Somebody from Abuja sent me a link on Saturday March 5, 2022, while in a wedding reception in Kaduna and said I have to look at this write up by Professor Farooq A. Kperogi titled “Tinubu, Dogara and the Prison and Poison of Religious Politics”
Dated Saturday, March 05, 2022
I love the write up , Prof. Said alot of things that are correct about Religion and Politics in Nigeria but I needed to bring out some misconception , which many Nigerians including Professor believes it’s true..
Professor Farooq Kperogi said and I quote him. “The two most disadvantaged groups in Nigeria’s representational politics are northern Christians and Southern Muslims. In Nigeria’s internal geopolitics, these two groups are structurally invisible, politically subjugated, and told to be content with their political and symbolic marginality”.
Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a Muslim from Osun/Lagos states, and Yakubu Dogara, a northern Christian from Bauchi State, embody this phenomenon eloquently. When Tinubu kick-started his run for the presidency in 2020, he settled on Yakubu Dogara to be his running mate to balance his ticket. It was one of the reasons Dogara defected from PDP to APC in July 2020″. Though I found out reliably before writing this piece, it’s not because of Tinubu Dogara moved to APC but some other reasons.
According to Kperogi and I quote him again. “Tinubu’s northern Muslim supporters told him—without subtlety, tact, or even pretense to evasion—that a northern Christian running mate to a southern Muslim candidate was unacceptable and was a surefire way to a resounding electoral defeat. Tinubu’s own internal polling later showed he’d get substantially more votes with a northern Muslim running mate than he would with a northern Christian running mate”.
Professor Kperogi also said for Tinubu to get a ticket to run for President his running mate have to be a Muslim from the North, according to his Northern backers. Kperogi also brought a history of what happened around 1990 where late Chief MKO Abiola choose a Northern Christain Pascal Bafyau from Adamawa but the Northern Muslims advised him that it will not sale unless a Muslim deputise for him , reason Baba Gana Kingibe was chosen.
Is it true the Islamic North are the Majority? I agree with Kperogi when he said “Good” Northern Christains are those who subordinate their Religious Identity. Which is true, in some meetings in the North some Christians don’t mention Jesus while praying just to please their Muslim friends.
I completely disagree that any Muslim from the South selecting a Northern Christains to deputise for him is a political blunder. One thing with the Muslims in the North you can’t believe them hook line and sinker. I learn reliably the Tinubu Muslim Northern backers for Muslim Muslim ticket some of them are pushing for Governor Fayemi of Ekiti and Osinbajo for President so that they can Deputise for them. Nigerians do not understand this Northern Muslims , they don’t want to lose out. A Muslim from the South picking a Christian from the North as Vice President they will lose out politically. Because they don’t even trust the Yoruba Muslim even as President. Therefore is either they are the President of Nigeria or they must deputise for whoever he is the President even if he is a Muslim from the South.
The century long Propaganda by the colonial Masters and the Muslim Northeners who control the media in the North made the world to believe Christians in the North are insignificant maybe 95% to 5% .The Nigerians in the South believe that lie that everybody in the North is a Muslim. So I am not surprised if Professor Farooq Kperogi in his write up also share such Ignorance. Many Southerners never believed we have indigenous Christians from Borno State until the Chibok Kidnap were almost 90% of the students are Christains, indigenous of Chibok Borno State.
Let me briefly give you Population statistics in the North
Northern Christians
1) North East
Adamawa state is 60 percent Christian
Taraba State is 70 percent Christian
Gombe State is 40 percent Christian(It could be more)
Borno State is 30 Percent Christian
Bauchi State is 20 Percent Christian
Yobe state is 20 percent Christian(it could be more)
2)North Central
Benue is 100 percent Christian
Plateau State is 90 percent Christian
Nasarawa state: the two largest ethnic groups are: Eggon the largest ethnic group is 80 percent Christian, Mada is 90 percent Christian, is 65 percent Christian. In Nassarawa we have alot of animists even in LGAs near Abuja the FCT.
Kogi state is 60 percent Christian: Igala is 70 percent Christian, Okun is 100 percent Christians while in Ebira Land Christians are 30 percent.
Kwara: Christians are 40 percent(it could be more)
Niger: 40 percent Christian ( We have high number of animists in Niger especially among the Dukawa People in Rijau LGA of Niger State)
North West:
Kano: 10 percent Christian(It could be more)
Katsina is 20 percent Christian (I can believe Christains could be upto 40% in Katsina , many indigenous Hausas in Katsina call Maguzawa are Christains)
Sokoto is 5 percent Christian
Zamfara is 20 percent Christian
Kebbi state is 30 percent Christian(We still have high number of animists Idol Worshippers in Kebbi especially among the Zuru and Dukawa people in Shanga LGA and around Yauri )
Kaduna state is 55 percent Christian.
I am a Pastor Evangelism have taking me to Nassarawa State, Kano State , Kebbi State and Niger State , I noticed that in some of the villages in this Northern Nigeria States , the Mosque are empty nobody pray inside . One thing I noticed is only the village head and his family are Muslims under the payroll of Government but the others are animists. When I asked some of the villagers they say the Muslims came from Government house through their traditional ruler they build the mosque believing one day all the villagers will convert to Islam and worship in the mosque. Thats why they built the mosque and you a stranger will think the entire village are Muslims because of the presence of a large mosque in the village.
But Azzaman they Marry 4 wives and you marry 1 wife. What a nonsense reasoning I call that. Polygamy has been existing in Saudi Arabia before Islam came to Nigeria why is Saudi Arabia not more populated than Great Britain People who marry only one wife?
ETHNIC SPREAD
Now, in analysing ethnic spread, you should know that even in Kano state and Jigawa State, we have the Kurama or Akurmi tribe in Kano south and in Jigawa South, with the exception of Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, all other states in the north are dominated by non Hausa-Fulani tribes even if they are Muslims.
And it will Interest you to know that tribes like Igbira, Igala, Nupe, Yorubas in Kogi do not discriminate based on Religion. This is one reason why the northern Oligarchs will never support census that enumerates Religion and tribe because the true picture of which religion or tribe is the most populous in Nigeria will be revealed.
According to a politician from the South who was a former Chairman of a major political party in Nigeria and a former Personal assistant to 2 Nigerian democratically elected Presidents at Rex Hotel Kaduna which I was there. He said the Middlebelt is not less than 50m People , he said they know it , everybody knows it, he said he is in Government they know it. That’s Middlebelt only not including other states in the North I brought out the statistical analysis above. If Kaduna alone can have about 3 million Christians 2006 censors according to LGAs northern Nigeria should have not less than 60m Christians.
We are not minorities as they want you believe rather the Hausa Fulani Muslims found mostly in Northwest Nigeria are the ones that always bring out this misrepresentation of facts secretly to pique us the Northern Christains as the minority.
WHY IS THE NORTHERN CHRISTAINS SILENT ABOUT THIS.
1) A Northern Christain boy is trained to be quite while a Northern Muslim boy is trained to speak out right from their Madarassa or Quranic schools. With whip the Mallam will whip them to talk. But many northern Christains are made to believe their is honour and dignity in keeping quite while injustice is glaring them in the face.
2) Fear : Many Northern Christains come to my inbox telling me to keep low and be silent , don’t put your family in danger.
3) Timidity: You have to respect Government even as injustice is facing you. Some Northern Christains believe Government can not be spoken against even when they are wrong because the Bible say Pray for Government.
4) Many Northern Christains are self centered if they can provide for their families, everybody should go to hell.
5) Inferiority complex , many Northern Christains more than a century their grand Parents have been marginalised and persecuted by this Northern Muslims therefore inferiority complex have set in. Many feel they can not aspire for anything in Nigeria without the help of a Northern Muslim.
6) Northern Christains Elders are not helping matters , the youths are always looking for direction from the elders but the elders always turn them towards the Northern Muslims , while nothing like one North.
7) I am a Northern Christain it might hurt you but believe me we have this slave – Master mentality among Northern Christains. Many see the Northern Muslims as a more superior specie of human beings.
IF YOU HAVE SUCH CHRISTAIN POPULATION IN THE NORTH WHY ARE STATES LIKE KADUNA WITH SUCH HUGE CHRISTAIN POPULATION CAN NOT TAKE POWER.
If you read my article “THE HAUSA FULANI INTELLIGENTSIA ” , written in 2017, it explains this. The Muslim North knew for a long time they are in the minority and they sat down during the military and make sure we are politically at disadvantage. Delineation of Polling units. Where I stay in Kaduna is a huge area with only 4 polling units , somewhere with a similar size and population where Muslims are would have almost 40 polling units. In some villages with Christian Population no single polling units. Many of us are disenfranchised from voting. That’s the only reason why a Christian might find it difficult to win Kaduna. It’s not because of Population but because of disenfranchisement and they delibrately did that before the coming of democracy in 1999. WHY DO YOU THINK THE NORTHERN MUSLIMS HATE THE WORD RESTRUCTURING? They don’t want their wickedness to be corrected because it’s put them in more advantage than the Northern Christain.
I want to tell you Southerners if you want to pick a Christian from the North please go ahead and also Northern Christains you have to come out from your shelves.
I have to write this to discourage that insinuation that Northern Christains are minorities and insignificant. Northern Christains leaders we have to be one and tribes in the North even if you are a Muslim we have to be one. A Nupe Christain will never have agenda against. Nupe Muslim. A Igala Muslim will never have any agenda against an Igala Christain. The Fulanis are those with agenda even the Hausa man now have realised the Fulani man is not working for Hausa interest. They are just using Religion to get the bounty they need out of NIgeria. Fulanis are minorities in Nigeria therefore they must use Religion to confused the other Northern Muslims against Northern Christains for their tribal Interest not even the Interest of Islam.
NORTHERN CHRISTAINS ARE NOT PUSH OVER IN ANYWAY POLITICALLY
Azzaman Azzaman
