The Children of Usman Dan Fodio and the Manifestation of the Fulani Empire

by Femi Fani-Kayode

As Nigerians, there are certain quotes and statements that we must enshrine and entrench in our spirits, minds and souls and that we must never forget if we really want to know where we are coming from, where we are today and where we will be tomorrow.

Permit me to begin this contribution with a series of those quotes and statements and then share my thoughts with you later in the essay.

Consider the following.

In 1804, Sheik Usman Dan Fodio, the father and founder of the Fulani Caliphate said,

“I have been given the sword of truth to defeat and conquer the enemies of Allah. I will establish the Caliphate to rule over all and Sakwoto shall be its capital. It is either the pagans and unbelievers accept Sharia and the Koran, or they accept the sword”.

In 1914, Lord Frederick Lugard, the British Governor-General of the newly established Nigerian nation said,

“The amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates of Nigeria is a marriage between the poor Northern husband and the rich Southern wife. May this union be unbreakable and may it last forever”.

In 1948, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, a man that was to later become the Prime Minister of Nigeria said,

“Since 1914, the British Government has been trying to make Nigeria into one country, but the Nigerian people themselves are historically different in their backgrounds, in their religious beliefs and customs and do not show themselves any sign of willingness to unite. Nigerian unity is only a British intention for the country”.

In 1957, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto and the Premier of Northern Nigeria, said:

“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”.

In 1960, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto and the Premier of the Northern Region, said:

“The new nation called Nigeria should be an estate of our great grandfather, Othman 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”.

In 1963, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto and the Premier of the Northern Region, said:

“I would rather employ a foreigner in the Northern civil service than employ an Igbo. Igbos tend to always want to dominate others wherever they go and we do not want that in the North”.

In 1987, Sheik Abubakar Gumi, Leader of the Sunni Muslim Izala sect, said:

“No Christian will ever rule Nigeria again unless it is over my dead body”.

In 1992, Sultan Ibrahim Dasuki, the Sultan of Sokoto, said:

“This country was given to we Northerners by the British to rule. When they left, the understanding between us was that the North would always lead and rule Nigeria”.

In 2001, General Muhammadu Buhari, who had already been a military Head of State and who was to later become President of Nigeria, said:

1. “I will continue to show openly and inside me the total commitment to the Sharia movement that is sweeping all over Nigeria. God willing, we will not stop the agitation for the total implementation of the Sharia all over the country”.

2. “Muslims should only vote for Muslims and those who will defend their faith”.

3. “Why should Christians complain when limbs are being cut off in the name of Sharia? After all, these are Muslim limbs and not Christian ones”.

4. “Why are your (Yoruba) people killing my (Fulani) people”.

   

   President Muhammadu Buhari is the archetypal Fulani who loves cattle more than his fellow humans. Despite all the depraved butchery of indigenous peoples of Benue, the Nigerian president has not done anything different to safeguard the lives of Middle Belters where ethnic cleansing by Fulani herdsmen militia has reached unprecedented levels.

In 2013, General Muhammadu Buhari, who had already been a military Head of State and who was to later become President of Nigeria, said:

“An attack on Boko Haram is an attack on the North”.

In 2014, Sheik Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Boko Haram, said:

“By Allah, we will not stop fighting until every Nigerian abides by Sharia law. If you don’t abide, we will kill you”. 

In 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari, who was once a military Head of State, said:

“Boko Haram are our misguided brothers”.

In 2018, President Muhammadu Buhari, who was once a military Head of State, said:

“The Fulani herdsmen are Nigerians and have a right to be here. They carry sticks and not dangerous weapons. If you want peace, give them your land”.

In 2019, Alhaji Abdullahi Bodejo, President of Miyetti Allah and Leader of the Fulani herdsmen militia said:

“You are a Governor and you want to enjoy peace in your state, you don’t need any long meeting, just create a particular area for the Fulani and equip them with modern facilities”.

Now, what can we make of all this and where are we today? The quotes and statements are self-evident and each of them has been subjects of intense debate and intellectual discourse over the years. I need not discuss their meaning, import, or implications here as they are obvious and self-explanatory.

In any case, I have stated my views extensively and quite often over the last few years in a series of essays on this topic and about those that espouse the provocative, outrageous, racist and totally unacceptable sentiments, views and disposition that are reflected by these incendiary words and asinine assertions.

All of those essays were widely published and amongst them are “Nigeria’s Third Mahdi and the Last of the Amalekite Kings” (2016), “The Sons of Futa Jalon” (2016) and “The Fulani of Nigeria” (2019).

All three of these write-ups can be googled and found on the Internet and they are all, together with my other written works, on the essay column of my website at www.femifanikayode.org.

I suffered the pain and indignity of being locked up in a special terrorist facility and cell with Boko Haram suspects and convicts in Kuje prison in 2017 for writing the first two and I have been subjected to all manner of threats to my life for writing the third.

Nevertheless, the quest for truth and the bitter struggle for the emancipation of our people must continue regardless of the price that those of us that are in the thick of it are paying and may still have to pay.

No matter what happens tomorrow, I am satisfied with one thing; every single thing that I said would happen and would be done by our Northern oppressors if they managed to get power in 2015 has since come to pass.

That vindication alone is more than enough for me. And trust me, when I tell you that unless there is a divine intervention and something gives, things will get far worse as the noose of the conquerors tightens around our collective necks.

The good news, though, is that there is a God in Heaven who neither sleeps nor slumbers, who forges the destiny of nations and who rules in the affairs of men.

His name is the Ancient of Days, the Lord of Hosts and the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. And when He arises to deliver, no man or demon can stand against Him. In Him lies our hope and strength and in His hands lies our collective deliverance. He shall not fail us.

What I will do in the rest of this writeup is to simply share my thoughts on where we are today. I have no hate in me for anyone or any group of people and neither do I believe in violence or seek to incite violence.

I am a lover of peace and a servant of truth. I am constrained to speak that truth no matter how bitter it is and no matter whose ox is gored. That is my calling and that is the purpose of this short contribution. Consider the following.

The agenda of the Fulani to own Nigeria and turn the indigenous people of our country into slaves is an ancient one. It started 215 years ago in 1804 and it has almost reached completion.

Those that are screaming about Fulani hegemony and Northern domination today are like chickens whose heads have already been cut off.  They are crying over spilled milk.

They are lamenting long after the horse has already bolted from the stable. They are like the proverbial frog that was dropped in a pot of cold water and that was slowly boiled alive.

This is not just a matter of Fulani hegemony and  Northern domination; we are long past that stage and it is far worse than that.

It is nothing less than the full manifestation of total and complete Fulani subjugation and the final entrenchment of Northern supremacy. As leaders, we were cowardly and complacent and now, the worse has befallen our people. Today, the Fulani and the core North own Nigeria and virtually everyone in it lock, stock and barrel.

Whether we choose to accept it or not, that is the bitter truth. That is where we are! Worse still, 90% of Southern and Middle Belt leaders have chosen to bend the knee and bow to the Fulani North.

The few that have stood up to them over the last 100 years have either been killed, jailed, frustrated, humiliated or discredited.

In my generation, there are only a few men left standing in the fight for emancipation from the Northern yoke and they are mostly unknown, unsung and not fully appreciated.

Amongst them are Ayo Fayose, Nnamdi Kanu, Gani Adams, Asari Dokubo, Yinka Odumakin, Seyi Makinde, Gboyega Adejumo, Segun Mimiko, Tony Nnadi, Annkio Briggs, Reuben Abati, Jackson Ude, Adekunle Odunmorayo, Otoks Princewill, Michael Orobator, Shola Salako, Akin Osuntokun,  Charles Ogbu, Kassim Afegbua, Ade Ojikutu, Gbenga Adefaye, Demola Folarin, Kole Omololu, Jack McGunn, Shaka Momodu, Yemi Adebowale, Jide Ajani, Taiwo Adisa, Aziza Uko, Deji Adeyanju, Bayo Oladeji, Jude Ndukwe, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, Toks Ogunbanjo, Deji Osibogun, I.D. Gyang, Enyinnaya Abaribe, Reno Omkri, Musa Bagos, Mark Libdo, Jonathan Asake, Mark Jacob, Emmanuel Magba, George Akinola, Imam Yoruba Ilorin, Babatunde Gbadamosi and a handful of others.

Then, you have groups like Afenifere, Ohaeneze, OPC, PANDEM, the Middle Belt Forum, SOKAPU, IPOB,  Avengers, MEND, Ijaw Youth Congress, Yoruba Summit Group, YOLICOM, MASSOB, CAN, Christian Elders Forum, Movement  for New Nigeria (MNN), Yoruba K’oya, Core Federalists, Balogun Collective, Nzuko Umunna, Lower Niger Congress (LNC) and a few others who have also stood firm and who have also been steadfast and unflinching.

Without the continuous efforts, contribution, strength and vision of such individuals and such groups and without their gallant struggle against our collective oppressors, we shall all be fully enslaved and be speaking Fulfide in the next ten years.

Virtually, everyone else and every other group has been cowed and intimidated into submission. They all lament and complain about their pathetic condition of enslavement and servitude in whispered tones and behind closed doors. They dare not speak out loudly and boldly out of fear of the Fulani masters.

This is the tragedy that has befallen Nigeria: – cowardice and capitulation to evil and the forces of darkness is now considered to be a virtue whilst courage and strong resistance to ethnic domination, racism, religious bigotry, injustice and tyranny is regarded as a vice.

May God deliver us!