The Sin of General Abdulsalami Abubakar as Nigerians Wail, by Abdulkadir Salaudeen

Think you have seen it all? Just wait, this government will prove you wrong. It will tell you that you have seen nothing. Wait, there is more and even more after more to see. If you think you are in Hell, Tinubu government will tell you the Hell is not hellish enough. It needs to be fuelled and refuelled for more pains and woes. The pains must be totally debilitating to the body and devastating to the economy. It is like saying; “since I used my money to buy this Emi lo kàn presidential seat, you must also lose your economy lifeline as I milk the economy to get my money back.”

Many have concluded that nothing good would come out of this regime. Do you blame them? The hardship in the land is so unbearable that it is not surprising to see many fanatics of Emi lo kàn Presidency now biting their fingers in regret. Some of these fanatics are innocent fanatics whose innocence is premised on being gaslighted into believing that Tinubu “built” Lagos and he is thus capable of building Nigeria.

There is another category of fanatics, they are ethnic jingoists. They did not hesitate to  follow up Emi Lo Kàn (it is my turn) with Awa Lo Kàn(it is our turn)—It is the Yoruba’s turn. The North has ruled for eight years. I don’t have problem with that. In fact, I will, anytime, advocate for a constitutional provision for ethnic based rotational presidency. Although it has its own drawbacks as we would begin to have debate on which ethnic groups will be considered for the rotation and how many will be left out as minority for the rotational arrangement, it will momentarily allay some ethnic concerns. My problem with the Yoruba’s AwaLo Kàn is their chosen candidate for the presidency. They are also regretting Tinubu’s choice (not Awa LoKàn). The recent open letter of Gani Adams, the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, where he described Tinubu’s rule as Hitler’s is a good reference.

Another fanatical group which I consider the most dangerous is the religious group. It is true that there is competitive religiosity in the Nigerian political arena between the Christians and the Muslims. If that competition had been purposed towards progress, justice, and development of the country, I will be among the first to encourage it and even participate. Unfortunately, it is about the number of Christian and Muslim representatives and what fraction of the national cake goes to either of them. That is all. If you commit the most grievous atrocity against the Nigerian masses and the Nigerian State as president, your brethren in faith will always stand up in your defense. We witnessed this under Goodluck Jonathan. That of Muhammadu Buhari is still very fresh in our memory.

I always burst into hysterical laughter whenever Nigerian Christian politicians complain about Islamization or the Muslim politicians about Christianization. It is all politics. Only the fools can be fooled. Analyzing these politicians, one would conclude that they are anything but religious. You will understand the point if you analyze, for example, the duo of Tinubu—the much advertised Muslim-Muslim presidential candidate—and Peter Obi—that suddenly became Christian warrior who believed the 2023 presidential election was a religious war.

Well, I may not be able to debate on Obi whether he is religious enough to lead a religious war since I am not a Christian; I don’t know how often he attends Sunday service and observe other church injunctions. For Tinubu, anyone who chooses to defend him as a Muslim who prays regularly will explain tire. Many even doubt if he prays at all—save some occasional ceremonial (political)prayers. How clerics suddenly promoted him to be the Muslim-Muslim presidential jihadist took some of us by surprise. Although we initially heard it as rumour, some disappointed and now “repented” clerics later confirmed that they were actually paid to promote the religious ticket.

Tinubu himself told some clerics and traditional rulers who visited him recently that he bought the presidential seat with his money. I believe those clerics understood him better than many of us. This is not to say every cleric who campaigned for same faith ticket was given money. Some did it, though naively, for selfless reason. I sympathize with some of these disappointed clerics and salute their boldness to open up. For, it is a shame and lack of integrity to continue to associate with or defend this regime in the name of religion.

Yet we find a cleric that people now call Comrade Sani Yahaya Jingir. Although I don’t know the depth of his scholarship but I do know he commands a huge following in the Muslim North. His support for Tinubu’s presidency in the name of Muslim-Muslim is glaringly fanatical. Some argue it is not fanatism; it is money. But can money damage cleric’s integrity to such an extent? I was shocked when this cleric asserted that enemies of Muslim-Muslim ticket are behind the recent hike in fuel price. He claimed President Tinubu, who is coincidentally Minister of Petroleum, went to China and while away the enemies of Muslim-Muslim ticket just hiked fuel price without Tinubu’s knowledge. This is very unpalatable. Even some of the erstwhile Muslim-Muslim clerics who now regret their 2023 politico-religious misadventure find that careless assertion too cringy to bear. They voiced out against what they considered downplaying the hardship Nigerians go through by a cleric who should show empathy.

He (Comrade Jingir) quoted Daily Trust newspaper as one of his sources. Daily Trust had to debunk the claim. Can a cleric of the status of Sheikh Jingir lie in such a ridiculous manner? I don’t know how to answer this question. This is the harm religious bigotry does to one’s integrity. Contrarily, Daily Trust reported that President Tinubu, while with some Nigerians in Beijing in China, justified the increase in fuel price which he even described as a “bold and unprecedented decision” necessary for Nigeria’s growth.

Before you could say Jack Robinson, the Muslim Right Concerned (MURIC) took a swipe at the General Abdulsalami for saying the obvious. Addressing some audience at his residence in Minna Niger State on Tuesday, the Retired General reportedly said:“The hardship in the land is getting out of control. Everybody is crying of this hardship and it seems to be getting out of control, people cannot afford three square meals, the issue of transportation, the hike in fuel, the hike in school fees for the children and the lack of funds in everybody’s pocket is making life difficult for everybody.”He further said they have made proposal to the government that “giving palliatives is not the answer to the high prices of food and other items in the country.”

Addressing the government, the General said: “You cannot beat a child and prevent it from crying.” Then he cautioned and appealed to Nigerians on the planned #Endbadgovernance protest slated for 1st of October to maintain peace. “For God sake”, he appealed, “when you demonstrate do it peacefully”.

This is the sin committed by the former Head of State for which MURIC warned him to guard his public utterances. Hear MURIC, “We are alarmed by the tone of this statement. It is an extreme language to say things are getting ‘out of control’. We do not expect a former head of state to use such strong words when describing the current situation in the country. “MURIC, maybe, expected the General to say all is well. Or, in other words, like Comrade Jingir, the General should have said Muslim-Muslim enemies are behind the general sufferings in the land. This is religious bigotry taken too far. MURIC thinks it is a religious obligation to defend Muslim rulers—no matter how terrible they are. It exhibited the same behavior under Buhari but it has worsened under Tinubu. I think ethnic jingoism has complicated the subsisting religious bigotry in MURIC as it continues to frown at any criticism against Tinubu government. One will think religion, by its nature, justifies rulers’ oppression of the masses. Anything said against this glaringly deceptive Muslim-Muslim government seems to discomfort MURIC just like the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) who must always defend Christian rulers as we witnessed in the years of Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan.

With this MURIC man as APC and Tinubu unofficial spokesperson and Comrade (Sheikh)Sani Yahaya Jingir, I doubt President Tinubu will ever understand the severity of hardship in the country.

May we be saved from the harms of religious bigotry and religious bigots.

Abdulkadir Salaudeen

salahuddeenabdulkadir@gmail.com