Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin

Monday, February 13, 2023

RLPB 680. Nigerian Elections (3): Buhari's Legacy

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 680 | Wed 15 Feb 2023
RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

THE BUHARI AGENDA: On 25 February, when Nigerians vote to elect a new president, it will be the first time in 20 years that Muhammadu Buhari – a Fulani Muslim from the North West – has not been on the ballot. Prior to Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999, Major-General Buhari did hold power for a little under two years as a military dictator. In December 1983 Maj-Gen Buhari seized power from a civilian government in a military coup, only to lose power in August 1985 to General Ibrahim Babangida (another Northern Muslim) in another military coup. Prior to this, Lieutenant Buhari participated in the infamous 29 July 1966 military coup by which North Muslim officers seized control of the military and the state. A tsunami of genocidal ethno-religious violence subsequently swept across the Muslim North, targeting the Igbo, Nigeria’s most Christian (98 percent), most industrious and most widely dispersed tribe. Traumatised by the ethno-religious cleansing, the Igbo declared independence in their homeland of Biafra, in Nigeria’s South East. This triggered the Nigerian civil war from July 1967 to January 1970 (also known as the Biafra War) in which up to two million ethnic Igbo were killed [see RLPB 679 (8 Feb 2023)]. Having served as president for two four-year terms (the maximum permitted by the constitution) Buhari cannot re-contest. However, there is little doubt that President Buhari spent his eight years in power putting all the pieces in place to ensure the success of his life-long agenda: to Islamise and ‘Fulanise’ Nigeria: i.e. to turn Nigeria into an Islamic State dominated and ruled by the Fulani.

FULANI EXPANSION: Fulani violence comes from two different sources: (1) Nigerian Fulani herdsmen, and (2) foreign, imported Fulani mercenaries. Nigerian Fulani herdsmen routinely conflict with agriculturalists, be they Middle Belt Christians or the North West’s indigenous Hausa. The Nigerian Fulani herdsmen are in turn driven and supported by corrupt Fulani elites in the military and in government who use the herdsmen to effect Fulani territorial expansion. The foreign Fulani – who mostly hail from Niger and Mali [Defense & Foreign Affairs Strategic Policy (D&FA 9,2022)] – were imported to ‘wreak havoc’ and ensure that Buhari won the 2015 and 2019 presidential elections. Lured into Nigeria with promises of land and cash from Fulani state governors, state and federal MPs, and military officials, they remain in Nigeria to this day. According to a Church source (Fides, 16 Jan 2023) these foreign Fulani mercenaries are ‘dedicated to robberies and kidnappings … at the service of those who pay them to commit massacres and murders.’ They invade Christian villages riding on motorbikes, wearing bulletproof vests and firing automatic weapons; perpetrating massacres, displacing thousands and unleashing terror across the Middle Belt with impunity.

MILITARY TIES WITH IRAN: Since 2016, the Buhari government has been quietly sending Nigerian Fulani for military training in Iran. According to D&FA (9,2022) at least 600 of these Nigerian Fulani ‘are now back in Nigeria and are within the overall Fulani militia movement’. Further to this, the Buhari government recently deepened its official ties with Iran. On 24 August 2022 Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, Maj-Gen Bashir Magashi (rtd), hosted Iranian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mohammed Alibak, to promote Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, Maj-Gen Bashir Magashi (rtd) meets with Iranian Ambassador, Mohammed Alibak, to promote military ties, 24 Aug 2022.military ties between the Armed Forces of the two countries. On 27 August 2022 Nigeria and Iran signed a Memorandum of Understanding to expand energy co-operation and military ties. Muslims unite and divide along several axes, not just the sectarian Sunni-Shi’ite Axis. While Nigeria’s ruling Muslims are Sunni, and Iran’s ruling Islamic clerics are Shi’ite, both governments share a desire to defeat the Islamic State terror group (which is anti-government, trans-nationalist and virulently anti-Shi’ite). Muslim groups and governments also unite or divide over whether they are pro- or anti-Muslim Brotherhood and whether they are allied to or actively resisting the United States and Israel. Thus the Iran (Persian-Shi’ite)-led Axis of Resistance includes numerous ‘resistance’ groups such as Shi’ite Arab Hezbollah, Sunni Arab Hamas and Sunni trans-nationalist al-Qaeda. All Christians should be deeply concerned by this development.

Jihadists pose with Anti-Aircraft Artillery (AAA)
possibly purchased from corrupt Nigerian military.
(Global Sentinel, Sept 2021)

TURKEY AND THE JIHAD: Meanwhile, Turkey – specifically Turkey’s intelligence agency (MIT) – is deeply involved in Nigeria’s jihadist movement. D&FA has been warning since at least December 2014 that Turkey has been supporting and selling weapons to Boko Haram. In November 2019, Gatestone Institute reported that Turkey was supplying Boko Haram with sophisticated weapons. Jihadists also work with criminals to import weapons over Nigeria’s porous borders. Furthermore, in May 2019, Religious Liberty Monitoring warned that corrupt elites in the Nigerian government and military were prolonging the conflict with Boko Haram for personal gain as they personally profited from ‘Armsgate’: corruption in military procurement. Questions remain as to how jihadists are obtaining weapons from the Nigerian military, including Anti-Airforce Artillery which jihadists have used to down jets from the sky and blow away Nigerian infantry on the ground. Now that Boko Haram has split, split again, and dispersed across the nation [RLPB 562 (12 Aug 2020)] fears abound that the security situation is beyond the capabilities of the overstretched, under resourced and critically demoralised Nigerian military. To both advance jihad and win favour with the Nigerian government, Turkey is now selling armed drones to both sides (the jihadists and the Nigerian military). If ethnic-religious war erupts, Christian vulnerability will be beyond comprehension.

PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR SOVEREIGN GOD WILL

* intervene in Nigeria to frustrate the wicked plans of wicked people who pursue power and wealth at the cost of peace, the interests of the nation and a multitude of human lives (see Psalm 146).

* intervene in Nigeria to protect, sustain and – above all – sanctify his precious Church in Nigeria. May no evil plans or weapons fashioned against her succeed; and may all God’s purposes for her be fulfilled.

‘The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations… Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.’ (from Psalm 33:10-22).

* expand and empower all Christian prayer for and mission to Nigeria’s Muslims. May the Holy Spirit call and compel many more Nigerian Christians into prayer and mission, born of love, for Nigeria’s Northern Hausa and Fulani. May the Holy Spirit open the eyes of the Fulani, that they might discern good from evil, truth from lies and recognise when they are being used/exploited by corrupt Fulani elites in pursuit of power and wealth. May the Holy Spirit – ‘the Lord, the giver of life’ (Nicaean Creed) – open Muslim hearts to receive the Gospel.

SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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NIGERIAN ELECTIONS (3): BUHARI’S LEGACY

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari (a Fulani Islamist from Nigeria’s North West) has long wanted to Islamise and ‘Fulanise’ Nigeria: that is, to turn Nigeria into an Islamic State ruled by the Fulani. On 25 February, when Nigerians vote for a new president, Buhari will not be on the ballot as he has served the maximum two terms. There is little doubt however, that Buhari spent his eight years in power (2015-2023) putting all the pieces in place to ensure his life-long agenda succeeds. For eight years, corrupt Fulani elites in the government and military have fostered insecurity, facilitated the expansion of Nigerian Fulani herdsmen, imported foreign Fulani mercenaries, supported Islamic jihadists, and deepened the military’s ties with Turkey and Iran. If ethnic-religious war erupts, Christian vulnerability will be beyond comprehension. Please pray.
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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate for the persecuted Church. To support this ministry visit www.ElizabethKendal.com

Elizabeth has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016). She is also an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

For more information visit: www.ElizabethKendal.com

Tuesday, February 7, 2023

RLPB 679. Nigerian Elections (2): Insecurity and the Igbo

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 679 | Wed 08 Feb 2023
RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

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Nigeria is at a pivotal point in its history. The 2023 elections will determine whether the nation grows as an entity or disintegrates into poverty, ethnic-religious conflict, even full-blown civil war. Nigeria has a population of 220 million, around half of whom identify as Christian. The Nigerian Church is one of the world’s leading missionary-sending Churches.

Background:
RLPB 678. Nigerian Elections (1): The Candidates, 1 Feb 2023

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RLPB 679. NIGERIAN ELECTIONS (2): INSECURITY AND THE IGBO
by Elizabeth Kendal

Nigerians will go to the polls on 25 February to elect a new president amidst gross insecurity. Having established bases and secured territory, Islamic jihadist groups – in particular the ascendant Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) – spent 2022 expanding into the South and encircling the Federal Capital, Abuja. In May 2022 anti-blasphemy killings and pogroms erupted across the North [see RLPB 646 (25 May 2022)], indicating the extent of radicalisation there. Meanwhile, in the volatile, mixed Middle Belt, Fulani militants continue their campaign of ethnic-religious cleansing of Christians. Massacres, mass abductions and assassinations are perpetrated nationwide with impunity. Add to this, high levels of election-related violence are now being recorded, against candidates and polling stations [see Nigeria Election Violence Tracker]. Analysts warn that high levels of violence and insecurity could cause the elections to be fatally compromised.

The Nextier poll of 27 January has Labour’s Peter Obi – an ethnic Igbo Christian from the long-marginalised South East – leading the race with 37 percent of the vote. Obi is followed by the PDP’s Atiku Abubakar (a Fulani Muslim from the North East) with 27 percent, the APC’s Bola Tinubu (a Yoruba Muslim from the South West) with 24 percent, and the NNPP’s Rabi’u Kwankwaso (a Fulani Muslim from the North West) with six percent. The poll concludes: ‘Peter Obi has the highest net favourability amongst the top presidential candidates while Labour Party has the highest net favourability amongst the top political parties.’ Impoverished and disillusioned, Nigerians – particularly youths – are yearning for radical change. To be elected in the first round, a candidate must win a majority of the vote and more than 25 percent of the votes in at least 24 of Nigeria’s 36 states. The Nextier poll showed Obi could win 25 percent in 23 states. It seems Nigeria is headed for its first ever a runoff election: a race between Peter Obi and either Atiku Abubakar or Bola Tinubu.

Nextier poll 27 January 2023

The significance and risk of Peter Obi’s rise cannot be overstated. Nigeria has not had an Igbo president since Nnamdi Azikiwe, Nigeria’s first president, who served from October 1963 until he was ousted in an Igbo-led military coup in January 1966. That coup was followed on 29 July 1966 by a ‘revenge’/counter coup by Northern Hausa-Fulani Muslim soldiers who mutinied and took control of the military and the state. A tsunami of genocidal anti-Igbo pogroms swept across the North, incited by Islamic clerics. At that time an estimated 1.3 million Igbo – Nigeria’s most Christian (98 percent), most industrious and most widely dispersed tribe – lived and worked outside the South East. Of the 800,000 Igbo in the North, more 30,000 were killed. Around one million Igbo refugees poured into the South East (the Igbo homeland), triggering calls for a separate state. On 30 May 1967 the ‘Republic of Biafra’ declared independence, triggering the Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Biafra War. Between 6 July 1967 and 15 January 1970, the war claimed the lives of some 100,000 military personnel, and up to two million predominantly Igbo Biafran civilians, hundreds of thousands of whom were deliberately starved to death in a junta-imposed food blockade. The region’s subsequent political marginalisation and neglect has only served to compound Igbo victim-hood and fuel a separatist movement known as the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). Many believe that the election of Igbo president would signal that Nigeria has truly turned a corner towards healing and unity. That hope, however, is tempered by the fear that Northern Muslims will not let that happen, and history might repeat itself.

Analysts at Crisis Watch have identified several states where the risk of electoral violence is particularly high. It is widely feared that in Lagos (South West) pro-APC thugs will repeat their violence of 2019 and attack polling stations in opposition strongholds and ethnic Igbo residential areas so as to depress voter turnout there. According to The Africa Report (25 Jan), Tinubu’s ‘foot soldiers have been deployed across the state to ensure he wins by a landslide’. In Muslim Kano (North West), three of the state’s most influential former governors are pulling in three different directions. Kwankwaso (a pro-Sharia, Kano-based, Northern Fulani) is running as the candidate for the NNPP. Meanwhile, two other former governors are supporting the APC’s Tinubu (in support of the APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket), and the PDP’s Atiku (in support of a pro-business Northern Fulani). The risk of violence is high, both between Muslims and against minority Christians, especially Igbo settlers/traders.

In volatile Kaduna (North Central / Middle Belt) – an ethno-religious fault-line state already in the grip of a full-blown Christian Crisis – the risk of catastrophic Muslim violence against Christian indigenes and Igbo settlers/traders is extreme. Muslims are furious that the Labour Party has chosen as its candidate for Kaduna Governor, Jonathon Asake, who hails from predominantly Christian Southern Kaduna and was, until recently, president of the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union. [Gubernatorial and state legislative elections are slated for 11 March.] Asake has spoken out against the ‘silent genocide [that] is going on against Christian communities in Southern Kaduna and the whole of Nigeria’s Middle Belt … by people who are well-protected, well-armed and who get away with it’. Despite all his effort to assure Kaduna’s Muslims he would govern with fairness for all, no amount of appeasement will satisfy Muslim fundamentalists who hold to the Quranic injunction not to take Jews or Christians as guardians /leaders (see https://quran.com/5:51).

PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR SOVEREIGN GOD WILL

* protect his precious Church in all areas vulnerable to Islamic terror, Fulani expansion and election violence.

* raise up voices for peace and righteousness, that Nigerians may not be lured or incited into violence to the detriment of community and for the benefit of political and religious megalomaniacs. May a spirit of peace, and a desire for unity and neighbourliness take hold; may violence be rejected, for the sake of Nigeria, all Nigerians and Nigeria’s mission-focused but gravely imperilled Church.

* protect Peter Obi and all who identify with his campaign for a New Nigeria free of corruption and conflict. May all those who speak for justice, integrity, freedom and peace – be they pastors, journalists, academics, community leaders, neighbours – know the gracious protection and blessing of God. May the witness and example of Christians be powerful and effective.

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God… The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous… but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin (excerpts, Psalm 146).

SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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NIGERIAN ELECTIONS (2): INSECURITY AND THE IGBO

On 25 February Nigerians will vote for a new president amidst gross insecurity. High levels of violence and insecurity could cause the elections to be fatally compromised. Labour’s Peter Obi – an ethnic Igbo from the South East and the only Christian among the four main candidates – is leading in the polls but unlikely to win in the first round, meaning Nigeria is heading for its first ever presidential runoff. Ethnic-religious tensions are soaring. Analysts anticipate that thugs in the South West and fundamentalist Muslims across the North will attack polling stations in opposition strongholds and Igbo residential areas to depress voter turnout there. Lagos, Kano and Kaduna have been identified as states where the risk of electoral violence, including to Christian indigenes and ethnic Igbo settlers/traders, is extreme. Please pray.

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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate for the persecuted Church. To support this ministry visit www.ElizabethKendal.com.

Elizabeth has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016). She is also an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

For more information visit: www.ElizabethKendal.com

Pages

Monday, February 13, 2023

RLPB 680. Nigerian Elections (3): Buhari's Legacy

Tuesday, February 7, 2023

RLPB 679. Nigerian Elections (2): Insecurity and the Igbo