ISLAMIZATION OF NIGERIA: OBASANJO, THE MAN WHO CRIED WOLF?

ICHEOKU says there are three Nigerians who ICHEOKU prays to God daily to  terminate their residencies here on earth, so that Nigeria can be free. They are Olusegun Obasanjo, Ibrahim Babangida and of course Muhammadu Buhari, the current president of Nigeria. This trio are part of the old guard in Nigeria who strongly believes that Nigeria belongs to them; hence they must always have a say in who governs Nigeria and how the governing is done, otherwise there will be no peace. 

To them, Nigeria is their private estate and they are entitled to lease it to whoever they desire; and it must be to someone who must obey their command, listen to their dictates, comply to their stipulated terms and conditions of holding Nigeria at their pleasure, on their behalf and at their behest. Any attempt by such a chosen lessee to deviate from their strictly laid out blue print and path of travel in governance is met with earth scorching excoriations, vehemence, protests and resistance, sabotage and plotting the eventual downfall and ouster from office of such an "obstinate, wayward and strayed" lessee. So, such imposed leader will only enjoy the privileges of their office as long as they remain loyal and are in the good books of this three individuals and constantly do their bidding, as they are told. 

Coincidentally, one of them is presently in office and not behaving as any other servile puppet would, by kowtowing to every minute instruction handed down to him and this is riling a member of the triumvirates, named Olusegun Obasanjo. Meanwhile the third musketeer, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, is on the sideline silently watching, as Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari duke it out between themselves. A very clever devil, who rightly earned his moniker, Maradona; and is just biding his time, waiting calculatedly, to see who wins the turf war before aligning himself to him.

ICHEOKU is emphatic that as long as these three individuals liveth, Nigeria, unlike Zambia, SHALL NOT BE FREE. Therefore, if you desire a free Nigerian society, please join IChEOKU in this supplication to the On High, by including the quick transition of this three devious musketeers in your prayer points. 

It is with this reservation therefore that ICHEOKU says Nigerians must be wary and vigilant, and to take with a grain of salt, the latest Obasanjo's alarm that Nigeria has almost tipped over, under the weight of Boko Haram and Fulani Jihadist terrorist herdsmen's push for the Islamization of Nigeria; an agenda which Obasanjo claims is already full throttle, underway. 

Olusegun Obasanjo lacks credibility and his veracity for speaking truthfully is also quiet suspect. His actions are largely in part driven by a self-serving, hidden agenda and possibly he is just being the trouble maker which he is with the current stoking of religious and ethnic feud amongst Nigerians. Obasanjo's capacity to cause mischief is not in doubt and he is very masterful at playing both sides to a dispute and could possibly be enmeshed in it right now; doing what he does best, stoking crisis. This paradigm must be factored in by Nigerians while weighing the gravity of the allegation made by the Ota Deity and not react disproportionately just on the words of Obasanjo.

ICHEOKU is not saying to cavalierly dismiss Obasanjo's latest alarm completely; but to, like Ronald Reagan once said of the old Soviet Union promises, trust but first verify. ICHEOKU is urging Nigerians to weigh it with great cautionary wisdom and then react to it measuredly, because Baba Iyabo is a proven trouble maker, who is often up to no good. He repeatedly did similar things in the past and it is not beyond him to be doing the same thing now, disparaging a Nigerian leader who he fell out of favor with and then inciting Nigerians against him. Therefore, it is with an informed logic backed by precedents that ICHEOKU says that Olsuegun Obasanjo could be raising his usual false flag by this alarm, in the hope that he could incite Nigerians to revolt against their President Muhammadu Buhari or cause the military to stage a coup. 

Obasanjo failed abysmally and woefully in his bid to install Atiku Abubakar as president of Nigeria and is now back to his Plan B; his last joker, to make Nigeria ungovernable for President Muhammadu Buhari. A plan which he intends to implement by fostering great disunity amongst Nigerians and hoping that the country blows up under the president's watch. A timing made more sinister because it is so close to the president's 2nd term inauguration on May 29th, 2019. His calculation, if he cannot dislodge the president, to make his governing Nigeria impossible or difficult at best. A case of, if he cannot dig up the cricket, to just dismantle its mound and that will be a sufficient outcome. Why Obasanjo is doing what Obasanjo is doing is a question which only Obasanjo can vouchsafe an answer; as ICHEOKU and every other pundit can only but second guess his motive.

Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Aremu Obasanjo is a man with a storied history of backbiting and backstabbing of people who he is jealous of, envies and/or does not like. During the Biafran genocidal war, he successfully convinced Yakubu Jackal Gowon that Benjamin Black Scorpion Adekunle was not serious with breaching the Oguta Front Biafran resistance and that Black Scorpion was indeed cuddling Biafrans and sharing military intelligence with them. Gowon summarily removed Black Scorpion and replaced him with Obasanjo and the atrocities which Obasanjo committed while piercing through Oguta Front and taking Uli Airport is yet to be chronicled in any written horror stories about the genocidal Biafran war. Obasanjo is a bloody vampire who has sucked a lot of Nigerian blood and the records are there which validate this assertion.

Again Obasanjo disappointed Obafemi Awolowo in 1978, after first assuring him that the second Republic election will be free and fair and organized on a level playing field, only for him to later use Richard Akinjide to come up with the phantom 12 2/3rd majority to steer victory to Shehu Shagari. Unbeknownst to Awolowo, Obasanjo had struck a secret deal with the Sokoto Caliphate to make Shehu Shagari president in order to establish himself as s permanent friend of the North. Needless to add that the same Caliphate made him Head of State over Shehu Yar'Adua following the assassination of Muritala Mohammed in the bid to help stabilize and quieten things down so soon following the war. 

Then enter the Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida failed third Republic when Yakubu Jackal Gowon wanted to run for president and actually sought the nomination of the SDP under the ever beautiful Option A4, the only legacy which Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida can truly lay claim to as his bequeath to Nigeria. But guess who jumped out first to castigate and disparage Gowon for not allowing a new generation of leaders to emerge to lead Nigerians going forward, the same Olusegun Obasanjo. His infamous quote, "what did Gowon forget in the presidential villa that he wants to go back there to retrieve" is still so fresh in memory. But his attempt to dissuade Gowon failed, admitted Gowon suffered the worst humiliation in that his foray into politics when a school teacher roundly defeated him in the primaries. The defeat was so bad that Gowon could not win even a single Ward within Jos Township. 

Subsequently MKO Abiola won the next election but David Mark and Abubakar Umar led military resistance forced Babangida to annul the June 12th election. But instead of Olusegun Obasanjo joining forces with his Yoruba people and the rest of other Nigerians to seek redress for Abiola and restore his mandate, he allowed himself to be co-opted by the anti Abiola forces in Nigeria. He was drafted to go to South Africa to convey Babangida's message to the president of South Africa on why the Nigeria election was annulled. Responding to a reporter's question in Pretoria on why Abiola's election victory was not upheld, despite being considered the fairest and freest ever in Nigeria, Obasanjo dismissively said that Abiola was not the Messiah who Nigerians were waiting for and needed. 

Abiola's mandate was stolen. Babangida was forced to step aside. An Interim National Government with a Jonathan-lite, Ernest Shonekan, was put in charge. Sani Abacha was left behind as Defense Minister. It is also on record too that John Shagaya approached Shonekan and urged him to retire Abacha immediately in order to have a chance at success in running the country. But instead of acting on the intelligence, Shonekan merely invited Abacha with Shagaya present, to tell him that Shagaya told him that he, Abacha, was planning to remove him from office and whether that was true. 

Abacha denied culpability and promised Shonekan that he will conduct an internal investigation to find out if any such planned activity was going on without his knowledge inside the military which he was heading. The next day by 11am Abacha traveled back to Abuja and by 5pm, instead of reporting back to Shonekan on his finding, went ahead and removed Shonekan from office and that also ended Shagaya's career in the military. Abiola was arrested and jailed; but instead of Obasanjo rallying Yoruba people around to fight for what was greater than his personal selfish self, he aligned forces with the North and was constantly holding meetings in Aso Rock, with the believe that he will be appointed to head any subsequent interim government of National Unity. 

At one point, Obasanjo technically became the liaison officer between Abacha and the Yoruba Southwest, trying to find the best possible way to resolve the Abiola election that a grounded country can once again get going. But Abacha remained non committal on any Interim Government or handing over to Obasanjo, so Obasanjo fell out with Abacha and started waging his war of calumny against Abacha's government. He was subsequently arrested, tried and convicted for plotting a coup; and was awaiting execution when the late Stella reached out to Andrew Young who prevailed on Bill Clinton to pressure Abacha not to execute Obasanjo and his death sentence was commuted to 25 years prison sentence. 

Anyway, Abacha later died and Obasanjo was freed from prison, granted pardon and when the idea of the 4th Republic came up, the Caliphate remembered their friend and decided on a return favor. Atiku Abubakar and Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida were drafted to lead the effort which culminated in the Jos PDP Convention and Obasanjo was later "elected" president of Nigeria, following Abubakar Abdulsalam's exit. 

But the same Obasanjo, who once asked Gowon what he forgot in the presidential villa, somewhat himself forgot something in the presidential villa that made him to seek the office, admitted that no one knows if he eventually found it. Also, whether Obasanjo became the Messiah which Nigerians sought and needed, nobody knows as well; but suffice it to say that Baba Iyabo is a man with a kaleidoscopic personality. He is very manipulative too and he can simultaneously be different things to so many different people, all at once. 

Obasanjo served out his two terms in office, wanted to extend it to three terms by using monetary inducements to influence the National Congress into changing the constitution so that he could have his way. Sacs of Ghana Must Go bags stuffed with foreign currencies were sent to the National Congress, but A Senate President Kenneth Nnamani led effort thwarted the plot and rejected Obasanjo's cash. It is also on record that Atiku Abubakar, because of his own personal scheme to be president, aligned forces with the anti Third Term agenda. A frustrated Obasanjo then decided on a payback at his Vice President Atiku Abubakar's by denying him his succession bid to the presidency. He called Atiku a thief and the most corrupt man alive in Nigeria, vowing that it will be over his dead body that Atiku will ever be president. This is the man Nigerians are listening to without asking themselves, if Obasanjo was such a good person, why did he covet a third term in office?

Then enter Umaru Yar'Adua, who was almost falling out with Obasanjo and was once heard saying that he was tired of Obasanjo's unending meddlesomeness and that he wants to be his own man. But for his death and the shortness of his term in office, he would have also had serious problem governing Nigeria because of Obasanjo. Then Goodluck Jonathan was brought into office and he remained a good boy until he started refusing Obasanjo's dictations in his presidency. Obasanjo's barrage of attacks started and the long epistles of Saint Obasanjo started flooding Newspapers and the social media platforms with his invective Satanic Verses. He eventually led the war effort that threw Goodluck Jonathan out of Aso Rock and in came Buhari.

Let Nigerians not forget that it is the same Obasanjo who accused Jonathan of raising snipers to kill 1000 prominent Nigerians, including politicians. Nigerians were angry that Jonathan could do such and some people panicked, wondering if they were among those penciled down to be eliminated by the sniper squad. But at the end, there were no snipers nor was anybody killed by any high powered telescope-mounted rifle. To date Obasanjo has not deemed it fit to apologize to Jonathan for maligning him with such a disparaging falsehood. Yet this is the same man Nigerians are listening to his hellish outburst, right?

In 2015, the same Obasanjo conspired with his Caliphate friends and removed Jonathan from office, telling Nigerians and the world at large that Buhari was "educated enough to be president." Buhari became president and was a good boy for the better part of his first term until he cancelled the billions in Naira of Federal Government subsidies to Obasanjo's Ota Farms Holding PLC. Obasanjo once again fell out with a sitting President who dared him and wanted him gone ever since. He wrote several of his usual epistles, but an "illiterate" Buhari did not read them nor gave a damn about his gibberish. The attacks continued, but Buhari turned deaf ears. 

Then a reelection came and it was time for Obasanjo to draw his pound of flesh as usual. Who did he adopt as Buhari's replacement, the same man who he once castigated as the most corrupt Nigerian alive. A man who he once told the entire world is too corrupt and too crooked to be Nigeria's president, calling him a thief and swearing that it will be over his dead body that Atiku will be president. But unfortunately, Nigerians have a notoriety for attention span deficit disorder, the reason a person as despicable as Olusegun Obasanjo can always play yoyo with their emotions, for the purposes of achieving his usually, selfish ulterior motive. Why did those Nigerians who flocked to Atiku because Obasanjo said so, not pause to ponder why Obasanjo made his 180 degrees somersault on Atiku; and what transfiguration took place that metamorphosed Atiku from being a thief to being a would be good custodian of the country's treasury. 

That Atiku was defeated is a good thing and a commendation to all those right thinking Nigerians who ignored the perpetual manipulator, who farms disillusionment on a pay per play manner, as they prevented a thief from taking control of the country's treasures. Obasanjo, now facing the last rung of the huge embarrassment which he suffered on February 23rd, 2019, having been technically neutered as an expired milk without much clout nor relevance anymore, has resorted to doing what he does best, crying wolf where there is none. Nigerians must therefore ignore the Ota Deity's latest shout of fire in the theater, his usual antic of fire on the mountain, run, run run. It cannot be that Obasanjo has a magic wand which he uses to cast a hypnotic spell on Nigerians, that make them do and react as he prompts. 

Olusegun Obasanjo' is a mercenary politician who performs any assigned role as his paying retainer dictates. Obasanjo has a greedy attitude of "it is either his way or the highway" and cannot stand the present facts facing him of being confined into the garbage bin of political irrelevancy in Nigeria. He is no longer given a red carpet reception at Aso Rock and also no longer has limitless access to President Muhammdu Buhari. A matter made worse because Bola Tinubu has now replaced him as the Yoruba Nation's chief liaison officer to Aso Rock. Obasanjo is hurting and is simply lashing out in protestation. His antic is therefore understandable, as he is being merely reactionary and not that his alarm was founded on any patriotic fervor and/or love for Southern Nigerians or even Christians in Nigeria. 

This is a guy who slaughtered Biafrans during the war and they are majority Christians. This is a guy who killed Attorney General Bola Ige and he too was a Christian. The same guy massacred Odi Bayelsa and Zaki Ibiam people and the last time ICHEOKU checked they were not Muslims, but Christians as well. The people of Bakassi Nigerians who he pawned away to Cameroon are also majority Christians. So, what exactly is the Ota Deity talking about, complaining and raising alarm about a supposed "Fulanization" of Nigeria, when himself have repeatedly acted against Christians' interest in Nigeria and for far too long. 

Was Obafemi Awolowo not a Christian when he rigged the 1978 presidential election for a Muslim Shehu Shagari? Is Peter Odili not a Christian when he imposed a Muslim Umaru Yar'Adua on Nigerians? Is Goodluck Jonathan not a Christian when he once again brought in an Islamist fundamentalist Muhammadu Buhari as president? This is a man who appointed the effant terrible Nasir el Rufai to the juiciest portfolio in Nigeria, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory; and Nasir is a fundamentalist Islamist zealot to the core. So who is fooling who, Nigerians, or how many times must Nigerians allow themselves to be had like cheap prostitute by Olusegun Obasanjo. 

A man in his late 90s who has refused to go quietly into the night, but is tirelessly working so hard to take Nigeria along with him to his grave. When will this Obasanjo's continuing nuisance in Nigeria be abated? ICHEOKU says please Buhari, LOCK OBASANJO UP and throw away the keys. The heavens will not fall; afterall Abacha did it once and Buhari is a friend of Abacha and could as well do so. 

Enough of the Obasanjo's manipulation; as no Nigerian leader will ever be good enough in the eyes of Olusegun Obasanjo, regardless. It is not until they totally surrender their governance to him and submit to his every whims and caprices, and then he certifies them as loyal minions, that they can be considered fairly good in his estimation. Who made Obasanjo the determinant in chief of what is good for Nigeria, if ICHEOKU may ask? Who made Obasanjo the Lord of the Manor and General Overseer of Nigeria? Who gave Obasanjo the power of control over the minds of Nigerians? Enough of this unmerited servile following of Olusegun Obasanjo, a man who has caused more harm than good in Nigeria and whose time in power never translated nor amounted to anything tangible. 

ICHEOKU says anybody can try, but nobody will EVER succeed in completely and totally Islamizing Nigeria. It will not happen, not now and not at any other future time. Such zealotry idiocy belongs in the 19th century, but definitely not in this 21st century. Even Sultan-President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, despite all his best effort, and in a nearly 90% Muslim country, has not succeeded in making Turkey fully and totally 100% Islamic compliant. In Islamic Republics of Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan and Iran, Christians still exists, so Nigeria will never be an exception. Moreso, Nigeria with a population of nearly 240 million people is simply too big to be Islamized; admitted Buhari can continue appointing only his fellow Muslims to all sensitive positions and giving them all manners of juicy Ministries, but that is as far as he can go in his quest, assuming it is true. 

The only Islamization of Nigeria, if that could so qualify as one, has already taken place when Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, unilaterally took Nigeria into the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) membership, without the consent of Nigerians. So 33 long years later and somebody is now raising all this hoopla and you ask yourself when Obasanjo had the chance as president of Nigeria, why did he not pull Nigeria out of OIC? 

Simply put, this present outcry is a much ado about nothing, because even in Saudi Arabia, there are still pockets of Christians as well as other religionists. Pure logical analysis has it that the odds of Islamizing Nigeria is literally second to none, zero, zilch and nada. Bola Tinubu's wife is a Christian. Enoch Adeboye and Osibanjo are not apostates. David Mark too. Matthew Kukah and all the other Cardinals. Jeremiah Useni too, and ditto the thousands of men and women of the Nigerian Armed Forces, the police and other security agencies who are Christians as well. But somebody named Obasanjo is telling Nigerians that all these people will just stand idly by and watch a pinhead-joker like Muhammadu Buhari forcibly convert them and their fellow Christians to Islamism, really? 

How is Buhari going to do, if ICHEOKU may ask? Demolish all the Churches and Cathedrals in Nigeria or use Hisbah Islamist police to frog-march everyone into a mosque for Friday prayers? The only thing he could do, which he has technically already done, is to condition appointments and other positions under his government to one being a Muslim. In that way, he could possibly influence some weak greedy Christians to pledge a conversion in order to secure positions, as obtains in other Islamic countries. But that will last as long as his four years in office lasts and thereafter, Nigeria will revert to normalcy.

ICHEOKU is also doubtful if the Muslims population in Nigeria is higher than Christians and other religionists population. There is no place in Nigeria, no matter how remote, in which you will not find Christians including in Birnin Kebbi; but there are so many places in Nigeria including ICHEOKU's Local Government Area as a whole, with zero Muslim population. So, when stuff eventually hits the ceiling, certain projected outcomes might not necessarily turn out as thought, because reality often trumps projections and expectations. Therefore, ICHEOKU urges Nigerians to stop overheating the polity and to continue to go about their normal business; but to remain vigilant and be prepared, just in case anyone misjudges the tolerance for Buhari's silliness in making his Muslims only appointments as weakness of the rest of Nigerians, because it is not. 

It is only a reasonable tolerance which must not be mistaken, because when it comes to matters of faith, millions will die fighting. Religious wars never ends, except in stalemate and negotiated settlements; as Lebanese Phalanges Army and Ireland Republican Army  resistances showed that even when faced with a formidable force such as the British military, that faithfuls do fight to the finish. As for weapons of war, ban or no ban, when it becomes imperative to defend faith, they will be shipped in and airdropped in tons that will amaze even the biggest cynic. So provided the Yoruba Nation will stand in solidarity with the rest of the other victimized Nations in Nigeria and not sabotage the effort as is usually their stock in trade, whoever has any plans to Islamize Nigeria will find out the hard way that it is a mission impossible. But Buhari is not that naive to think that he can easily accomplish that, assuming he wants to; not even with the support of Mali, Niger, Chad and Saudi Arabia combined.