By Femi Fani-Kayode
“Yes, Christian lives matter. But do Muslim ones not matter too”?
I listened attentively to the words of @billmaher and @CNN’s @VanJones68 who have both accused Nigeria of indulging in “Christian genocide” and pondered on them deeply.
If, as a Nigerian, their words and narrative do not concern you or scare you then, as @realDonaldTrump would say, you cannot be a very bright bulb.
When one adds their words to the recent contribution of @SenTedCruz, the greatest defender of Israel and advocate of ‘Christian Zionism’ in the American Senate, where he accused Nigeria of the same and where he said that he was introducing a Bill in the Senate to do “something about it” and “protect Christians in Nigeria” then you will get an even clearer picture of what is unfolding and the horrendous agenda those behind it have in store for us.
To add to that is the alarming resolution, passed two days ago, by the Canadian Parliament that Nigeria is one of the most dangerous places in the world for Christians to live and that Christians are targeted and slaughtered here all over the country on a daily basis.
The first question that needs to be answered is since when have the Americans and the West generally cared about anyone but themselves, least of all the Christians in our country.
How come they have suddenly started mouthing this fake battle cry and how come the same rhetoric is suddenly coming out of places like the Canadian Parliament and other western capitals?
The sooner those in power in Nigeria and the Nigerian people themselves get a clear grasp of what is really going on the better. More importantly we need to do something to counter the narrative and we need to do it fast. This is because it is spreading like wildfire all over the world and sadly people are buying into it.
The truth is that the Americans, their allies and their local collaborators are carefully and craftily preparing the ground for a religious war in our country and they want us to tear ourselves apart.
There can be no doubt that Christians have been targeted and killed in Nigeria in huge numbers by Islamist terrorists, whether they be Boko Haram or ISWAP, over the last 14 years but it is also a fact that as many Muslims have been targeted and killed by the same Islamist terrorists over the same period of time.
There are two points that need to be made and properly understood.
Firstly the terrorists that have plagued our nation and slaughtered our people, both Christian and Muslim, for the last 14 years were established, armed, funded and protected by the very same Americans and their western and Israeli allies that are crying more than the bereaved today.
Worse still they refused to sell arms to us or allow us to buy arms from anywhere in our attempt to resist the terrorists ourselves.
Remember that?
They even refused to designate Boko Haram as a terrorist organisation for many years and did not do so until it suited their purpose.
The second point to grasp is that the reason that they are now all talking about Nigeria and what they have labelled as “Christian genocide” is not because they love Nigeria or care about Nigerian Christians but because they want to shift the world’s attention away from Gaza and focus it on Nigeria.
They also want to punish us for taking a bold stand at the United Nations against the genocide that the Israelis have unleashed on Gaza which they are supporting and funding.
Standing up for humanity: that is our “crime” and I for one, as a Nigerian, make no apology for it.
In my view it was indeed our proudest moment and finest hour when our Vice President stood before the world at the United Nations and boldly proclaimed that we were against the genocide that was being unleashed on the Palestinian people, condemned what was going on in Gaza and insisted on a two-state solution to resolve the conflict.
Unlike others we did not sit on the fence or buckle and sadly we are now paying the price for it.
This is the reason for their sudden venom, subversion and malice and we must not for one moment think otherwise or delude ourselves into believing that they really care.
Let me be clear: there is nothing wrong with them wanting to help our country fight the terrorists and neither is there anything wrong in them showing concern.
As a matter of fact that would be a welcome development.
What is wrong and unacceptable is the false narrative that they are peddling that it is Christians alone that are being killed.
The question that needs to be answered is why is it being framed in this way?
Yes Christian lives matter but do Muslim ones not matter too? If we are counting Christian bodies should we not count Muslim ones too?
If they had said that terrorists were killing Nigerians of all faiths their concern would have been welcome. But when they say only Christians are being killed and they are attempting to stir up the hearts and souls of Christians from all over the world to unleash a crusade on us in the name of defending Nigerian Christians that gives cause for concern and the perpetuation and sustenance of such a wicked and distorted narrative and agenda which will not end well for our country.
As a matter of fact it would tear us apart, swell the ranks of Boko Haram and ISWAP, alienate the Muslim population in our country, divide our ranks, encourage more violence and conflict, exacerbate both religious and ethnic tensions and eventually lead to chaos and carnage in our nation the likes of which we have never seen before.
Brother will kill brother and we will end up fighting a never-ending civil war which is precisely what they want.
This is why this new-found rhetoric from the West is so dangerous.
We must join hands as Nigerians and re-emphasise our unity, our plurality of faith and our pride in our nation and we must resist this insidious attempt to divide us with a false narrative that, if we do not manage carefully, will push us over the cliff.
If there was a Christian genocide going on in Nigeria I would be the first to expose, oppose, resist and fight against it because my faith is EVERYTHING to me.
The reality is that it is not a Christian genocide that is going on in our country but rather a genocide against all Nigerians, both Christian and Muslim, and it is being perpetuated by a heinous, evil ISIS-inspired and Al Qaeda-like group of barbaric and savage terrorists and criminals that take pleasure in killing people of all faiths.
They do not represent Muslims but rather satan. And in other countries that have been afflicted in a similar way both Muslims and Christians have joined forces to fight them.
That is what we need to do here and we must not allow the Americans or anyone else to divide our ranks and make us think otherwise.
We cannot win the war against terror by turning on ourselves.
We welcome the concern of our detractors but we reject their false narrative and their attempt to divide and destroy us.
Permit me to end this contribution with the following.
A number of years ago I was amongst those that erroneously believed that only Christians were being targeted and subjected to genocide by the terrorists in Nigeria.
This was the case until 2020 when I went on a tour of the North West and North East and discovered that as many, if not more, Muslims and Muslim communities had been targeted and subjected to mass murder, ethnic cleansing and genocide as the Christian ones in that area.
What I witnessed in Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Kaduna, Yobe, Borno, Bauchi, Adamawa, Gombe and other parts of the majority Muslim core North shocked and shattered me and constrained me to accept the assertion that this was not an onslaught against Christians and Christian communities alone but rather an attack on Nigerians of every faith.
And it is the same in the Middle Belt where these evil demon-possesed barbarians are targeting and slaughtering Christians and Muslims in equal measure.
For example I discovered that they attacked Niger, Kwara, Nassarawa and Kogi states and their predominantly Muslim communities as much and as frequently as they attacked Benue, Plateau and Taraba which are predominantly Christian states.
From the day I came to appreciate all this I took an oath before God and man that I would speak out against the atrocities being perpetuated against not just Christians but also Muslims.
I also accepted the fact that to do anything other than that would not only be inherently intellectually dishonest but also would add to the problem and make it worse rather than solve it.
The sooner we accept the fact that we are all victims of the same evil and heartless beasts the better it will be for us all.
What we must never do is accept the bogus narrative or harbor the perfidious notion that the West is trying to establish that only Christians are being killed in our country.
As Christians we are, after all, meant to be our brothers keeper and as human beings we are meant to feel the same degree of pain and I daresay shame when either innocent and defenceless Christian or Muslim men, women and children are murdered in cold blood in our shores.
When the barbarians drop their bombs, wield their machetes, fire their RPG’s and shoot their AK47’s they do not ask their victims what faith they belong to.
The notion that they do is as asinine and far-fetched as it is ignorant and mischievous.
Beasts don’t care whether you are Christian or Muslim when they knock at your door: they only care about spilling your blood and taking your life.
May God guide us all, may He grant us peace and may He bless, defend and protect the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Fani-Kayode is a former Minister for Aviation
