By Iro Danjuma, Kaduna
In a manner never seen before Zaria- based Islamic cleric and leader of Islamic Movement in Nigeria, popularly referred to as Shiites ,Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky has alleged in Kaduna that some Nigerians at the corridors of power were behind the spate of terror attacks in the country.The fearless cleric cautioned that such unpatriotic Nigerians may be digging their own graves by having a hand in attacks that have been killing people and making life unbearable for many.
Zakzaky, who spoke at a function organized by a group, Christian/ Muslim Alternative to Conflict, reasoned that that such crises have become protracted largely because people were benefitting from the situation. Said he , “there are people behind these entire unnecessary crises happening in this country. Those people are benefiting from the crisis politically and otherwise. They are the ones exploiting some innocent people to cause crisis in the country. Our prayers is that those people who are inciting these political crisis or violence will realize that they will one day be consumed by these crisis. It is better they stop or their secrets will be exposed in future and it will be their end.”
“They are only digging their graves but if they realize it now it will be better for them. But if they refuse to change their attitude they will be consumed by the grave they dig with their own hands and by so doing peace will be sustained in the country,” he said.
Zakzaky said the beneficiaries would work against dialogue as a way of ending the crises situation and disagreed with the argument that multi ethnic and religious problems were the cause of crisis in Nigeria.He said they were rather a blessing to the nation since they were not man- made arrangement but a natural phenomenon which could not be altered.
“Whenever there is crisis, always ask who is the beneficiary, and you will get to the source of the crisis, and ( you find ) out that an engineer is one who is engineering the crisis. Our crisis in the past republic is between North and South, fear of domination, one region dominating the other. The region was destroyed, and we have small States. And in as much as you rule to create crisis, one day the crisis you created will devour you. It is also time for us to realize that we should not allow ourselves to be used for the benefit of others both inside and outside,” he said.
Zakzakky urged Nigerian masses not allow themselves be used by persons interested in causing violence in the country, but see ethno-religious differences as a unifying factor in the society.
His words: “Dialogue is not the solution because there are people instigating these crises .Those who refused to listen to our warnings will soon regret their actions. Many of them committed lots of atrocities just to remain on their positions of power at the end they are no more today. We are hoping those who remain will change or else they will all be consumed by their evil acts.
“Although, it is important to take the message to the ordinary people who are being exploited to cause violence. People today do not listen to those who caution them they only look at the person talking to them. If he has committed any bad act in the past they will not listen to him.
“There are some perceived problems, some people think that in Nigeria we have a lot of problems, thinking that one of the problems is that we have so many ethnic groups; we have also so many religions. I don’t think these are problems. But I tell you if there is a problem and that problem has no solution, is it a problem? It becomes more a problem. In fact different religions and ethnic groups are blessings; they are not problems at all.
“Let’s look at racism as an example, if you say your own colour is the best, what did you do to choose your own colour if you say is better, and the other person, what do you think he’s done to have the other colour which you think is bad. Similarly, if you think another ethnic group is bad, what have you done to belong to where you are, did you submit application to God that you want to be among a particular group, and the other person did not submit such application. We just saw ourselves where we are. So it is no problem at all as long as it has no solution.
“Religion is a matter of belief, even though I know that a lot of people practise religion because of the group they belong, they are born into it, so religion is a matter of belief and conviction. You belong to a religion not because your father belongs to that religion, you are a member of that religion because you believed in it, and you act accordingly.
“This is the area where dialogue comes in, not in a matter of ethnic, it is a matter of religion and belief, and here we can discuss my belief, and your belief, the area we agreed upon, and the area we disagreed. And one thing is very clear, whether we like it or not, we have to live together.
“In Lebanon, a land of conflict, where Muslims and Christians, even Muslims and Muslims, Christians and Christians fought for so many years, and at the end of the day, they came together and live in peace. But why do we have to fight before we settle, why do we have to make the mistake before we say we should look at South Africa, Sierra lone, and Lebanon ways of finding peace.
“We can do without fighting because we are not going to have a country with one ethnic group, country with one single religion. Therefore we can live together as one member of the country. So why the fight when at the end of the day we still live together. We have to stay together.”
