I read with dismay, the above titled
threat letter credited to the former Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN)
President, Primate Sunday Mbang (Pardon me if I miss the pre-fix).It is not my style to react to such
outbursts since every Nigerian is free to express his/her opinion over any
national issue.
However, it is disturbing when some unverified
comments are made by religious leaders whose influence on their followers in
enormous.Moreso, when some of
these leaders manifest a deep-rooted hatred against a particular section of the
country or faith and Mbang unfortunately has demonstrated this tendency on more
occasions than one.
Campaign for the 2003 general election took off on a
frenzied note and as would be expected, each of the political gladiators did
all they could to out with one another.
Normal as this seems, the only snag in the whole
exercise was the overt partisanship role played by Mbang while the whole
proceedings lasted.I must confess
that, I was particularly disappointed the rate at which Mbang dragged his CAN
into the whole process.The first
thing he did as CAN President was to sponsor a section of the print media to
put up a write-up to the effect that Buhari urged Muslims not to vote for
Christians.This is coupled with
the gutter language he used on the person of Buhari.I am not in any way sympathetic to Buhari.In short, I carried out my
investigation into this allegation and up till this moment, all we heard was
that, the write-up was a mere ploy meant to smear Buhari’s name since he
was seen as the strongest challenger to President Obasanjo.
Let me state clearly that, if the accusations were
to be true I would have been the first to campaign against him.Nigeria has out-grown the stage when anybody
can use religious sentiment to ascend the office of the presidency.Up till now, nobody has been able to
publish the full text of the so-called speech by Buhari, where it was
delivered, date and other relevant facts.Mbang and his likes have done their worst and the rest is now
history.Whatever anybody may say,
Buhari remains one of the past leaders of this nation who should be accorded
his due respect.
I am particularly disturb to read the Saturday
Independent of August 14, 2004 (page 3) where Mbang is again warming up to
attack Babangida.I think it is
high time we realised that no single individual no matter his influence or
position, has the right to impose his personal opinion on others in such a
rascally manner.
Mbang should as a man of conscience use his
connection and influence which he so proudly flaunts, to ask questions from
those that matter in Yorubaland.This is when it will dawn on him that, Babangida’s action as
regards the annulment of June 12 election was a mere reaction to the pressure
from some of the opinion leaders of the South West who can not be ignored.
Is Mbang not surprised that, more than two years
before the next general election, many sons and daughters from the South West
are now routing for Babangida’s return to power?This confirms the fact that, the
Yorubas nay Nigerians know their true enemies.
Therefore, Mbang should stop crying more than the
bereaved, as he cannot claim to feel the annulment of the election more than
other Nigerians since he, unlike the ordinary Nigerians, can always use his
influence and connection to get whatever he wants from any government.
It is not out of place to say that, Mbang’s
inability to separate religion from politics has made Mr. President who sees
CAN as a mere political campaign tool, to take the leadership of that body to
the cleaners without caring a hoot.
Rather than engage in religious or ethnic disharmony
by using the innocent Christians to feather his political nest, I think Mbang
should be concerned with how to redeem the image of his people in the East who
are now seen as chronic cannibals not only in Nigeria but worldwide.
If Mbang is looking for political relevance, he
should do so through other refined means and should stop using religion to
attack individuals especially the past leaders of Northern extraction.These subjective and inciting comments
must stop, now!
Isah Mohammed
Ilorin
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2004. All Rights Reserved.
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