The NATIONAL PRAYER ALTAR
MARATHON PRAYERS
Monday 16th – Sunday 22nd June 2025
NIGERIA: THE ROAD TO ARMISTICE
And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him (Isaiah 30:18)
In a previous prayer bulletin entitled “WHO ARE THE KILLERS IN NIGERIA?”, three categories of leaders of the indigenous ethnic nationalities were identified as culpable in the ongoing bloodshed, due to their negligence: 1) their traditional rulers, 2) their religious leaders, particularly the Christian leaders, and 3) their politicians. By their failure to provide vibrant and virile leadership to defend their people, they provide the reprehensible convenience for the killers to operate.
Having examined the failure of the leaders of the indigenous ethnic nationalities in Nigeria, it is fair to also look at the leaders of the Fulanis. It is indisputable that in the ongoing war in Nigeria, the Fulanis are the aggressors. In this matter, those who protest a perceived “ethnic profiling” of the Fulanis are dishonest and deliberately mischievous. It is on record that the Fulanis brought mercenaries into Nigeria before the 2015 elections, to help them take the presidency (https://businessday.ng/news/article/how-we-brought-in-fulani-militias-from-mali-sierra-leone-senegal-others-to-win-2015-election-kawu-baraje/). A former governor of Kaduna State admitted publicly that his government paid (Fulani) terrorists to stop attacking his state, and Buhari launched the questionable “Open Visa Policy” that opened the borders of Nigeria to Fulanis in the Sahel to enter the country. From the hundreds of villages sacked by insurgents and terrorists, the residents, who have been forced into IDP camps, have generally confirmed that those who drove them out and took over their lands are Fulanis. Apart from those forced out of their ancestral homes, abductees who have been lucky to escape from the den of their kidnappers, after paying hefty ransoms, have also usually confirmed that their kidnappers were Fulanis. The allegation that Fulanis are victims of ethnic profiling has no basis.
The question begging for an answer is, why have the leaders of the Fulanis failed to call their youths to order, if they are truly not in support of their havoc? Some years ago, when some youths in the Niger Delta got restive and took to arms against the Nigerian state, leaders and elders in the Niger Delta entered the creeks and reasoned with their children and persuaded them to come to the negotiating table with the government. That was how the Amnesty Program under President Yar’adua succeeded. Why haven’t the elders and the leaders of the Fulanis done the same?
Last week’s prayer bulletin entitled “RISALA” addressed the apparent ethnic agenda of the Fulanis to continue the Uthman Dan Fodio expansionist expedition all over Nigeria, which was halted in 1903 through the defeat of the Fulanis by the British. Before then, the Fulanis had taken over Hausaland and supplanted all their traditional, local, and municipal rulers. The Hausas were turned into “dhimmis” (second class citizens) on their own land. One shudders that the same model of “dhimmis” is what the Fulanis have in mind for the rest of Nigerians who have accommodated them.
The situation is not helped by the very disturbing statements of some elders and leaders of the Fulani stock to the effect that Nigeria belongs to the Fulanis (https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/06/outrage-greets-miyetti-allahs-nigeria-belongs-to-fulani-comment/). A former governor of Bauchi State, in a widely circulated video, said all Fulanis in Africa have the right to live in Nigeria (https://tribuneonlineng.com/bauchi-governor-on-the-stateless-fulani/). Former President Buhari, another Fulani, introduced the Open Visa Policy by which his kinsmen could stream into the country (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-50758323). All of these strengthen the allegation that the bloodshed in Nigeria is a deliberate conspiracy to take over the lands of indigenous ethnic nationalities in Nigeria. This must not be true. It is as absurd as a superpower like the USA or China waking up one day to say that their god has given them an independent country like Canada or Saudi Arabia, and they start killing those people to take over their land. The public assertion of Sir Ahmadu Bello on 12th October 1960 that Nigeria would be an estate of his great-grandfather was, unfortunately, not challenged by that generation. Had it been challenged, Sir Ahmadu Bello might have been tried in court for treason.
This unfolding scenario compels an appeal to the national leader of the Fulanis in Nigeria, the Sultan of Sokoto. The Sultan is recognized in the country as a statesman. It is therefore very disturbing that such a statesman should, to all appearance, fold his arms and permit the carnage that is unleashed upon the citizens of Nigeria by his kith and kin. In the circumstances, someone may reasonably conclude that there is covert complicity, which is sure to be denied for political correctness. Such implicit complicity is not the attribute of a statesman. Nevertheless, the nagging question remains, that something more visible and impactful should have been done by the Sultan in the over 15 years since this insurgency started. It is more worrisome when one considers that the bloodshed started in 2009, three years after he ascended the throne in 2006.
Considering some of the offices held by the Sultan, certainly, his royal highness does not lack the authority to call the terrorists, bandits, insurgents, and his kinsmen herdsmen to order. The following are five offices of the Sultan:
1. “Amirul Mumuni” – Commander of the Faithfuls. This title suggests a military status, like Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria. In the case of the “Amirul Mumuni”, the holder of the title controls the forces of jihad. Jihad cannot be launched without his approval, nor can it continue without his consent.
2. “Sarkin Musulmi” – The King of Muslims. Whatever Muslims do in Nigeria, the Sarkin Musulmi is accountable because he is their king. All the bandits, terrorists, insurgents, and herdsmen are Muslims.
3. President, Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs
4. President, Jama'atu Nasril Islam (JNI) - The JNI is an umbrella body for various Islamic organizations in Nigeria, aiming to promote Islam and defend Muslim rights, as generally said, through peaceful means. At present, non-Fulani Muslims are being killed in their thousands in Zamfara, Niger, Katsina, Kebbi, Kaduna, Sokoto, and other states in the federation.
5. The traditional ruler over the Fulanis - This implies that all the herdsmen in Nigeria are the subjects of the Sultan.
The holder of these offices has the requisite authority to put an end to Islamist insurgency in Nigeria. As a nationally acclaimed statesman, the Sultan has a role to play in disarming the insurgents, like the statesmen of the Niger Delta did a few years ago with their youths. Disarming the insurgents should not be difficult for the statesman. He had an illustrious career in the army, starting as the head of the Presidential bodyguard while General Ibrahim Babangida was military “President” of Nigeria. Later, he was posted to Pakistan as Defence Attaché at the Nigerian High Commission, with concurrent accreditation to Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Iran. An individual who covered those countries, which are hotbeds of Islamist insurgency, should know how to resolve the crisis in Nigeria. He retired from the army as a Brigadier General and Intelligence Officer. These details are sufficiently significant not to suggest someone incapable of reasonable deterrence.
This is not to assert that the elders of the Fulanis are directly behind the activities of the insurgents and herdsmen, but Nigerians find a moral and ethical challenge in their apparent passivity in dealing with the problem. A situation in which the youths of an ethnic stock have taken up arms against the entire state, and their elders and leaders are not visibly restraining them, is reasonably worrisome. It suggests either complicity or condemnable negligence. If the leaders of the Niger Delta had acted the same way, Nigeria would have collapsed many years ago.
Those who are placed in positions of authority are meant primarily to use their position to promote the common good. A Yoruba proverb says, “It is better for a man not to ascend the throne than to say he has no control over his domain”. For example, the revered Sultan, a statesman, cannot claim that he has no control over his domain. Islam is his domain, and the herdsmen are his subjects. The Sultan should call his people to order. Their havoc all over the country indicts his leadership. Statesmanship is not a decoration; it comes with a responsibility.
Nigeria is too large and its people too many for any individual or group of individuals to believe that they can kill and continue to kill, without consequence. We are not living in the 6th century or some primitive era in history when anyone could rise to exterminate other peoples without consequence. No matter how corrupt and greedy the nations of the world have become, there are global institutional structures that call nations to order. During and after the Second World War, Germany and Japan faced the consequences of their actions during that war. Charles Taylor of Liberia accounted for the genocide in his country. The world has moved on from primitive times. The elders and leaders of the Fulanis must stand to be counted in the search for an armistice in Nigeria. It is time to bring the madness to an end.
God bless Nigeria.
PRAYER POINTS
1). Isa. 30:18
Pray that God’s righteous justice and judgment will be manifest in Nigeria over the wanton destruction of lives and properties.
2). Zech. 3:2
Pray that the Lord shall rebuke Satan and all his forces operating in Nigeria.
3). Heb. 12:22-24
Plead the Blood of Jesus to nullify and neutralize satanic blood sacrifices and rituals in Nigeria through the shedding of the blood of innocent people.
4). 2 Tim. 2:25-26
Pray that God will grant mercy to all whom Satan has captured as his instruments of death and destruction in Nigeria. Pray that they may receive grace to repent and confess their evil deeds, while mercy still lasts.
5). Col. 2:14-15
Pray that every ordinance, decree, or law in Nigeria that is contrary to the peace and progress of Nigeria shall be taken out of the way. Pray for a new constitution to replace the 1999 constitution (as amended).
6). 2 Chr. 2:11-12
Pray that God will raise a new generation of leaders for Nigeria, who will promote truth, righteousness, and justice.
7). Isa. 60:18-19
Pray that violence and destruction shall no more be heard of in Nigeria. Pray for peace all over the country.
