Dare Babalola
Prominent Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has warned against foreign interference in Nigeria’s internal affairs, describing such moves as dangerous to national sovereignty.
Gumi, in a statement on his official Facebook page on Thursday, expressed strong disapproval towards certain Christian intellectuals who have publicly endorsed foreign military intervention, characterizing their actions as “unpatriotic, shameful, and obnoxious”.
He expressed disappointment that those he expected to show stronger patriotism, given the South’s advancement in Western education, appeared more inclined toward “subservience to Western powers.”
According to him, the reactions by some southern Christians to recent comments and threats by former U.S. President Donald Trump reflected a “slave mentality” toward the West.
The cleric argued that Nigeria’s internal conflicts, including herder-farmer clashes and indigenous-versus-settler crises, were products of poverty, poor education, moral decay, and bad governance, not religion.
He condemned what he called the act of “inviting a liar, a genocidal supporter, a racist, a supremacist, and a colonist” to interfere in Nigeria on behalf of Christians, warning that such behavior could inflame national divisions.
“Inviting a liar, a genocidal supporter, a racist, a supremacist, a colonist to interfere on the side of Christians specifically is unpatriotic, shameful, and obnoxious. Can’t they see that the fight will take another dimension?” Gumi questioned.
Gumi wondered if theological bias was behind the critics’ stance, stating, “Is it their theological construct that makes them so naive and hateful?”
He added that Islamophobia seems to be the common thread among such individuals.
He, however, praised the majority of Christians in the country, describing them as “good Samaritans living peacefully with their Muslim countrymen,” and prayed: “May Allah protect us all from the Antichrist (Dajjal—the liar). Amin.”
