By SAM EYOBOKA & CALEB ANYASINA

LIKE Macbeth in one of Shakespeare’s epic dramas, erstwhile Minister of Federal Capital Territory and Deputy National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mallam Nasir el-Rufai appears to have murdered sleep and will find it difficult to sleep as he continues to receive knocks from different Christian groups and individuals following his comments in an interview he granted Saturday Sun recently.

In the interview entitled: “My problem with Atiku, Obasanjo” Mallam el-Rufai was reported to have attacked the personality of President Goodluck Jonathan and the president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor.

Recent verbal attacks on the progenitor of the Christian faith and its leaders by el-Rufai and other influential Islamic officials, have attracted the wrath of CAN in the 17 Southern states, a coalition of Christian youth organizations across the country, The Christian Youth Vanguard, CYV, which expressed its anger by threatening to retaliate with equal measure in case of any further verbal attacks and several other Christian organisations like The TEKAN whose National Youth President, Dr. Samuel Nanle, described the former minister as a deficit to the newly All Progressive Congress (APC).

A senatorial aspirant for Edo Central, Mr. Egheomhanre Emmanuel Eyieyien in a separate statement urged other Christian groups to respond to the outbursts of the ex-minister, noting that lies have a way of being perceived as truth if often repeated.

*El-Rufai

CAN, in the 17 Southern States condemned the abuses and insults meted to the CAN National President, Pastor Oritsejafor, by calling him names and “this has become unacceptable to us. He (el-Rufai) is barking at nothing instead of seeking solutions to the crises rocking the nation. We are saying today that we shall not tolerate further abuses on any Christian leader else we shall start insulting leaders of other religious groups likewise,” General Secretary, CAN South, Dr. Joseph Ajujungwa warned.

“No man has the monopoly of abuses. El Rufai was a Minister of FCT and nobody has said anything about his tenure at the FCT. Nobody had asked how many plots of land el-Rufai and his wives and concubines have in Abuja? Enough is enough,” he stated.

The CYV threat is coming on the heels of his tweets on the person of Jesus Christ and the minister’s recent vituperations that the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN and its National President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor have become appendages of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. In a statement made available to Sunday Vanguard which was signed by the group’s national co-ordinator, Mr. Yakubu Mecham and secretary, Mr. Emeka Okoli, CYV argued that going by el-Rufai’s uncomplimentary remarks against CAN, Pastor Oritsejafor and the Christian faith in Nigeria, it’s obvious that “someone needs to help el-Rufai before he goes completely mental.”

Blasphemous remarks

The statement maintained that the Christian Youths who have been restrained over the years by their elders may be forced to deploy unorthodox means by beaming its searchlight on Prophet Mohammed and the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III. The group recalled how el-Rufai not too long ago “made blasphemous and abominable tweets about our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,” adding “and it was swept under the carpet for the sake of peace.”

The group queried what would have happened if such blasphemous remarks were made about the Prophet Mohammed, cautioning desperate politicians to stop acts that capable of plunging the nation into any further crises. According to the statement: “Enough of these insults on our Christian faith and our CAN President! The CYV hereby notify el-Rufai and his group of unpatriotic Nigerians that we will not sit back and tolerate insults directed at our Christian leaders any longer.

“We wish to stress very emphatically that henceforth any further careless statement, comment or insult on our faith or on the person of the CAN President will be reciprocated in equal measure. A word, they say, is enough for the wise. Come to think of it, between our CAN President and the Sultan of Sokoto who is more guilty of those inglorious remarks by el-Rufai? Does el-Rufai not know that the Sultan’s second office outside Sokoto is Aso Rock Villa where he gets a lot of patronage? Does he not know that there is hardly any state governor who does not host the Sultan at regular intervals?

Dangerous incitement

“Why is it that el-Rufai and his cohorts do not attack the Sultan with such disparaging comments?”, the group wondered, asking why the CAN President has always been at wrung of el-Rufai’s verbal attacks “which by extension are insults to the entire Christian Community in Nigeria. Is it because the CAN president was bold enough to call for the arrest of a bigot, a serial election loser, a Muslim fanatic, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd). Is it not a well known fact that the unguarded statements and dangerous incitements by Buhari at a very critical and volatile period of the nation’s history, laid the foundation for the insurgencies we are witnessing in most northern states today?”

Similarly, TEKAN, a conglomeration of 13 church groups in the North, expressed disgust at the ex-minister’s comments, saying that it was unfortunate that APC which claims to be a credible political platform is parading people like el-Rufai, admonishing the party to address deficit it brought into itself at the early stage. Nanle, in a statement in Abuja, said that they would not be surprised to see el-Rufai later singing down fall of APC when the chips are down.

“It is regrettable that a party like APC which claims to be a credible platform parades the likes of el-Rufai who went on self-exile to run away from the fangs of the law during the days of President Umaru Musa Yar’adua. As interim deputy national secretary of the APC, we would ask the APC to address the credibility deficit he brings to the party early enough if the party is to be taken seriously. Just like when this canary was singing all hail Obasanjo and Atiku, now he is singing all hail Buhari, the very person he said was not fit to govern a local government, he will no doubt sing crucify the APC when the chips are down,” TEKAN warned.

The group further noted that “the stock in trade of the likes of el-Rufai to draw attention to himself when he is being forgotten is not new to us: and such his remark at best should fall flat and remain only news to the ears of those who are new to his antics of seeking to put behind the tale of his incredible service in our country.”

The senatorial aspirant also lamented that despite the former minister’s state of mind, he remains the deputy National General Secretary of APC and some people listen to him.

Conspiracy to ridicule

According to him, “CAN cannot and should not ignore el-Rufai’s outbursts because lies have a way of being perceived as truth when often repeated. El-Rufai has taken up a crusade against the CAN president, Pastor Oritsejafor and has said several damaging things. He claims he knows the person who bought a jet which members of Word of Life Bible Church, Warri, contributed money to buy as a gift for Pastor Oritsejafor to celebrate his birthday and his 40th Year in Ministry,” Mr. Eyieyien stated.

Continuing, he said CAN has challenged el-Rufai to disclose who he says actually provided the funds for the jet. “How can such an issue be ignored by CAN when it calls to question the integrity of the official leader of Christians in Nigeria? Would Muslims ignore a conspiracy to ridicule and malign the Sultan of Sokoto, the President of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and the leader of Muslims in Nigeria?

“How can el-Rufai say the CAN president is the ‘propaganda spokesman of the PDP and some people cannot see the agenda at play? Is the CAN president a politician? Is he a member of any political party?” Mr. Eyieyien asked, maintaining that as the head of an umbrella body for all Christians in Nigeria, Pastor Oritsejafor cannot but speak on issues which have political implications.

“Does that make him a ‘politician’ or a ‘PDP propaganda spokesman’? What insult!!! Have past CAN presidents like Anthony Cardinal Okogie, His Eminence Sunday Mbang, Archbishop Peter Jasper Akinola and John Cardinal Onaiyekan been apolitical? Did they not comment on issues in our polity? Were they then politicians? The CAN president must speak on any matter that concerns the Church and Christians in Nigeria. But he is non-partisan and cannot even be since his people, Christians, are from all tribes and geo-political zones in the country and there are Christian politicians in all political parties.

“El-Rufai is not just speaking for himself; he speaks for the APC and the feudal northern Islamists (as distinct from ordinary Muslims) who see the unity of Christians nationwide as a threat to their political interests particularly with regard to the 2015 Presidential Election. They believe President Jonathan became president in 2011 because Christians in all the six geo-political zones voted for him. They fear that if the Church is united behind President Jonathan in 2015, then his re-election would be a walk-over,” he further argued.

According to Mr. Eyieyien, the strategy of el-Rufai and his co-travellers is simple: “divide the Church by discrediting its national leader; Pastor Oritsejafor. But, as always, they have failed as Jesus said ‘it is hard to kick against the pricks’. Selah!”

Pastor Oritsejafor, he further argued, is not perfect. “Who is? But he is a genuine man of God. Those of us who have had the honour and privilege of knowing him personally can attest to his humility, Kingdom-mindedness and integrity. He does not play games. He does not manipulate people for filthy lucre. He serves GOD, not mammon. Pastor Oritsejafor won a second term as CAN president unanimously, despite overwhelming opposition against his candidature from outside the Church, because all the blocs that make up CAN appreciate the great work God has used him to do in the Church in Nigeria.

“Even the Catholic Church, which earlier pulled out of CAN, returned to full membership of CAN at its last National Executive Committee meeting held sometime in August in Abuja and has submitted itself once more under the leadership of Pastor Oritsejafor.

“But for Pastor Oritsejafor’s outspokenness, Boko Haram would have succeeded in its genocide against Christians in Borno and Yobe States and Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi would have gotten away with his Islamist agenda of imposing Malaysia-style Islamic Banking (which Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has since declared as illegal and unconstitutional) by abusing his office as the CBN governor,” Mr Eyieyien submitted.