By Danlami Nmodu
Former Minister of Aviation,Mr Femi Fani Kayode has repeated the call on President Goodluck Jonathan to resign if he cannot tackle the Boko Haram crisis .He said the president needs to wake up in the face of endless bloodletting . The former minister made his position in an article titled :”There is Blood in the Land” in reaction to the bomb blasts in Kano motor park yesterday.
“Mr. President needs to wake up, smell the coffee, rise up to the occassion and do his job diligently by defending and protecting the lives and property of the Nigerian people effectively. He must have no sense of restraint and he must give no quarter in this war. Yet if for any reason he cannot muster the will to do so then I would have to agree with my brother Dino Melaye that it is time for him to do the honourable thing, to resign and to leave the job for someone else who has the guts, the strength of character, the sense of urgency and the courage to do what needs to be done.”
“‘The Kano bombing is barbaric, callous and wicked. God save us in this country. The Federal Government and indeed President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has demonstrated incapacitation and ineptitude by their inability to contain this growing insecurity. According to our constitution the fundamental objective of government is the provision of security and welfare for the people. Unfortunately Jonathan has failed in both regards. Our President is overwhelmed. He should take the path of honour, take a bow and resign. There is too much blood in the land. There is blood in our roads, air, police stations, army barracks, churches, mosques, clubs, car parks and homes. There is blood every where”.
Read the full text of his article below:
There Is Blood in the Land ,By Femi Fani Kayode
Permit me to begin this contribution by quoting the insightful and powerful words of Hon. Dino Melaye who is undoubtedly one of the rising stars and stronger voices of the new and up and coming generation of political leaders in Nigeria. On the 19th of March 2013, just a day after the terrible bombings in Kano in which between 30 and 65 innocent Nigerians were killed (depending on whose report you choose to believe), Melaye wrote the following words on his facebook wall-
The Kano bombing is barbaric, callous and wicked. God save us in this country. The Federal Government and indeed President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has demonstrated incapacitation and ineptitude by their inability to contain this growing insecurity. According to our constitution the fundamental objective of government is the provision of security and welfare for the people. Unfortunately Jonathan has failed in both regards. Our President is overwhelmed. He should take the path of honour, take a bow and resign. There is too much blood in the land. There is blood in our roads, air, police stations, army barracks, churches, mosques, clubs, car parks and homes. There is blood every where”.
This is a courageous contribution from a young man who obviously has tremendous passion for our country and who is deeply troubled by all that is happening today. I only wish that there were more young men like Melaye in Nigeria. Can any serious-minded person disagree with his observations on this matter? Is Nigeria not in a state of undeclared war today? Is this not a season of complete anomie in which human life no longer has any value and where life itself has little meaning? Do we actually have a government in this country today? Are the murderers that killed the innocents in Kano on the 18th of march worthy of life let alone amnesty? Are they really human beings?
Though bitter, the simple truth is this- Nigeria will not know peace until the blood of every single one of the over 4000 innocent souls that have been cut short and slaughtered by Boko Haram, Ansaru and all the other Al Qaeda-affiliated islamist terrorist groups that have plagued our land and bled our people in the last 2 years, is fully avenged. Until this is done that sea of innocent blood that has been shed will continue to cry out to God in heaven for vengeance and it will attract all manner of misfortune and curses on our beleagured land.
My solution to the Boko Haram scourge is simple and clear. The President, the Federal Government and the people of Nigeria must join hands together, rise up as one and seek them, their secret backers and their secret sponsors out. They must be unmasked, brought to justice, systematically eliminated and sent to hell where they belong. Enough is enough. Call it what you like- a crusade, a war against terror, a fight for justice and righteousness, a war against the kingdom of darkness, the final battle for the soul, liberation and independence of Nigeria or any other name that you choose. Let us take our country back from these heartless men called Boko Haram that were sent to our shores by the devil himself to slaughter and torment our people and to paint our land red with the blood of our women and children.
Mr. President needs to wake up, smell the coffee, rise up to the occassion and do his job diligently by defending and protecting the lives and property of the Nigerian people effectively. He must have no sense of restraint and he must give no quarter in this war. Yet if for any reason he cannot muster the will to do so then I would have to agree with my brother Dino Melaye that it is time for him to do the honourable thing, to resign and to leave the job for someone else who has the guts, the strength of character, the sense of urgency and the courage to do what needs to be done.
Nigeria is dying. She is being bled to death by Boko Haram, Ansaru and Al Qaeda. Who will deliver her? Who will save her? Who will take the bull by the horns and ”fight the good fight”? We need a President that has the stomach for that fight. We need a leader that harbours no fear, that has the courage of the biblical Joshua, Jehu and David and that is ready to stand up and openly confront the greatest evil that our country has ever known. It is time for old men to hold their peace and for young men to rise up in rage and anger and defend their lifestyle, their values, their families, their faith and their nation. It is time to put on the mantle and recite the inspiring words of young King Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt. It is time to invoke the spirit of the great Greek warrior, the noble Achilles . It is time to remember the words of Mark Anthony and to scream ”Cry havoc ! And let slip the dogs of war”. It is time to save our beautiful nation Nigeria from the evil that stalks the land and from the enemy that resides within.
