By: Daniel Dovoeke
History is replete, and those who failed to learn from the past often makes the mistake of the past. What was tagged the Uthman Dan Fodio Jihad or Jihad of 1804 could be ascribe to modern day terrorism. What He did was to invite foreign mercenary known as the present day Fulani herdsmen to Nigeria.
What correlation does it have with present terrorism. Uthman Danfodio accused the Hausa people of the North (who have been practicing islam for close to millennium) of not practicing puritanical Islam, thereby inviting terrorist to wage a war against them to purify Islam.
Two things are noticeable in the terror committed against the Hausa people:
1. While he claim to purge Islam, he was busy grabbing land and inviting more terrorists from Sene-Gambia Basin
2. He seized power from the core Hausa people and installed the Fulani men he invited by giving them flags, a symbol of loyalty.
His Jihad, was it purely about religion? No, it is about restructuring of land and power.
His Jihad or terrorism was repelled at Kwara by Ibadan Warriors. (And today Sunday Igboho)
Do you think the current terrorism was about religion? Yes and No. It is not only about religion but also about power, resource control, and land reallocation which was the antics used by Dan Fodio.
Do you think Southern Muslims will be spared? No because their onslaught didn't spared Hausa Muslim and currently Christians are tageted with Muslim. Why are Muslim also targeted, if it is Christian genocide? Simple analogy, it is puritanical Islam or extremist Muslim, which means that any ideology that doesn't align with the terrorist idea must be crushed, which means that both liberal Sunni's like majority of Southern liberal Muslim and Northern liberal Sunni and Shiites must be crushed.
What do they want? They want a puritanical Islam run through a caliphate and land to control the resource. That was why the man who allegedly invited them wanted RUGA. RUGA is a way of making them citizens of every state in Nigeria.
The terrorists have their major financiers who are the direct beneficiary of the terror on the Nigerian state. Just like Danfodio, Gumi and other core undisclosed people allegedly encouraged their terror and shield them from state prosecution.
If the president must get it right what must he do.
1. Approve state police with immediate effect
2. Decentralised resource control, in other words, integrate federalism (I choose not to use true federalism ,as it does not exist) to empower regional commission to control their resources.
3. There should no longer be bicameral legislature at the national level to reduce wastage.
4. Fight corruption and not selective corruption and create more job.
5. Support Industrialization rather than unproductive economy. Federal government can be productive through it agencies as against unproductive economy that majorly rely on oil.
Nigeria can be greater with these few point.