10th SENATE LEADERSHIP; A Greater Nigeria Project!

Bolaji O. Akinyemi

The heat generated by BAT’s preference for a Muslim/Muslim ticket in a country of disputable population of Christians and Muslims is yet to die down!

A reflection on the roles of many God fearing Nigerians who in their quest for freedom, justice and fairness, pressured BAT to yield ground and give consideration to a Muslim/Christian ticket fell on deaf ears!

Typical of him, he stuck to his guns till his long time dream to be President was delivered without consideration for Christians and Christianity!

Leadership, they say is by example, but BAT priced his ambition over National unity!

Speculations of APC as an Islamic movement with the mission to Islamize Nigeria started with his man, Rauf Aregbesola, in Osun State as Governor. The same Osun which Aregbesola allegedly in clandestine format changed its name to “The (Islamic) State of Osun! But secular minded citizens like Senator Ade Fadahunsi neutralized Aregbesola in his own town and by extension Osun East and the state as a whole. He was building Mosques for Muslims and promoting the need for secular society, I was his man in the forefront of that project. Today, Osun has a Governor who doesn’t know if he is a Christian or a Muslim and the entire state is on the dancing floor with him. On persons like Fadahunsi we must lean to find our way back to the dancing floor of secularism where religion does not matter for our collective humanity to prevail.

The insinuations BAT left unattended to in Aregbe’s Osun Islamization Agenda, and kept mute till the table turned against his interest in Osun went national.

When Buhari became the President, many took it for granted, that BAT, a freedom fighter and one of the living heroes of our democracy who led our long walk out of military bondage will ever betray our trust by substituting military bondage for Islamic yoke for nothing other than selfishness of long time dream to be President!

Throughout the 8 years of the Buhari regime amidst the attendant persecutions, and killings that people with the faith of God, through and in Christ suffered under that administration, not once did we read BAT lines or hear his voice in condemnation of the perceived genocide!

I was a strong antagonist of Muslim/Muslim Ticket, MMT, same way I would have been of a Christian/Christian ticket, CCT!

My position and of many pro-life ideologists was further strengthened by the fact that no deliberate attempt was made by the immediate past administration to stop the killings!

Lip service was paid to it though, without the follow up of a consistent, coordinated tactical engagement of those responsible.

I need not remind Nigerians of the fact of his party’s involvement that came public through Baraje and several others.

How his party arranged to bring in foreign militias from Mali, Sudan, Guinea and other Islamic States for the purpose of using them to vote and win the 2015 election!

Your decision for MMT was beyond politics. Sinister as it obviously was, I couldn’t put my finger on it, but not anymore!

The beginning of the idea was the meeting you held with Northern Elders which was publicly reported that consideration will not be given to a Northern Christian in the choice of your running mate. When the question of how you hope to sell this idea of a Muslim succeeding a Muslim, with a Muslim/Muslim ticket to the Southern Christians was asked, you assured them you know how to handle Southern Christians!

Results of the Presidential election from the south shows the contrary. Lagos was a revelation of how grievous that decision was!

May I congratulate BAT while he is still savouring the moment of the most contentious political victory in the history of Nigeria, without failing to let him know that he is presiding over the most divided nation on earth today, courtesy of his blind pursuit of his Presidential dream.

Holy and unholy arsenals were deployed to win the war!

If Nigeria was divided in 2015, it has been further fragmented in 2023 through 8 years of Buhari’s refusal to be pragmatic in leadership, particularly with respect to the activities of non State actors!

All regions are today standing alone. Worse hit are South East and North Central. Both deserve great considerations if stability is our priority!

Unfortunately, still within our regions is the slitting sword of religion tearing the people apart!

Our states are not spared. Kogi, is an example of politics taken too far in State sponsored arson!

Let me not digress, I wish to inform His Excellency and all well meaning and sincere Nigerians that substance has been given to our fear for Islamization as an official Agenda of APC as a political party. Do we really need to ride with a bus driver whose final bus stop his conductor has exposed.

It was a tactical deception of Nigerians particularly christians who gullibly bought your claim to competence over Christianity in a nation of at least a 100 million Christians!

Leadership is by example, and if BAT’s ambition couldn’t be invested for justice and fairness to our faith, why should other party men do. If Orji Uzor Kalu is magnanimous to consider himself as a deputy and not the SP what then is my reason for losing sleep!

Consideration for lives of Nigerians was what cost Goodluck Ebele Jonathan his desired ambition for second term. The blood of one to him, was worth more than the ballots of a million!

He let go of a million ballots to stop blood from flowing on our streets!

Now that Tinubu, a Muslim is the President, Shettima a Muslim, is the Vice President, we suddenly remember there are Christians in this country who should have representation at the National level through the office of the Senate President and ambition of an individual against the rule of the class as being equals, having right to Senate Presidency should be traded!

Alas, Christians who agreed that Shettima was more competent than every single Christian in Northern Nigeria have started saying they hope I am not supporting Yari in an election I have no vote.

If it was difficult to find one competent Christian in a nation of 100 million Christians to balance out BAT’s ticket, then the caucus that produced Yari, Muslim and Kalu, Christian deserves to be commended for being meticulous enough to get a Christian to pair with Yari!

Those who saw Atiku /Okowa, Obi/Datti and Sowore/Magash but rooted for BAT/Shettima are telling us of the option of Akpabio/Barau, Christian/Muslim, against Yari/Kalu Muslim/Christian pairing. All we asked for was balance of ticket from APC and we were denied. How I wish there is a caucus offering Muslim/Muslim ticket in the 10th senate. What is good for Tinubu/ Shettima is good for all!

They are now suddenly awoken by the nightmare of Muslim/Muslim/Muslim when in actual fact where we are headed is Muslim/Muslim/Muslim/Muslim!

For if the foundation be destroyed, what shall the righteous do. Our foundation of leadership and pattern of its balance for many years was broken over one man’s thirst of injustice and unfairness to win an election. Please others also have ambitions!

If you ask me how we got here I will remind you, when our tree of leadership structure under which we took shade was cut down to cultivate a new tree. Sun is now overhead, we are scrambling for shade under which we can shelter!

Tinubu has cut down the tree of justice and fairness and it will take time to grow another, when the seedlings have not been found not to speak of nursing it in the nursery!

The tree our faith as Christians in the political space fell with Buhari’s integrity against Goodluck. The stump of it Tinubu has removed by his claim of Shettima’s competence. If we neither have integrity and competence why should we be considered for leadership.

And trees takes time to grow. “Se ko ma lo bee lori owo yen!”

Dubai is a Muslim Country and things are working. Now I am ready to live in an all Muslim leadership structure, at least that is the vision of APC!

If however we desire to find our way back under the tree of life before the fruit of religion was eaten, then I will go with Fadahunsi and encourage all Senators in hope of secularism and humanity to do same. I am not from Osun, but he is my Senator at the senate on the Greater Nigeria Project, GNP.

Just as BAT has no right of interference, same way we don’t! It is a privilege to be consulted as Stakeholders but we have no votes!

All 108 Senators are classmates. Let them all dream and let their choice be respected!

Photo Credit: NASS