28th June, 2019 

To:

All Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom

Of Religion or Belief (APPG)

UK Parliament

United Kingdom

25^th June, 2019
The Editor
The Nation Newspaper
Lagos

Dear Sir,

REJOINDER TO THE NATION NEWSPAPER:
“HOW CAN PRESIDENT AYOKUNLE WAS RE-ELECTED”

For the second time in two months, the NCEF is compelled to write and correct wrong impressions created about the Christian Elders by journalists of The Nation Newspaper. On 18^th April, 2019, the NCEF had to issue a rejoinder to an article by Mr. Sam Omatseye titled “What kind of Elders?” Again, in the wake of the recently conducted election of CAN, Mr. Sunday Oguntola, another journalist with The Nation newspaper made comments in his article “How CAN President Ayokunle Was Re-elected”, published in The Nation on Sunday 23^rd June, 2019 which NCEF considers disturbing and should be corrected. We hope The Nation would publish this rejoinder the same way it published the original article.

REJOINDER – “INSECURITY, ALLEGED ISLAMIZATION: PETITION BY CHRISTIAN ELDERS, PRANK TO SCORE CHEAP POLITICAL POINTS”

This rejoinder is in response to the publication in Vanguard Newspaper of 7^th June, 2019, with heading: "Insecurity, alleged Islamization: Petition by Christian elders, prank to score cheap political points - by Muslim Groups.”

It is unfortunate that Muslim Groups would make such claims of “prank to score cheap political points” against the Christian Elders as no member of NCEF is neither a politician nor have anything to gain from political patronage. The claim is divisive, which rather than contribute to the efforts of the Christian Elders to find a peaceful and lasting solution to current national crisis, and ensure Nigeria can benefit from the gains of democracy, like other advanced democratic countries around the world, is trying to cause disaffection amongst the people.

This rejoinder is in response to the publication in Vanguard Newspaper of 7th June, 2019, with heading: "Insecurity, alleged Islamization: Petition by Christian elders, prank to score cheap political points - by Muslim Groups.”

3^rd June, 2019

To:
All Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom
Of Religion or Belief (APPG)
UK Parliament
United Kingdom

Sir/Madam,

RE: APPG FOR INTL. FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF NIGERIA INQUIRY

In response to the request of the APPG for written submissions to its inquiry on ongoing violence between farmers and herders in Nigeria, the National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF), wishes to submit as follows:

We watched on ARISE, the international media television network, the response of a security expert to the statement above by Chief Obasanjo. The programme was aired in the evening of Tuesday May 21, 2019 in which a so-called Security Expert averred that Obasanjo’s allegation was at best a figment of Chief Obasanjo imagination especially as his claim of Fulanisation was not substantiated.

“THE SECULARIZED RESIDUE OF CHURCH DOCTRINE OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD”

BY NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ELDERS FORUM (NCEF)

17^th May, 2019

 Introduction

Nigeria’s intellectuals by 1984 began to wonder why the country had been unable to reach its potential.  The most plausible reason was centered on leadership, which is correct to some extent.  However, leadership alone cannot be blamed for some of the issues in Nigeria that lead to violence, cultism and disregard for human dignity.  This reality has led us to the search for other reasons.  The NCEF has come to the conclusion that the irreconcilable conflict of ideologies is responsible for the unpatriotic conduct of some Nigerians. As can be seen from this write-up, the ideologies of Democracy and Sharia are incompatible to the extent that any country practicing both is engaged in an endless tug of war.  This explains the situation Nigeria found herself since independence in 1960.  The NCEF has discussed these issues and came to the conclusion that a country running on two conflicting ideologies make the course of National Unity difficult to attain. Combining the ideologies of Democracy and Sharia is in fact war against our unity. The NCEF, in this write-up has tried to show when and where Nigeria got it wrong and came to the conclusion that brain power always supersedes brawn power.  Applying this principle, the NCEF has argued that Democracy not Sharia is good for a multi-national and multi-religious country like Nigeria as her two-track ideologies produce two-track cultures.     

“When FALSEHOOD is institutionalized, TRUTH looks like REBELLION” – Unknown

The purpose of this communication by the National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF) is to present to the Christian Community an abridged Performance Report on the present leadership of CAN under the leadership of Rev. Dr. Samson Olasupo Ayokunle as President, for the period July 2016 to June 2019. As Christians and members of Christian Association of Nigeria, NCEF has the right to assess and comment on the performance of the officials of the Association. NCEF is also using the opportunity to stress that the Mandate given to NCEF by the immediate past President of CAN is to:

NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ELDERS FORUM

Today, the Nigerian nation is embroiled in a myriad of crisis ranging from poverty to insecurity, economic dysfunction, unemployment figures of titanic proportion, broken down public infrastructure and institutions, lethargic sense of nationalism amongst the citizens, basic distrust and suspicion amongst the federating units, terrible international image, and so on and so forth. Nigeria is fast becoming a failed state but it would be unfair to hold Nigerians wholly responsible for the mess that the nation has found itself. A good understanding of the Nigerian chaos would start from the foundation of the nation.

MURIC: Removal of Onnoghen is JIHAD
3^rd May, 2019
Prof. Ishaq Akintola
MURIC
Lagos

REJOINDER -  
MURIC TO CHRISTIAN ELDERS ON ONNOGHEN, GOWON: YOUR POSITION IS PEDESTRIAN

Introduction and Coup of 1975

Ordinarily, the NCEF would have ignored your article titled “MURIC to Christian Elders on Onnoghen, Gowon: your position pedestrian, published by The Eagle online, April 23, 2019, but for two fundamental mistakes (a) that you chose to use former CJN Onnoghen and our respected former Head of State as subjects of attack; and (b) your use of the word “pedestrian”, which the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines as “without any imagination or excitement, dull.” This Rejoinder is unusually long for the purpose of stating the entire facts based upon which we drew our conclusion with respect to jihad – stealth and conventional.  As Elders and, in some cases, “dramatis personae” in many of the actions under review, we want to put the record straight on the question of the coup of July 29, 1975 and jihad in Nigeria. 

I write in reply to your article in The Nation newspaper of Monday, April 15, 2019 captioned What kind of elders? in which you made scathing and false allegations against the National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF) with particular focus on General Danjuma and myself.  Suffice to say that you have added a new libelous narrative that General Danjuma was the one who led soldiers to Western Region to effect Aguiyi Ironsi’s trajectory to death.  This is a false narrative of the events of July 1966.  It is dangerous to rely on hearsay evidence of events which took place when you were a boy of about five years. 

The National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF) was shocked to read in the news that the President of CAN, Rev. Dr. Samson Olasupo Ayokunle, with some CAN Officials and Christian leaders paid a “congratulatory” visit to President Muhammadu Buhari on his purported victory in the 2019 General Elections. The NCEF wishes to state clearly that such visit is “sub judice” as the determination of who won the 2019 General Election is still in Court. It is therefore premature and presumptuous for anyone to congratulate President Buhari for “winning” an election that is contested in Court.

As Nigeria gained her independence in 1960, it was never in the wildest imagination of our founding fathers that 58 years into the future, some parts of the country would again be re-conquered and colonised. That is exactly what is happening in the Middle Belt, especially Plateau State, where armed herdsmen have attacked and displaced indigenous populations from no less than 54 villages in Jos South, Mangu, Bokkos, Barkin Ladi and other Local Government Areas.