Abuja Declaration (1989): Boko Haram's Strategic Plan or APC's?

This post has a religious colouration to it and I am not apologetic at all. All I am trying to do is to stand up for my faith. I have tried on this blog not to express religious bias and my religious persuasion except for a few posts like the ones on Pastor Joseph Prince, Hepatitis and Bucket List but today I am not going to shy away from my religious leaning. Actually this post is informed by my religious belief. I am a born again Christian and I am proud to say that. I AM TOTALLY SOLD OUT TO JESUS CHRIST, whom I have accepted as my personal LORD and SAVIOUR. So you will understand how disgusted, appalled, stupefied and horrified I was when I came across a Wikipedia page titled Abuja Declaration (1989). The document outlines a plan by some Muslims to take over Nigeria and some other nations like Ethiopia and Sudan. The content of the page is copied below:

Abuja Declaration (1989)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Abuja Declarion is the outcome of a conference of the African countries of the OIC in 1989 and launched by a communiqué of the Islam in Africa Organisation (IAO) founded during this conference.

The Islam in Africa Organisation (IAO) is a Nigerian satuted Islamic organisation, an initiative of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

Dr. Usman Muhamad Bugaje is the current Secretary-General of the IAO.

The organisation was founded on 28 November 1989 in Abuja, Nigeria, with the goal to win the whole of Africa for Islam. The statutes and goals are ratified in 1991 and this marks her formal definitive founding. The founding-communiqué is also called the Abuja Declaration. Starting point for the conference is the fact that Africa is the only continent with an Islamic majority and therefore Africa should become completely Islamic.
The plan contains a lot of points that are also common for Christian missionary organisations as relief and economic progression.

A battleplan was composed to Islamise Africa with some less innocent points in that decision:

"To ensure only Muslims are elected to all political posts of member nations".

"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 Muslim)." (the word Christianity is underlined in the declaration)

"To ensure the ultimate replacement of all western forms of legal and judicial systems with the sharia in all member nations before then next "Islam in Africa conference."

"To ensure the appointment of only Muslims into strategic national and international posts of member nations."

The execution of this strategy can be recognised in countries like Nigeria, Ethiopia and Sudan. In Nigeria more and more provinces choose for the Sharia leading to heavy protests of Christians, oft resulting in violence and bloodshed to both sides. In Sudan the government chose in 1983 for the Sharia, in 1991 sharpened with death punishment for apostasy from Islam.

Funds: The government of Nigeria has donated 21 billion US-dollar conform an IAO-communiqué as donation to this "Islamic Development Fund".

Organisation

The IAO consists of four main organisations:

the General Shura', the highest authority consisting of 43 members from all over Africa and the Diaspora.

the Executive Comité.

the Secretariat housed at Abuja, (Nigeria).

the Necessary organs to the realisation of the goals.

Countries

The organisation mentions the following countries on its website:

Algeria Benin Chad Egypt Ethiopia Eritrea Kenya Liberia Libya Mali

Mauritania Marokko Niger Nigeria Sudan Somalia South Africa Tunisia Zambia

Apparently, this document is suspect and the content questionable but as a born again Christian, when I read the Abuja Declaration (1989), I couldn’t believe my eyes. I could not believe that some people could come up with a document like that. I have tried to think deeply about the Declaration and I have been trying to tell myself that the report may not be true but I realised I can’t just wave it away; not with the reality of Boko Haram. I think it is possible that the purported Declaration is the intent of a group of people in Nigeria. With the Boko Haram insurgency not showing any sign of abating, some Christians may not find it difficult to believe that the Abuja Declaration (1989) is the plan of a group of people, even if it did not emanate from the Islam in Africa Organisation.

If there is a grand plan to Islamise Nigeria, then Christians have to be wise in choosing who to vote for, and this is why the All Progressives Congress (APC) has to be more careful as I wrote in an earlier post or else it risks alienating Christian voters. For example, some people are already canvassing for a Christian to be the next governor of Lagos State. They are claiming that perpetuating Muslims as the governor of the state is an implementation of the Abuja Declaration (1989). While this may sound ridiculous to some, I believe it is a plausible argument because Lagos State is a key state in the South West and even Nigeria.

The APC, as a party, has to convince Christians that it is not an Islamic party. While we know that there are also Muslims in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the APC should take some steps to assure Nigerians that it does not have any hidden agenda. In order to win Christians over to their party, I will advise that the APC denounces, in the strongest terms possible, the Abuja Declaration (1989); present a Christian gubernatorial candidate for Lagos State in 2015; demonstrate genuine support for the fight against Boko Haram, among other things. I hope APC realises that the religion card is being played in the build up to the Osun State governorship election and if care is not taken, it will work against the party. Initially, I was thinking the purported Declaration might be the handiwork of the current PDP-led Federal Government but I found out that the document predates the current administration.

As a citizen of this nation, I will willingly give my vote to any party that is a better alternative to the non-performing PDP but in obedience to the scriptural injunction to contend for the faith (Jude 1:3), I will support (and encourage others to do same) a party that will protect my freedom of religion. I strongly believe that no one should be forced to adopt another person’s faith and that people of different faith should live together in peace and tolerance. I am sure that many Nigerians want to live in peace and quiet with other Nigerians of different faith.  We Christians resent and reject any attempt to Islamise Nigeria, and we will feel safer with a party that respects and protects our religion.

N.B: It has come to my notice that the Abuja Declaration (1989) mentioned in this post has been edited to read differently after the post was published on 21/7/2014. Only God knows those who are behind such action. If you go to the website, click on the View History icon at the top right-hand corner of the page. You will be directed to a page showing all the editing done on the page.

P.S. I am using this opportunity to talk about my religious orientation to show you this beautiful video: