Jonathan, Northern Muslims and Boko Haram Saga!

                                                By Jonathan Ekene Ifeanyi

I've marvelled most about the way the Islamic party (the APC) has turned the issue of insecurity in the country into an instrument of political campaign. In particular, the posters I saw in Lagos Island some days ago were simply irritating. In the posters were written the following: “No Equipment for Security Forces…But 4.3 Trillion Security Budget.” “Corruption over Security.” “Vote for Change!”

I've simply over-heard foreigners asking what the hell Nigerian people were doing over the past few years while Boko Haram murdered about 20, 000 innocent Nigerians! “Government can’t do this if not solidly backed by the people,” said one foreigner. “Can’t the entire citizens unite to defeat the evil forces?” he asked. Indeed they can’t!  Rather, many do not only feel less concerned, they have been busy joining their fellow selfish and unpatriotic cabal that make up the Islamic party to crucify the innocent Goodluck. Just about three weeks ago, French President, Francois Hollande declared that the battle to rout Boko Haram must be total and collective, adding that his country’s efforts to checkmate the sect in Nigeria was to stop their activities from engulfing the West Africa sub-region and beyond. The French leader who spoke while hosting a well-attended “Africa-France Economic Forum for a Shared Growth” in Paris on Friday, February 7, 2015, said France was not only concerned about preserving the world but committed to efforts to tackle insurgency in the world. His declaration came just as Jonathan insisted that his administration would have no respite until insurgency is defeated, assuring that the government had not given up on its commitment to rescue the abducted Chibok girls. On a number of occasions, France had led initiatives and hosted meetings of countries within the Lake Chad basin, including Chad, Nigeria, Cameroon and Niger Republic in an effort to adopt an integrated approach in stopping the activities of Boko Haram. Now Francois Hollande remarkably noted that achieving growth and development was a mirage in an atmosphere of insecurity.

These words of a mere foreigner touched me, particularly when I considered that, with the spate of insecurity on the increase, especially in a section of the North, attention is being shifted from the concrete efforts of the present administration to transform the economy, to the continued destruction of lives and property by Boko Haram terrorists who now pose serious security threat since they intensified their dastardly acts about five years ago. So foreigners are aware of the terrible kind of situation the present administration is facing and are finding ways of assisting, but here in Nigeria, everybody folds hands while hurling unimaginable diabolical accusations on Jonathan’s administration, accusations of not just being a weak system that cannot fight “insurgency,” but also—in fact—of being the very brain behind Boko Haram!

Indeed it is true that a democratic system—government by the people—is evil, but the Nigerian case under Jonathan, a system in which even a ten-year old child can insult the President and it is simply normal, has simply become extraordinary!

Goodluck Ebele Jonathan became the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2010 following the death of President Musa Yar’Adua. First, we recall the drama that took place when Yar’Adua died—I mean the physical battle that was fought before Jonathan was eventually sworn in as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, even though it was his constitutional right to be sworn in.

The first bomb explosion witnessed by Jonathan’s administration was the October 2010 Abuja Bomb Blast—the same October Lawal Kaita said (on behalf of Northern Elders Political Forum) that “We’ll make Nigeria ungovernable for Jonathan.” The same Lawal Kaita recently stated that “North Will Confront Jonathan,” that “Anything short of a Northern President is tantamount to stealing our presidency. Jonathan has to go and he will go. Even if he uses incumbency powers to get his nomination on the platform of the PDP, he will be frustrated out.” In the same 2010 Junaid Mohammed declared that “It must be a Northerner or no Nigeria.” Asked what he expected would happen if Goodluck Jonathan won the PDP’s endorsement to contest the 2011 presidential election, Junaid said, prophetically: “There would be violence. First, the PDP would never be the same again. People would desert the PDP in droves; secondly, the north is not going to take it hands down. I want to assure that I want you to hold me to this after seeing the way the events shape.” (The Guardian, November 2, 2010).

The October 2010 bomb blast claimed over scores of lives as the country was celebrating its golden jubilee independence anniversary in Abuja on October 1, 2010. The so-called Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, MEND, claimed to be responsible. It is important to note here that the same MEND is now said to be opposing the re-election bid of Goodluck Jonathan while supporting Mohammadu Buhari!

Now we recall here that Jonathan then exonerated MEND from the attack. He did that certainly because to him, it must have been certainly unthinkable for his own people, the Niger Deltans, to do such, and this is perfectly reasonable.  In his first public reaction to the bomb blasts which took place less than a kilometre away from Eagle Square where he was inspecting a military parade in commemoration of the nation’s 50th independence anniversary, Jonathan said terrorists were behind the deadly explosions and not MEND. “What happened yesterday was a terrorist act and MEND was just used as a straw; MEND is not a terrorist group,” he said. He added that the people of the Niger Delta are aware of the efforts of the present administration to address the deprivation of the past and will not do anything to jeopardise the opportunity. “It is erroneous to think that my people who have been agitating for good living will deliberately blow up the opportunity they have now,” Jonathan said.

However, MEND did not only claim responsibility for the bomb blasts, the militants had in an e-mail messages to some media houses warned of the impending attacks and advised people to evacuate areas close to the venue of the independence celebrations about an hour before the explosions went off. We pause here to note that this is exactly the same kind of warning always given by Boko Haram before launching attacks in certain areas. It is also interesting to note that while Boko Haram in its various video messages has threatened Niger Delta militants such as those headed by Asari Dokubo, the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force, it has never at any time said anything bad against MEND!  In fact, Asari Dokubo has rightly stated that MEND, just like Boko Haram, is a faceless organization; that MEND is a faceless organisation which no longer exists as far as the struggle for people's emancipation in Niger Delta region is concerned. Speaking against the background of the controversial statement issued in January 2010 by MEND endorsing the candidacy of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari, the former militant leader described the acronym, MEND as pseudonym being used by the imprisoned Henry Okah to extort money from ignorant persons. This is true because even Henry Okah convicted for the October 1, 2010 bombing at Eagles Square, has denied being the leader of MEND in court under oath. Have you ever wondered why MEND leaders are not known anywhere like other organisations such as the Ijaw Youth Council, OPC and so on?

Here then, we see how the “insurgency” issue was systematically started. The name of a “Niger Delta militant group” was used so that gullible Nigerians would attribute future attacks to Jonathan and his people, and since then, this has been working!

A serious war was fought before Jonathan eventually contested the 2011 election. Then of course he had the sympathy of many Nigerians (whose minds have now been successfully poisoned) and so these merchants of death could do nothing to stop him; knowing that, they asked him to promise he would run for just a term. Out of frustration, Jonathan promised. But then, after the 2011 election, Jonathan began to show signs of wishing to contest come 2015.

Again, Abu King Shuluwa exploded: “Any attempt by Jonathan to run for the election would plunge this country into total anarchy or revolution because the people feel betrayed by a president who told them that he would run for one term and thereafter return power to the North…I saw a vision of the country disintegrating by 2015, but the only person that can save Nigeria from the impending disintegration is President Jonathan and he can do that by not contesting the 2015 presidential election. If he does, then he is calling for the total revolution, which will affect every household. That revolution will start the day Jonathan is announced as the candidate of the PDP. If he dares win the election, he will hardly be sworn-in because of the revolution”. (Vanguard Newspapers, Sunday, May 5, 2013).

Northern Muslims manifested their most terrible kind of wickedness when they started circulating the news that Jonathan himself is behind Boko Haram attacks. First, on the over 200 Chibok girls: We recall that Governor Shettima of Borno State was advised by the Federal Government to relocate those girls to Maiduguri to write their WAEC examination due to security concern in Chibok. Governor Shettima refused but instead gave assurance that he had security for the girls. But in reality he had none except an old “maiguard” in the school. After an exam session the girls were abducted by Boko Haram, but before then, the Principal of the school and her daughters who are Muslims had disappeared from Chobok. Thereafter, it took Mr. Governor 18 days to inform his President of the Chibok girls’ abduction. Till date, no Nigerian has been honest enough to ask Shettima to account for those girls or vacate his office, having deceived the nation and which deceit resulted in the abduction of the girls. Today Mr. Shettima is in the forefront of those seeking for “Change.”

The Chibok girls were kidnapped on the 14^th of April, 2014. Then in August 2014 we heard of the same Northern Elders Forum (of which Lawal Kaita is a member) giving Jonathan an ultimatum till the end of October 2014 to bring back the Chibok girls. The elders also “ordered” Jonathan to end the Boko Haram “insurgency” with immediate effect, threatening that failure to do so meant he was not fit to seek a re-election in 2015.The forum alleged that the FG’s failure to put an end to the insecurity in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa States was a plot to weaken the North’s political and economic potentials ahead of the 2015 elections. Hear them:

“We are convinced that most of these conflicts are being engineered to weaken the North politically and economically by interests which intend to exploit such weaknesses for electoral benefits. In the light of our firm conviction that the insurgency and related security challenges pose threats to the 2015 elections and the survival of our nation, we strongly advise President Jonathan to bring to an end the insurgency in all its manifestations and produce the Chibok girls before the end of October, 2014.” Their logic is that by failing to secure the release of the girls, “Nigerians (i.e., the Northern Elders) would be left with the only conclusion that he had forfeited his right to ask for their mandate beyond 2015.”

“Their diagnosis of the Boko Haram insurgency is, to say the least, bizarre,” writesKiikpoye Aaron. “According to them”, continues Kiikpoye, “what fuels the Boko Haram insurgency is a ‘“lack of a strong will at the level of the Presidency, deep-seated corruption, incompetence in governments and in the management of security challenges.” I would contest this logic and argue instead that what fuels the Boko Haram insurgency is the political opportunism the North makes of Boko Haram. More to the point, a calm reading of the complicity so manifestly expressed in that Kaduna ultimatum validates the instincts of many non-northerners, namely that the Boko Haram insurgency   is inseparable from a larger northern agenda to frustrate President Jonathan and recapture power.”

Since then, northern leaders have been spreading the falsehood fast in the region that Jonathan’s administration is fuelling the Boko Haram “insur­gency” in parts of the North to enhance his chances of re-election in the 2015 general elections. From Katsina to Kaduna, Bauchi to Kano and so on, virtually all the leaders Saturday Sun spoke to on the strong feelings spreading like wildfire that the Federal Government was conniving with some factions of Boko Haram to wreak havoc in the North, said the paper, gave the same verdict. They accused Jonathan of working clandestinely to use the “insurgency” to depopulate the North ahead of the February 2015 elections. In fact, former Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Abubakar Tsav, accused the presidency of using Ni­ger Delta militants to carry out the November 28, 2014 bombing of Kano Central Mosque!

Similarly, in late December 2011 we heard of the former Kaduna State Governor, Alhaji Balarabe Musa exonerating Boko Haram from the 2011 Christmas Day bombings that killed dozens of Catholics at St Theresa's Catholic Church in Madala. For him, Jonathan is simply behind the bombings. Despite claim by Boko Haram to be responsible for the blasts, Musa argued that government’s bad policies could lead groups to act against them. Hear him:

“I doubt if the bombings are done by Boko Haram. I very much doubt it. I think it is something more organised. Definitely it is something subversive.  Something directly related to the government. We are yet to know who is directly responsible for these acts. You know that the state of the nation is bad in every respect. There is protest against the government and its policies from various sources. So you don’t know which particular source is responsible for this unfortunate incident. I think when one goes through the statement of the sect and the so-called spokesman, there is no coordination. Secondly, this particular identification of churches on Christmas Day, I don’t understand it. There is no reason for any person or group to do this. The world over, there is no reason for such attack on a celebration day like this. Why should they target churches? So, I very much doubt if this is caused by Boko Haram. Some people of course can claim this is Boko Haram, but, again if you listen to their statements, you will find out that there are contradictions. So, the government has to really sit down and find out the true situation.”

He further insisted: “I very much doubt if this incident is Boko Haram, I think it is something more national…The government has a problem, it has legitimacy problem, it is not performing, and the leaders are not cohesive in many ways. These are the undoing of the government we have today.”

In November 2014, Musa repeated, “Some of us believe that Boko Haram is not a religious problem. It is more of a political problem. Boko Haram is a problem created by the government deliberately to destabilise Nigeria and divert the attention of the people from the failures of the government. With Nigeria destabilised, starting from the North, when the 2015 elections come, the level of insecurity will be so much that Nigerians will not be concerned with the elections. Instead, they’ll be concerned primarily with peace. That will make election rigging easy.”

Again, we also heard of the former minister of the FCT, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, having a field day on Twitter taunting the Federal Government and hurling veiled insults at Goodluck, tweeting every negative message against him by his followers on Twitter. Many Nigerians had expressed disgust that El-Rufai, who received public sympathy after the death of his own daughter, could turn around and use the deaths of innocent worshippers as propaganda to further his antagonism against Goodluck after he lost out in the power scramble after his return from exile. The same El-rufai had earlier then called on Goodluck to negotiate with the terrorists.

Again, in August, 2014, we heard of the Australian character named Stephen Davis, the so-called “crisis negotiator”, setting the media ablaze with his allegations regarding Boko Haram sponsors. Davis aroused our sleeping consciousness when he alleged in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) that Islamic terrorist sect, Boko Haram, was being funded by Nigerian politicians. But this wasn’t the main news as many Nigerians were aware of that fact. In a subsequent interview with Arise TV, Davis went further to name former Borno State Governor, Modu Sheriff and former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, as sponsors of the group! The question many Nigerians asked was this: how has Ihejirika, a non-Muslim, become a Boko Haram sponsor? Asked to explain why Mr. Ihejirika, a non-Muslim who hails from the predominantly Christian south eastern part of Nigeria, became a Boko Haram "sponsor," Mr. Davis said: "Boko Haram commanders and some connected with them told me on several occasions that Ihejirika was one of their sponsors." This is fantastic, and interesting too! It is equally interesting that Boko Haram members didn't tell Davis any other thing about why they are fighting, the need to rule Nigeria according to the tenets of Islam, etc, except revealing their sponsors!

Angered by this amazing allegation, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Wing threatened to label the All Progressives Congress, APC, an ‘anti-Igbo political party’  if it failed to apologise to former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, within 48 hours. The threat, which the Ohanaeze Youth Wing issued in a statement jointly signed by its National Secretary, Emmanuel Nnabuike, and Publicity Secretary, Obinna Adibe, followed the APC’s demand for Iherjika’s prosecution over alleged sponsorship of the Boko Haram sect. The APC demanded Ihejirika’s prosecution in the wake of claims made by Australian negotiator, Mr. Stephen Davis.

In the statement entitled, ‘Ongoing Attempts To Brand Gen. Ihejirika a Boko Haram Sponsor’, the Ohanaeze youths described the negotiator’s claims as “spurious.” The group expressed regrets that the APC did not bother to ascertain the veracity of his allegations before calling for Ihejirika’s prosecution. Ohanaeze youths noted that Ihejirika deserved an apology from the APC since the Department of State Security absolved him of any involvement with Boko Haram. It said: “It is on record that the same people trying to frame up Gen. Ihejirika are the same people who claimed they would make Nigeria ungovernable for President Jonathan, in the aftermath of the 2011 presidential election. We view the call for Ihejirika’s trial by the APC through its spokesman, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, without bothering to confirm the authenticity of the statement, as malicious and premeditated. Now that the Director of State Security has officially absolved Ihejirika of any complicity in the matter, we ask the APC to issue an apology to Gen. Ihejirika and Ndigbo within 48 hours. If they fail to do so, the APC shall be formally labeled an anti-Igbo party and other sanctions shall follow.”

Continuing, the group described Davis as a “fraudulent character and mercenary.” It said: “Security is too weighty a matter to be politicised. Therefore it is unpatriotic for political leaders to embark on character assassination based on unsubstantiated and misguided rumours. Dr Stephen Davis has shown himself to be a fraudulent character and a mercenary, whose stock in trade is the distortion of information in order to cause chaos, thereby creating more business for him.” Ohanaeze youth wing added that Davis employed “cheap propaganda tactics” by naming Ihejirika alongside former Borno State Governor, Ali Modu Sheriff, who has been consistently linked with the emergence and sponsorship of Boko Haram as the sect’s sponsor in order to lend credence to his claims in the eyes of “gullible members of the public.” The group noted that Davis did not provide any evidence or motivation for Ihejirika, a Christian and an Igbo from the South East, to sponsor Boko Haram.

Now anyone in this country who has been following the trend of events is certain that among all Nigerian soldiers that ever fought Boko Haram, Ihejirika is simply their number one enemy. And why? Because he was the most brave and the most brutal who really meant business in dealing with the terrorists. In fact, this was the main reason why the same northern Muslims pressurized Jonathan to remove him—despite the lies we were told.

Again, in May 2014, Buhari described Boko Haram terrorists as “mindless bigots, and not followers of God.” He said: “Over the past few weeks, the abduction of the schoolgirls at Chibok, Borno State has underscored the threat we have been facing as a nation in recent times from the actions of misguided persons masquerading as adherents of Islam. That horrific video posted on the internet is a clear manifestation of the mindlessness of the bigots. It shows them for whom they are, such men cannot threaten nor should they be allowed to violate our sovereignty. It is clear from what they profess that they are not followers of God. They do not mean well for our country and her citizens. I am a Muslim, I am versed in the teaching of Christianity and I understand both religions to seek peaceful co-existence of all humanity…We are glad that the Federal Government has accepted international support in the search for the missing girls and for an end to the insurgency in parts of the country.”

Now we recall here that Jonathan then welcomed Gen. Buhari’s call on all Nigerians to remain steadfast and work in unity to overcome “terrorists and other merchants of death, who currently threaten national security.” Consequently Buhari was attacked by Boko Haram terrorists in July 2014 for betraying Islam even publicly.

However, in October of the same year, after he had been attacked by Boko Haram for his negative comments about them, and as the 2015 election drew near, the same Buhari contradictorily asked the Federal Government to stop the clampdown of Boko Haram “insurgents”, saying Niger Delta Militants were never killed or properties belonging to them destroyed. Buhari, who spoke on a Liberty Radio programme, accused the government of killing and destroying houses belonging to Boko Haram members while the Niger Delta militants got special treatment. He said that unlike the special treatment given to the Niger Delta militants by the federal government, the Boko Haram members were being killed and their houses demolished by the government. While accusing Jonathan of failing from the beginning to address the security situation in the country, Buhari said he had never been in support of the state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states. According to Buhari, “what is responsible for the security situation in the country is caused by the activities of Niger Delta militants. Every Nigerian that is familiar with what is happening knows this. The Niger Delta militants started it all. What happened is that the governors of the Niger Delta at that time wanted to win their elections, so they recruited youths and gave guns and bullets to them to use against their opponents to win elections by force. After the elections, they asked the boys to return the guns, and the boys refused to do so. Because of that the allowance that was being given to them by the governors was stopped.”

These comments on Boko Haram, indeed, give us an insight on how Buhari will “fight” the terrorists if elected. He had even asked the Federal Government to “rehabilitate them, grant them amnesty and pay them every month,” concluding that any attack on the Boko Haram sect was “a declaration of war on the people of Northern Nigeria.” This, according to Chief Fani-Kayode, raises the question of the true nature of Buhari’s relationship with these groups and its international affiliates. (See more at: http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/news/national-news/193387-nigerians-should-interrogate-the-relationship-between-mend-boko-haram-buhari-says-fani-kayode#sthash.jBlIKT8v.dpuf).

Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has called on Nigerians and members of the international community to interrogate the relationship between Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) as well as Boko Haram and the All Progressives Congress (APC) with its presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari. I think that call should be taken seriously. “It is on public record that Buhari had announced to the whole world that it was unfair and unjust for the Boko Haram, which has killed over 20,000 innocent Nigerians, mostly women and children, after burning their homes and destroying their communities, to be tackled,” says Fani-Kayode. “It is also on record that Buhari has severally and consistently criticised government for protecting Nigerians against the attacks of Boko Haram and has gleefully announced that government forces should stop attacking the Boko Haram, and in fact, should treat them like the Niger Delta militants.” He further stated that the APC’s presidential spokesperson, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, whom he described as a friend, had supported Buhari by stating that the proscription of Boko Haram by the Federal Government after they had murdered 20,000 Nigerians in cold blood was unjust and unconstitutional. “I think it is relevant and something of interest for all Nigerians and the members of the international community to begin to ask questions about the nexus between Boko Haram, MEND and all these terrorist organisations that find it easy to kill people and the leading opposition presidential candidate and the APC. This is the question Nigerians should seek answers to, because insecurity is one of the fundamental issues of the campaign for the office of President and Nigerians must be wary of any person seeking to be President and has such public sympathy for terrorist organisations, in spite of the obvious damages that they inflicted on the country,” he said.

Similarly, former minister of information, Labaran Maku, has said that governors and not Jonathan should be held responsible for Boko Haram menace. Maku told newsmen in Awka, the Anambra State capital, that as chief security officers of their respective states who are “unaccountable to the Presidency, the governors are autonomous and closer to the people and as such, should know better than the Presidency what goes wrong in their domains.” According to Maku, Jonathan should not be held responsible for the insecurity in the country, rather the governors should be in charge as chief executives of their various states and take responsibility of any problem there. Maku particularly urged those behind the political violence in the country to desist from it as such was no longer fashionable, adding that superior argument and ideas should rather be their greatest political campaign weapons. Maku condemned the recent attacks on Jonathan in Bauchi and Katsina states when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate and his team went to the areas to campaign for votes, describing the attacks as “unruly and unfortunate.” “The president was not supposed to be attacked in any part of the country because he has demonstrated quality leadership which every geo-political zone would attest to. Therefore, no right thinking person would have carried out any form of attack on him. His humility and liberal mindedness has come to bear by his condoning the attack with calmness,” he said.

In April 2014 a popular clairvoyant in Adamawa State, Alhaji Alhassan Mohammed Goni, a.k.a. AMG, threatened to expose the sponsors of Boko Haram terrorism if the group did not suspend their bloodletting and hostilities in the country within two weeks. Goni expressed sympathy for Jonathan, saying the president is a good man and that those that are targeting his administration would fail woefully. He said having been disturbed by the bloodletting and seemingly inexorable hostilities by the group, he deemed it fit to come forward, and warned that if those behind Boko Haram fail to change their ways, he would soon expose them. Goni added that among those sponsoring Boko Haram activities are top politicians and traditional rulers with the sole aim of causing confusion in the country. He said he was aware of the various nocturnal meetings held by the sect before launching attacks but was not able to curtail their attacks as he had not been permitted to do so. “My vision always tells me whenever the Boko Haram are about to launch attacks but I was always incapacitated to stop them because I was not given express permission by the authorities to do so; but through my intervention, the intensity of the attacks is minimal.”

Similarly, according to Tell magazine, “it was revealed that many of the Borno politicians shouting at the Federal Government for not solving the insurgency problem are paying monthly retainership ranging from N2 to N4 million each to Boko Haram.” (Tell, May 26, 2014, pp. 25, 27). Thus Muslim politicians in the north pay their monthly “fees” to these terrorists to continue carrying out Jihad on Christians and the security personnel.

Whether we know these merchants of death or not is not a problem, because we are aware that Muslims’ belief that “unbelievers” like Christians must be converted by the sword is not a myth. We read the following in the Quran (Sura 47 verse 4):

“…Thus (you are ordered by Allah to continue in carrying out Jihad against the disbelievers till they embrace Islam and are saved from the punishment in the Hell-fire or at least come under your protection), but if it had been Allah’s will, he himself could certainly have punished them (without you). But (He lets you fight) in order to test some of you with others. But those who are killed in the way of Allah, he will never let their will be lost.”

Again we read (Sura 9 verse 123): “O you who believe! Fight those of disbelievers who are close to you, and let them find hardness in you; and know that Allah is with those who are Al-Muttaqun (the pious).”

Again, in Sura (2:193; 2: 244) we read: “And fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief and worshipping of others along with Allah). And fight in the way of Allah and know that Allah is All-Hearer, All-knower.”

Again, in part of the verse quoted above (Sura 47 verse 4), we read: “So, when you meet (in fight—Jihad in Allah’s Cause) those who disbelieve, smite (their) necks till when you have killed and wounded many of them…”

Jonathan on Thursday, January 29, 2015, said those accusing him of backing Boko Haram were insane. He stated this during his campaign rally in Yola, the Adamawa State capital. Jonathan said that he had no reason to sponsor the killing of children, women and the aged as he had nothing to benefit from such actions. “In 2011, I had two times the number of votes I had in Bayelsa State. Why should I want to reduce that number of votes?” Jonathan quipped. “Only a mad person can insinuate that the president is supporting Boko Haram.”

Nigerians—and particularly non-Muslims—who blindly follow the devilish APC propaganda, do so because none of their loved ones has been killed by these merchants of death. These gullible—and indeed wicked--Nigerians blame Goodluck for what they call “insurgency.” They also believe that all we need to win this war is simply a “good” leader who, unlike Jonathan, will properly equip the soldiers to fight the war. It is amazing, however, that nobody has been honest and courageous enough to comment on the religious dimension of Boko Haram, let alone criticize it.  The greater number of the Nigerian soldiers are the Hausa Muslims. Yet, nobody has ever reasoned that these soldiers may, after all, have sympathy for their brothers fighting a “holy war”, let alone call to mind the unwritten belief in Islamic circles that an Islamic soldier should not shoot at a Muslim jihadist. We have just seen, for instance, the huge success recorded by the soldiers within the last few weeks, now that the presence of the foreign soldiers has made it difficult for the betrayal to persist.

What I have briefly demonstrated here is what we already know, namely, that to every true Muslim, it is simply a sin for an “infidel” like Jonathan to rule over Muslims. All true Muslims in Nigeria—whether Yoruba or Hausa—do not want Jonathan to rule over them simply because he is not a Muslim. The few that want him are simply fake Muslims, and that is why Abubakar Shekau, Boko Haram leader, has been hunting for them and killing them. As Shekau himself boasted: “…Yahaya Jingir…the cleric of Jos, the advocate of ‘Boko Halal’, right? We are Boko Haram, you are Boko Halal. You will see, bastard…We killed Albani of Zaria. We killed Albani of Zaria. Shekau killed Albani of Zaria. Tomorrow he will kill Jingir, the day after tomorrow he will kill Dapchia, the next day he will kill Wapchama, next he will kill Shehu of Borno, Ado Bayero. We rebel against you, between us and you is enmity and rancour until you believe only in Allah…All these infidels we are the ones killing them. We enjoy shedding their blood. The Quran must be supreme, we must establish Islam in this country. Not only in Borno, we will henceforth destroy any school wherever we see them.”

Boko Haram menace is a mere practical manifestation of Nigerian Muslims’ religious beliefs. “We Jama’atu Ahlissunnah Lidda’awati Wal Jihad are fighting Christians wherever we meet them,” says Shekau. On the contrary, Buhari said (quoted above): “I am a Muslim, I am versed in the teaching of Christianity and I understand both religions to seek peaceful co-existence of all humanity.” This shows that Buhari is not a man of integrity which many mindlessly and fanatically attribute to him. He is rather simply a manifest liar. The word integrity simply means “honesty.” If Buhari is a honest man, and he is “versed in the teaching of Christianity”, as he claims, then why has he not become a Christian?

“Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also,” says the Christian Bible. (1 John 2: 23). “Far is it removed from His Transcendent Majesty that He should have a son,” says the Muslim Quran. (Sura: 4: 171). How then can ‘Integrity Buhari’, versed in the teachings of the Bible and the Quran, reconcile these teachings? At the same time, if he is versed in the teaching of Islam, which according to him “seeks peaceful co-existence of all humanity,” how then can he defend Islam from the mindless, gruesome and diabolical killing of innocent Christians by true Muslims not just in Nigeria but simply all over the world—and I mean a killing simply as old as Islam itself?

“O you who believe! Fight those of disbelievers who are close to you, and let them find hardness in you; and know that Allah is with those who are Al-Muttaqun (the pious).” (Sura 9 verse 123). Again: “Slay the idolaters wherever you find them. Arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush everywhere for them.” (Sura 9:5).

What interpretation can ‘Integrity Buhari’ give to these passages—and numerous others?