Bloody Christmas!.

By Bolaji O. Akinyemi.

“Ninu gbogbo odun ti nbe l’aiye, ti keresi lo yato, o je odun alarinrin”; Out of the many festive seasons in the world, Christmas stands out as the most fun filled festival of joy!

That was how Christmas was captured by the foremost Juju Maestro turned Evangelist; Professor Ebenezer Obey Fabiyi in one of his evergreen songs. “Arinrin” fun catching, was the philosophy of Christmas among all Nigerians without the barrier of religion before the advent of Boko Haram and Islamic Jihadist of ISWAP and their other local conspirators!

Not any more! The red colour of Christmas speaks of the blood of Jesus shed for the remission of our sins and the green is the evergreen eternal life that his blood offers!

Today, the red in Christmas is the patches of blood of Christians gruesomely killed by the Jihadists to celebrate their clench on political power and their Islamization agenda advancement!!

What did Christians do to the Jihadists to warrant becoming Christmas lamb whose blood must be shed in “celebration” of Christmas?

You really don’t have to do anything wrong within the ambit of the constitution to invite the wrath of people to whom killing and human sacrifice has become the medal of religious hierarchy!

Ours is a land under God’s judgement. From the very first farmer and herder crisis of Abel and his brother Cain with religious connotations, God has never hidden His disdain for needless shedding of human blood and taking of human lives!

The pronouncement of judgement upon Cain was God’s way of salvaging the evil and this is the panacea even today!

Until the system through judicial effectiveness pronounces killers for who they are; murderers, our land will continue to bear the repercussions through bad leadership and national poverty!

Our political class who are beneficiaries of the evil across the divides of religion will continue to clamour for the sustainability of literacy system that enables humans to kill humans for deceitful motivation of religion without blinking an eye. Hadi Sariki who should be in EFCC net giving account of his stewardship as minister of aviation, has found his voice and has given his support to the Almajiri system as a knowledge spinning one system, why? He is out of government and string the honey nest of religion is one way to gain influence among the people they keep denying secular education to find them useable!

Unfortunately, none of his children sought knowledge through the system!

“Mata wale”, bring pepper home, was in Kaduna to commiserate with victims of wrong target attack by the Nigerian Airforce. Those who believe in Allah must accept his supremacy and his perogative to decide destiny. He was right, but how come he is not accepting his election result as the will of Allah? His reign as Governor was of pure pepper withot tomatoes.

Our elites are double tongued. Religion is the albatross to which the people are tossed to get away with what they shouldn’t get away with.

Bishop Dami Manza, the CAN chairman of Adamawa State recently called on Christians to forgive Boko Haram. Really?

I wished Dami has forgiven Daniel Kadzai for the sin I committed against Kadzai, which Kadzai is paying for. Dami and Kadzai tale is a story for another day, and I sure tell it!

But I need to refresh memories that are short like Dami’s on how Bloody Christmas became our lot!

Christian Association of Nigeria is a political organisation, an umbrella for all in practice of Christianity in Nigeria. It is CAN that should stand up in defence of faith in Nigeria. But it is not out of place for persons who are more animals than the rest of our Christian political animals to gain advantage!

Propagandists, who in self seeking, know just what to say to attract the attention of our political elites to download the favours and get the price for the prize of self interest which is what politics is all about!

In the traditional way of heralding arrival of Christmas through its eve celebration in pump and pageantry amidst fire works into the Day that will usher in Christmas celebrations 25th December 2011. The cultural “miringidin” experience of chicken, turkey, goat or cow slaughtering whose meats will swim in stew and adorn the peaks of rice pyramids on plates was high. This was never to be as many chickens, turkey had outlived their owners who were killed during Christmas services across the country that year!

CHURCHES, from the hills of the Plateau in Jos to the valley of Madalla near Abuja to the plain of Gadaka in Yobe and its capital Damaturu, came the explosions of bombs and shootings. When its noise subsided, the cries of mothers whose cries could not be comforted were heard. A total of 41 humans had been malled down by mental patients who did it to prove their disapproval of the Christian faith and its Christmas!

Unofficial reports doubled the figure if not more!

Boko Haram, a Muslim sect with predominant presence in the North East and Bornu as its unofficial Headquarters, will claim responsibility for the attacks.

Boko Haram should indeed be forgiven for reasons best known to Bishop Dami!

Do I need to mention that it was the first Christmas under Kashim Shettima who won the Governorship election in April that year that the sect spread the tentacles of their sorrow beyond the North East!

The eventual arrest of Kabir Sokoto at the official lodge of the Governor in Abuja still leaves us with unanswered questions. Was it from the Governors lodge that he went for the terrorist operations at the Catholic church in Madalla or did he just went to hide there after a successful operation?

The answers to these questions may prove people like me wrong of the insinuations that we were led by the Sambalat and Tobbiah in our midst to sign our death sentence with a Muslim Muslim ticket in 2023!

Since 2011, Christmas celebrations in Nigeria has become synonymous with blood not of chickens, turkeys, goats, and cows but of humans.

For me, every devastating problem deserves desperate solutions!

Hence my push for a Christmas day protest by all Christians in Nigeria! A coded protest tagged stop the bleeding and the blood today, Christmas day, 2023″ couldn’t see the light of the day!

The bleeding of course, is the persecution of Christians and the blood, the tactical genocide of Christians, particularly in northern Nigeria. The need to give PBAT the benefit of the doubt that he was on top of the insecurity situation was canvassed by many leaders consulted with.

Their opinion was strong; PBAT will change the dynamics, an Islander I thought, should indeed know the urgency of what it means to return miringidin to Christmas!

But, from the hills of the Plateau came the weeping and gnashing of teeth grieving from killings by fulani herdsmen in several hamlets in Bokkos LGA since Saturday night to the eve and Christmas day 2023. 16 victims were buried yesterday in just one of many hamlets; casualties of Sunday night attacks will be ascertained to know how bloody Christmas has become in Nigeria.

Will this trend stop or continue. That decision is for CAN to take not in prayers but protest strategically coordinated back by advocacy that will say enough is enough!

Dr Bolaji O. Akinyemi is an Apostle and Nation Builder President Voice of His Word Ministries, Convener Apostolic Round Table, ART.

bolajiakinyemi66@gmail.com

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