I thank the millions of Nigerian people that chose to believe in me and to keep faith with me throughout this ordeal. Once again, I give thanks to the Lord. God bless you all.

Signed: Chief Femi Fani-Kayode (Chief Oluwafemi Olukayode) 1st July, 2015
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Money laundering charges: Court discharges and acquits Femi Fani-Kayode

A Federal High Court today dismissed the money laundering charges levelled against ex Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode.  Recall that his trial started as far back as 2008. He was arraigned by the E​conomic and Financial Crimes Commission, E​FCC​,​ for alleged laundering of about N100 million while he was minister of culture and tourism and aviation.
Delivering her judgment, the Judge, Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia ruled that the prosecution’s case was “feeble” and failed to provide “copious evidence” linking the accused to money laundering.‎
T​he prosecuting counsel, Mr. Festus Keyamo, while urging the court to accordingly convict Fani-Kayode mentioned that the object of the charge was that Mr. Fani-Kayode transacted in cash sums above N500,000, which was the threshold stipulated by the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act.‎

“Once you cannot explain the source of the large sum of money found on you, you are guilty of money laundering. If the prosecution must show where the money is coming from, then the whole essence of the money laundering law is defeated.

“It is not in all cases that the burden of proof lies on the prosecution; the burden at this point shifts to the accused person,” Keyamo affirmed.‎

Femi Fani-Kayode’s lawyer, Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), in his summary maintained that there were no convincing proofs from the prosecutors. He said his client made no confession to the EFCC and the agency failed to show that Fani-Kayode actually accepted a cash sum of N1million as alleged and the person he collected it from.
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