A Canadian Federal Court presided over by Justice Phuong Ngo, recently declared our former and incumbent ruling political parties – Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and All Progressives Congress, APC – “terrorist organisations”. This has kept many of us talking. The Presidency, APC and PDP have reacted temperamentally. Indeed, a Foreign Affairs Ministry’s spokesman demanded a “retraction” which, to me, is untenable.
Justice Ngo was merely explaining the law of his country because a Nigerian, one Douglas Egharevba, sought asylum in Canada. He was rejected because of his past links to the PDP and APC. Egbarevba was obviously one of those politicians who enjoyed the incumbency bounties of the PDP but crawled over to the APC when the latter came to power. When Egharevba’s centre could no longer hold, he joined the japa train to Canada and tried to play victim by applying for asylum. “Smart” guy.
Justice Ngo determined that since Egharevba was linked to the two political parties that have captured and controlled power by subverting democracy and the rule of law, which under Canadian law constitute acts of terrorism, he was not eligible for the asylum. That is the law of Canada. It is a good law.
In Nigeria, politicians buy votes, hire thugs to snatch ballot boxes, compromise collation of results. They pay off electoral officials, security, army and police; assassinate their opponents and bribe election tribunal judges in order to grab power.
Under Nigerian law, these acts are categorised as “crimes”. Indeed, political pundits have dubbed Nigerian power politics as a “criminal enterprise” masquerading as democracy. But Canada took it further by calling these violations “terrorism”. When you criminally overwhelm the power of the people to choose their leaders and conduct democracy outside the rule of law, you deserve to be called a “terrorist” and treated as such.
In February this year, the Canadian High Commission in Nigeria had also turned down the visa application of the highest Nigerian military officer, Chief of Defence, CDS, General Christopher Musa, for reasons not officially disclosed, though some speculated it had to do with human rights violations. Canada is one of the Western nations that religiously sends election observers to major Nigerian elections, in addition to having their High Commission here. So, they know what goes on.
Under the Nigerian Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, terrorism is described as any act aimed at intimidating the public, disrupting essential service or justice, destabilising or destroying the fundamental political, constitutional, economic or social structures of Nigeria or influencing government by intimidation or coercion. It is not much different from that of Canada since they spin off from the same universal declaration of the concept. The difference is that Canada also strongly applies it to the democratic process, and Nigeria does not. Canada understands that winning power through intimidation or criminality is more dangerous than a jihadist detonating an improvised explosive to kill himself and others.
APC and PDP are equally guilty of “ballot box terrorism”, so are other political parties. But the APC dethroned the PDP and ascended to power through the many “gunpowder terrorism” acts of some of their leaders. The late President Muhammadu Buhari used terrorism to emerge as an elected president after losing three bids. His declaration that “the dog and baboon will all be soaked in blood” (May 14, 2011) if the 2015 election was “rigged”, said it all.
Also, a former APC leader, openly admitted in 2021, that “we” (APC leaders) brought the Fulani terrorists from Sierra Leone, Senegal, Mali, Niger and Chad to fight President Goodluck Jonathan’s government if his party lost the 2015 election. The gunmen refused to leave when their services were no longer needed. Instead, they settled down to form bandit gangs, decimating states like Zamfara, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Niger, Kaduna and Kwara. According to this leader in an interview: “We are not asking the right questions on how the same Fulani we have been living with suddenly turned out a menace. We also must ask how they had access to their guns. The security agencies have not been open about the nature of the problem”. To this date, the man has not denied or retracted this sensational claim credited to him. More ominously, Nigerians do not seem to care!
Not to be outdone, former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai, also boasted about how he paid huge sums to Fulani herdsmen militants within and outside Nigeria not to attack his state while he, as their kinsman, was in power! The terrorists simply boosted their armouries and continued to attack Southern Kaduna communities throughout el-Rufai’s reign.
Buhari as president did not even pretend about his role in promoting Fulani herdsmen terrorism in Nigeria. Thousands of armed Fulani fighters were shipped down South in food and cement trucks, and planted in forests to attack communities and grab their lands for the forceful settlement of Fulani from everywhere. The regime sponsored many initiatives to seize ancestral lands throughout the country for the settlement of Fulani herdsmen in communes known as “Ruga”. The Federal Government pumped hundreds of billions of naira into Fulani pastoralist appeasement without National Assembly approval or accountability.
Armed Fulani criminals, which rank among the most murderous terrorist organisations in the world, have never been even officially identified as a terrorist threat to Nigeria, even under Tinubu. They appear to enjoy exclusive licence to attack, kill, burn, rape, kidnap and displace communities at will. The Federal Government, the Military, Police, other security agencies and a section of the media call their terrorist exploits “farmers-herders clashes”!
Thanks, Canada, for calling a dog its name.
This article was culled from Vanguard newspaper
