Prominent Islamic cleric, Sheik Ahmad Mahmoud Gumi has raised an
eyebrow over the Nigerian government’s decision to send troops to fight
on the side of France against so-called “Islamic terrorists” in Mali
which he warns “…can seriously be dangerous for the nation and more so
for the government.”
In a post Facebook post yesterday, the cleric argued that there was no justifiable reason to send troops.
He wrote:
“Today Nigerian troops are committed in Mali to fight ‘Islamic
terrorists’ without intellectually looking at the repercussion of such
an adventure. We all know that the ‘War against terror’ which Islam also
fights can easily be turned into war against Islam. There is a thin
line between the two. And if caution is not taken, the situation can
seriously be dangerous for the nation and more so for the government.
“One thing is very clear. No nation on earth can fight Islam and
succeed.” Sheik Gumi then went down memory lane to recount the Soviet
Union’s fight against the Mujahideen for almost 13 years in Afghanistan
which left the former soviet power disintegrated. Also, he recalled how
the U.S was warned against invading Iraq, “a sovereign nation” , and
noted that “the end result has been stringent monitoring and restriction
of the flow of money in and out of the country. A self-imposed
umbilical stenosis, a self-imposed strangulation. Nobody will again
trust the USA, therefore people now prefer Asia for their business,
medical care and even education.”
Bringing the experiences of those two countries’ to bear on the
Nigerian government’s decision to send troops to Mali, Sheik Gumi said:
“As for Nigeria, we can see a parallel when in the late 60’s Maj.
Nzeogwu assassinated the Northern premier and the Biafran War ensued.
Ojukwu, in his declaration of war,said bluntly that he was fighting
Islam and the menace of Arabs which he claimed. The end results were
that he destroyed lives, went into exile and to date Biafra ceases to
exist except of course in the mind of its proponents.
“And worse still for him, Islam has reached the shores of the Delta.
This brief description of a chain of events should be a clear counsel to
people leading Nigeria today; no one can fight Islam or the Muslims and
succeed. It is futile to attempt it. They will only destroy their own
lives and cause untold hardship to others. They will be cursed not only
by people they injured but by their own people as Bush Jr is regarded
now in America. Therefore if the government has such plans or are
deceived by some Islamaphobes in their circles they should reverse their
policies immediately.
“There is no border sharing between Nigeria and Mali. There is Niger
republic, Burkina Faso and Togo in between. All these nations did not
report terrorism and yet suddenly we read in the news that ‘the Army
Chief of Staff (COAS) Azubuike Ihejirika, who did not offer evidence,
claimed that terrorists trained in Mali had already arrived on Nigerian
shores. See:
http://saharareporters.com/news-page/‘terrorists’-mali-seen-nigeria-…,
Posted: January 17, 2013 – 22:19.
“If what he said is true, then Nigeria is unnecessarily plunging
itself into a War that will have a grievous consequence on our security
without any foreseen benefit.
“Let us encourage the Malians to tackle their insurgency peacefully,
and not by taking sides. If however, the SS&SE (COAS) wants to use
the volatile situation to build on what his predecessor Azazi implanted,
then we leave him to posterity. Time will tell. All we do is to urge
Muslims to be calm, prayerful and watchful.”
No comments:
Post a Comment