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As much as it is in the Constitution of the land that life is sacrosanct and blasphemous utterances punishable under the law, it is unimaginable and barbaric how a group of students would, for any reason under the sun, burn a fellow student alive all in the name of using derogatory words against the prophet of the Muslim religion. This incident happened on Thursday, May 12, 2022 at the Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, Northern Nigeria. Unfortunately, this is a school that was named after one of the former civilian presidents from Sokoto, Alhaji Shehu Shagari. As sad and dastardly this act is, political aspirants from the northern part of the country, rather than condemn the act publicly, chose to look the other way. Even the former vice president of the country, Atiku Abu Bakar, who is also seeking nomination for the presidential ticket of the PDP had to delete a tweet from his twitter handle as well as from his Facebook after receiving threats from some Northerners with regard to his political ambition. As far as this presidential aspirant is concerned, he has already lost his chance having proved to be incompetent to manage religious crisis in the country.

As a matter of fact and personal conviction, the mother of Deborah Samuel on the grounds of religion is nothing but a confirmation that culturally the Northerners are incompatible with the other ethnic groups that make up Nigeria. One thing is certain and for sure. If the late Deborah Samuel had committed the offense that she was killed for in any of the southern parts of the country, even in a Muslim school, the worst that could happen would be for her to be arrested and prosecuted, and that is exactly what is expected in a civilized society, and among human beings and not animals who live by instinct.

The murder of Deborah was just one among many others that had happened in the North. A clear evidence of why Nigeria is only a united country on paper is how the Northerners were allowed to operate by the Sharia law, which is religious and in a country that is believed to be a secular state. This madness has reached the head and can no longer continue. The best thing for Nigeria to do at this point is for the country to separate. Let people go their own way and live lives as human beings and not animals.

All the insurgency, the banditry, and kidnapping are products of the North and Muslims. Who are the Boko Haram? Are they Christians? Who are the bandits who go about on motor bikes in hundreds? Are they Southerners or Christians? Agitation by the concerned ethnic groups in Nigeria should not be seen as hatred. It is in my own view the best way of expressing love to one another. If the choice of my brother is to live a life that does not depict him as a being that thinks before acting, my duty to him is to point it out and caution him. Where his choice is to continue with the same kind of life, I think I should not be blamed for finding my way. That is where Nigeria is today. The Northerners, as much as many of them are our childhood friends, business friends, professional colleagues, in-laws and fellow humans, the experience so far has proved that it makes more sense to be progressive, first and foremost, to oneself and on a higher note, the country as a whole.

This marriage that was imposed forcefully on Nigerians by the British has proved unfruitful and can no longer continue. The last straw that will break the camel’s back is the decision of the two political parties, APC and PDP, to jettison the zoning arrangement which has been the only way of ensuring equity, fairness, and justice. How Nigeria will recover from this is a big concern. The Easterners have been denied their rights to become the President of Nigeria again. The zoning arrangement, which has been jettisoned, has automatically played them out of the race again.

On a final note, those who love God and their country of birth will no longer be ready or available to be deceived by the Fulani, who have turned the Hausas into their subordinates. As for me as a person born and raised in the northern part of Nigeria, I want to say with all sincerity that the future of the country called Nigeria is bleak and the only way out is for the Igbos and the Yorubas to go their ways, giving back to the Yoruba nation and the Biafra nation.

Leah Sharibu was abducted by the Islamic terror group, Boko Haram, along with 109 other girls on February 19, 2018. She is the only one still in captivity from among that group simply because she refused to renounce her faith. Now it is the time of Deborah Samuel who out of provocation used a derogatory word against a prophet of the Muslims. She was burned alive for this. Muslims and Christians in the southern part of Nigeria coexist peacefully, and there have never been any problems. To this end, it is not the Muslim religion or the Christian religion that are the problems, but the adherents. Enough is enough.

Heaven helps those who help themselves. May God help us all!

Samuel Tunji Adeyanju

Photo Credit: Picture of Deborah Samuels, The Nigerian Tribune
Photo Credit: Picture of Leah Sharibu, Nigerian Presidency via Eurasia Review