Former Aviation Minister,
Femi Fani-Kayode, has slammed member of the House of Representatives, Femi
Gbajabiamila, for sitting at the feet of a Muslim cleric.
Posting the photo above,
FFK wrote; Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, a Yorubaman and a three-term member of the
Federal House of Representatives who wishes to be elected Speaker, sitting at
the feet and clinging to the thighs of a Fulani Islamic scholar by the name of
Sheik Dahiru Bauchi.
Has it really come to this?
Do we have to sink to this level? Must we bow before them? Is it not better to
die a free man than live a slave? Some have argued that Femi did this because
he is a Muslim and that he was merely displaying his deep respect for a
northern Muslim cleric.
I find this contention, at
best, intellectually dishonest and, at worst, spacious and disingenuous. It is
also a pernicious lie that seeks to mask the bitter truth. The question is
whether any leading Fulani politician would ever crawl before, kneel at the
feet of and grab the thighs of any Yoruba Muslim cleric or Sheik simply to win
his support for any position? I doubt it very much given the fact that Fulani
Muslims do not even allow Yoruba clerics to lead prayers in mosques in the
north.
The Yoruba Muslims in the
north are compelled to open their own “Yoruba Mosques” where they can lead in
prayer but they cannot lead in any mosque that the Hausa Fulani attend.This is
the case despite the fact that Islam came to the Yorubaland, through the
Turkish traders, a good 400 years before it arrived in the northern region of
what later became Nigeria through Usman Dan Fodio.
I have known Femi for over
40 years and I have always loved and respected him. I still do.
And as far as I am
concerned politics can never come between us. But the Femi in this picture is
not the Femi I knew, loved and grew up with in old Lagos.That Femi would NEVER
bow or kneel before ANY man for ANY reason. That Femi was a man of honor,
self-respect and dignity who put his family and tribe before anything or anyone
else.
That Femi was one of the
most brilliant minds of the new generation of young political leaders that
emerged in the late ’90’s and that went on to do great things and achieve so
much for their people and country.
Nothing could intimidate
him and no-one could buy him. And neither would he ever beg or crawl before
anyone or grab their thighs and knees in desperation.Sadly things appear to
have changed. May God deliver us! I still believe that he would make a great
Speaker of the House of Reps and that he deserves the position.
I do not however believe
that he ought or need to sell his soul or conscience for it. The Femi that I
know is just too big and too good for that!Let us remember the celebrated words
of the late Leader of the Yoruba, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. He said, “Kaka ka
dobale fun Gambari ka kuku roju ku” (meaning “We the Yoruba would rather die
than bow down to the Fulani”).
Those were the words of a
courageous man and an insightful leader. How I wish we had more of such leaders
in Nigeria today.
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