ACF’s alarm on terrorists using camels to smuggle arms into Nigeria is scary —Afenifere

In this interview by SAM NWAOKO, Afenifere spokesman, Mr Yinka Odumakin, speaks on several aspects of Nigeria’s challenges as a nation and the way forward as we enter a new year.

 

As we enter year 2021, it just occurred to us that Boko Haram war is also becoming 12 years old. In Afenifere’s view, when will the Boko Haram end? Or, will it ever end?

Boko Haram has come a long way with us but the leadership of the country seems to have provided the group a very fertile ground to operate, starting with that disguised intervention in 2014 by the leader of the then opposition on behalf of a terror group. And since coming to power, the current administration has been accused by the influential Wall Street Journal of lubricating the Boko Haram terror wheel with millions of Euros. We just had the Kankara drama which appeared to us as a cheap operation to swipe the card for the terror group through a brazen negotiation by another group known as Miyetti Allah. It would take God walking through Nigeria in all His Majesty for this country to be delivered from its evil grip.

 

Are you not worried about the happenings among Yoruba leaders following the reported recent attack on Afenifere leaders by Pastor Tunde Bakare in a sermon?

The Yoruba are not strange to such storms in a tea cup once in a while which do tickle our enemies who are happy at such moments that they are achieving their aims in our midst. We are not unmindful of the implications of such orchestrated rancours and that is why we are not allowing it to linger so as not to give occasion for our adversaries to celebrate over us.

 

The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, gave a Christmas charge that has become a source of anger for some and encouragement for others across various divides in the country. What is your opinion on his observations? Where do you think the controversy surrounding Kukah is coming from and leading us?

I got to know Father Kukah in the terrible days of Sani Abacha. It is unfortunate the apostle of truth is going through this as our country rolls under Abacha structure once again. The regime and its agents have been on a blackmail trail of the bishop for his well researched and delivered message on Christmas Day on the perilous state of security in Nigeria. They have accused him of inciting a coup as if they take all of us for Almajiris. They must be seriously lexically challenged to think we are all like their unthinking supporters who would be told that the bishop was pointing out what they would have done if it was not one of them doing all these against us as coup baiting.

They and their lick-spittle can cast him in any demonic garb but truth-loving Nigerians know what he represents. He is at their receiving end today for region and religion. As a Zangon Kataf man, we know what his people have suffered over the years at the hands of those who dominate them. It is by divine mercy that General Zamani Lekwot is alive as they would have slaughtered him years ago.

The other crime of Kukah is his faith and those who call his God are endangered species in their Nigeria that the rest of us live in with them with daily pains of our reality. The bishop was speaking truth to a country whose soul is in firm grip of lie.

 

Governor ‘Seyi Makinde of Oyo State even said bandits from Mali were entering the country, especially the South West region through a part of the state. At a juncture like this, what should we do? What does Afenifere advise?

Governor Makinde’s revelation about bandits from Mali cannot be a lie, given the way Nigeria has been opened to Sahel terrorists. The president recently declared that only God can police the Niger border even when he has been in charge of closure of Nigeria’s borders with non-Fulani countries. We are in a deep clash of civilisation and there is nothing we can do for as long as we are under this government or its type. We are stuck with this banality for now.

 

Given the current political circumstances in the country, what would Afenifere say the Yoruba nation wants: a separate nation or restructuring?

Our primary demand in the order of Awo who authored ‘Thoughts on the Nigerian Constitution’ is that a multi-ethnic country like Nigeria can only survive under federalism. He did say that, any attempt to run Nigeria under a unitary system shall be productive of chaos and other system destruction. We have not been blessed with those better than Almajiri in leadership. We insist on restructuring even when we understand the frustrations of those demanding a break-up. That is not our demand even when we know that a country that does not bend will automatically break as we have seen in the USSR, Yugoslavia and other defunct countries.

 

What advice would Afenifere give to Nigerians on the country’s various problems as we enter 2021?

Nigerians must not give up on the challenges. We must stand to confront whatever problems facing us as we are capable of solving them if we are determined. It is a country with great potentials that we have, and we shall marvel at what lies ahead once we cross this challenging Jordan

 

Will Afenifere change its antagonism to President Buhari in the new year?

We are not antagonising Buhari. We have had good words for him when he did well. But we are not Buhari media organisation to be praising him when he has not done well. That is sycophancy that is too cheap for people of our pedigree.

 

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) on Thursday cried out that camels were being used to import weapons into Nigeria, and that terrorists were using ransom money to buy more sophisticated arms. What is your take on this?

That camels are being used to import weapons into Nigeria is a very serious matter and very scary. It is good that it is the ACF that is raising the alarm. The second issue of terrorists using ransom money to buy arms is no-brainer because groups like Boko Haram can only increase their terror capacity when you pay them ransom. They have no cattle farm or any industry other than terror.

 

YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

Why Sanusi Was My Choice As Emir Of Kano ― Kwankwaso

Former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has defended his choice of former Governor of Central Bank, Muhammad Sanusi II, as the Emir of Kano.Incumbent Kano State governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, at a… 

Apple Goes Into Car Production

Tech giant, Apple, makers of iPhone, MacBook, and other high-end gadgets has decided to expand its business by going into the production of self-driving cars with high-performance batteries by 2024…

Kano Youth, 23 Years, Marries 46-Year-Old American Mother

A Kano youth, Suleiman Isah Isah, 23 years, of Panshekara in Kano metropolis has married his heartthrob, Janine Sanchezt, a 46-year-old American mother…

After Two Years, Daddy Freeze Apologises To Bishop Oyedepo
Daddy Freeze whose real name is Ifedayo Olarinde has apologised to Bishop Oyedepo who is the presiding bishop and founder of Living Faith Church aka Winners Chapel…