by Okon Iyanam
I have recently been following a case study in political and religious intolerance now playing out in Kaduna State, North-Central Nigeria.
A young lecturer at the Kaduna State University, one Dr. John Danfulani, has apparently ruffled not a few aristocratic Moustache Petes in the feudal North, going by the substance (or the interpretation thereof) of a post he made on social media some three weeks ago.
To understand why Danfulani’s post has become so worrisome to the Northern Oligarchy and to properly situate the point of my own assessment of this development, it is important to reproduce a major aspect of his Facebook post below:
[pull_quote_center]”….To them, the APC is a religious Party. Northern leaders under the Party are demigods and crusaders of their ways of life. These people living in the dusty villages of Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Kano, Jigawa are quick in calling you ‘Ame’ or ‘Kafiri (meaning Pagan) once you express any view on anything their god, PMB and his brigade of small Angels are doing. Attack the attacker and let the skies fall..”[/pull_quote_center]
The response of the Northern establishment to Danfulani’s comments were as Danfulani himself had anticipated (attack the attacker), swift and resolute.
First, his employers, the Kaduna State University, issued a query in which his comments were prejudged as ”divisive”, ”injurious”, ”capable of inciting a particular group against the other”, and ”tantamounting to hate speech”. He was expected to provide reasons why this judgment should not stand! Funny. Needless to mention, Danfulani’s attempts to justify himself, by way of a response to said query, proved abortive and he was immediately placed on suspension.
Next, the Kaduna State Police Commissioner, one Malam Umar Shehu, citing the potential of Danfulani’s comments to incite civil disorder, issued an arrest warrant, and a detention order against him. He was subsequently arraigned before the magistrates after exceeding the constitutional term limits for his detention in Police custody
Not done, the Magistrate has deemed it vital to order his continued detention in police custody, until the next adjourned date, to prevent him from, of all things, ”interfering” in police investigations.
He was finally granted bail on Monday, February 1, 2016 after a team of 14 lawyers appeared on his behalf in court. Some lawyers claim his bail conditions are “stringent”.
Danfulani’s travails have nothing to do with his post, I can assure you. A noted critic of the El-Rufai administration, he has had several run-ins with the police authorities on account of his unrepentant criticism of that government’s actions to date.
Through his organization, Centrum Initiative for Development and Fundamental Rights Advocacy (CEDRA), Danfulani is known to have petitioned the UN Human Rights Commission in connection with El-Rufai and the Nigerian Army’s war against El-Zakzaky’s Shia Muslim denomination, a war which has so far seen to the demolition of the sect’s monumental buildings, including but not limited to Zakzaky’s residence in Gyellesu, Hussainiyya Baqiyatullah around Sokoto Road, Fudiyya Islamic Center at Unguwar Dan Magaji, Uthman Bn Fodio’s Film Village in Dambo and Sheikh Zakzaky’s late mother’s grave in the ancient area of Jushi, all in Zaria.
In an article on his personal blog, www.johndanfulani.com, he had also described the Nigerian Army’s altercation with the Shia sect as ”a violation of human rights, using disproportionate force and arson” and the Army’s tactics as ”unprofessional”. It is little wonder that the establishment would seize the slightest opportunity of this so-called infraction to bring down the Sledgehammer ever so heavily.
Where do all these leave us? First, Kaduna is dead as the haven of peaceful co-existence in the North central. This is of significance because Kaduna is the only capital city, in fact the only city in the North, which was created anew and given its name. It did not exist as a pre-colonial city or structure. It was built from scratch and on virgin land to serve all the people of the Northern Regional administration. It was neither Christian nor Muslim and was ethnic-neutral. The Kaduna of those dreams spawned the John Danfulanis of today’s reality. Therefore, there must be room for the conscientious objector. Fortunately or unfortunately, that same Kaduna spawned the El-Rufais of today’s government, who have not a jot of belief in tolerance, both political and religious.
This is why Kaduna has always been a bipolar society. the Dangiwa Umars, the Balarabe Musas and their species all hail from within that environment. The progenitors of the ”Kaduna Mafia”, that aristocratic, pro-establishment sub-group, also hailed from there. In times past, both groups, and aspects of the intellectual, industrial, traditional and agrarian streams supporting either side, all lived, even in contentious harmony, but they survived alongside each other!
This is still possible. Victory for one side, through the annihilation of the other, will not yield the peace that the creation of Kaduna was designed to foster.
John Danfulani in his personal capacity and as a metaphor for political, social and religious counterpoint, must live and be allowed to live. So that Kaduna may live!
Okon Iyanam is a top corporate executive in Nigeria. Connect with him on Facebook.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
