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While
a lot of people have been confounded by
recent atrocious actions of Islamic Jihadists groups in various parts of
Africa, such as Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab, and Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb, the reason
for the resurgence of Islamic Jihadism in many African countries such as
Nigeria, Kenya, Somalia, and Mali has remained a mystery to a large proportion
of the people. What is lost to many is the fact that the foundations of the
current Islamisation agenda being implemented by Islamic terrorists groups such
as the Boko Haram, were laid as far back as 1989.
Under the
regime Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, Nigeria hosted a conference of Islamic
countries in Africa, in Abuja, between
24-28 November 1989. At the conference, the Islamic leaders and
politicians articulated and outlined ways through which the entire African
continent would be Islamised. The "Abuja Declaration 1989" is the communiqué issued at the end of the Islam in
Africa conference held in Abuja, Nigeria. This conference, organized by the
46-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), resolved to create an
organisation to be known as Islam in Africa Organisation to spearhead an
Islamic takeover of Africa, under the guise of an initiative to solve the
problems facing Africa.
The
objectives of the Islam in Africa Organisation as stated on the official
website of the organisation are as follows:
- To promote the unity and
solidarity of the Muslim ummah throughout Africa and the rest of the world
and to support, encourage and enhance
Islamic propagation and resurgence
generally.
- To promote peace, harmony
and human development and strive to remove all forms of discrimination,
human exploitation and oppression especially in Africa and the world in
general.
- To support, enhance and
coordinate Da'wah work in all parts of Africa and propagate the knowledge
of Islam throughout the continent.
- To promote the dissemination of the knowledge of sharia and support its application to Muslim
communities in Africa.
- To strive for the evolution
of the economies of the ummah in conformity with the sharia and the
attainment of economic self-sufficiency and self-reliance in Africa by
promoting industrialization, trade and overall economic development.
- To encourage and support
human resource development programme in Africa, particularly the education
and development of the Muslim youth and to ensure that women are accorded
their rightful place in society as enshrined in the sharia.
- To serve as a mouthpiece for
the articulation of issues of common concern to Muslim communities in
Africa and the rest of the world.
- To undertake research and
publications on all aspects of Islamic history and Islamic intellectual
heritage in Africa.
- To undertake the translation
of Islamic works into various African languages and their dissemination.
- To promote the learning of
Arabic language throughout Africa.
- To promote respect and undertake
measures for relief and comfort of those in distress in Africa and other
parts of the world.
- To promote respect for human
rights and dignity and to support, with appropriate means, all causes of
general justice and freedom throughout the world.
- To cooperate with other
national and international bodies to uplift human dignity and enhance
human welfare in Africa and in the world in.
Although
one could decipher by reading between the lines of the above objectives, the
main aim of the Abuja Declaration, obviously the main intent of the Abuja
Declaration was purposefully masked by the Islamic Jihadists. According to the Abuja
Declaration, there are two other pertinent objectives that are excluded from
the website but whose authenticity can be established from the activities of
this organization and the pronouncements of leading Islamic scholars as well as
the writings of the Quran. These are:
- To eradicate in all its
forms and ramifications all non-Muslim religions in member nations (such
religions shall include Christianity, Ahmadiyya and other tribal modes of
worship unacceptable to Muslims).
- To ensure the decoration of
Nigeria (24th African and 46th World member of the OIC) a Federal
Sultanate at a convenient date and time from 28th March 1990, with the
Sultan of Sokoto enthroned as the Sultan Supreme sovereign of Nigeria.
The following quotations
from prominent Islamic figures corroborate the
essence of the first of the two objectives above:
Reza F.
Safa, a Shiite Muslim who converted to Christianity after fleeing Iran and
author of "Inside Islam: Exposing and Reaching the World of Islam."
explained that:
“The goal of Islam is to produce a theocracy with
Allah as the ruler of society, a society with no separation between religion
and the state. This society would have no democracy, no free will and no
freedom of expression...
Islam to a Muslim is more than a religion, more
than daily rituals. Islam is a way of living, thinking and reasoning.”
The above
is further elaborated on by a statement made by the late Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran about
the goals of Islam.
“Islam makes it incumbent on all adult males,
provided they are not disabled and incapacitated, to prepare themselves for the
conquest of other [countries] so that the writ of Islam is obeyed in every country
in the world. But those who study Islamic Holy War will understand why Islam
wants to conquer the whole world...Those who know nothing of Islam pretend that
Islam counsels against war. Those [who say this] are witless. Islam says: Kill
all the unbelievers just as they would kill you all! Does this mean that
Muslims should sit back until they are devoured [by the unbelievers]? Islam
says: Kill them [the non-Muslims], put them to the sword and scatter [their
armies]. Does this mean sitting back until [non-Muslims] overcome us? Islam
says: Kill in the service of Allah those who may want to kill you! Does this
mean that we should surrender to the enemy? Islam says: Whatever good there is
exists thanks to the sword and in the shadow of the sword! People cannot be
made obedient except with the sword! The sword is the key to Paradise, which
can be opened only for Holy Warriors! There are hundreds of other [Koranic]
psalms and Hadiths [sayings of the Prophet] urging Muslims to value war and to
fight. Does all that mean that Islam is a religion that prevents men from
waging war? I spit upon those foolish souls who make such a claim.
- The Ayatollah Khomeini responding to apologists for
Islam. (Taheri, Amir, Holy Terror, London 1987, pp. 226-7)
Ayatollah
Khomeini also said:
We shall export our revolution, to the whole world.
Until the cry 'Allahu Akbar' resounds over the whole world.
On the
second core but unwritten objective , Dr Usman Muhammad Bugaje, Secretary
General of Islam in Africa Organization, provides further insight via his writings on
"The Sokoto Caliphate in Modern Nigeria: Ending it, Mending it or
Re-inventing it", 21st April, 1997 and
"Attempting a Political Vision for the Nigerian Muslim
Community", January, 1999,. With the two writings, he left no one in doubt about his motive to present the Caliphate of Sokoto as a model
to be applied to Africa.
Nigeria is a prominent country in Africa, and its capture by jihadists has been a set target since the late 50's. As it currently stands, Biafra is the only part of Nigeria, that has remained untainted by Islam and its capture and subsequent Islamisation is the ultimate aim of the jihadists and their supporters. Perhaps the situation in Iraq will serve as an opener to Biafrans who still believe in the deception of "One Nigeria" and are reluctant to prepare for the eventual invasion of Biafra by Islamic Jihadists.
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