Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has launched a blistering attack on claims that Nigeria is a Muslim country, challenging Sheikh Jinjir to explain how such a position can be sustained when Christians occupy several of the country’s most powerful political, economic and security positions.
Fani-Kayode, popularly known as FFK, made the remarks in a social media post in which he reeled out the names of prominent Christian figures occupying key positions under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
According to Fani-Kayode, the list includes Aĺ Progressives Congress APC National Chairman, Nentawe Yilwatda; Senate President, Godswill Akpabio; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa; Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo; Minister of Finance, Taiwo Oyedele; and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
He also listed Minister of Works, David Umahi; Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo; Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake; Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani; Minister of Power, Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe; Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Jumoke Oduwole; Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri; and Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo.
FFK further named Executive Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service, Zacch Adedeji; Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso; Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar; Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Kemi Nanna Nandap; Chief of Defence Intelligence, Major-General Emmanuel Undiandeye; Director-General of the Department of State Services, Adeola Ajayi; Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede; Special Adviser to the President on Homeland Security, Major-General Adeyinka Famadewa (Rtd.); Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Sylvester Nwakuche; and Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Esther Walson-Jack.
Fani-Kayode also claimed that 28 of the 48 cabinet ministers in the Federal Government are Christians, compared with 20 Muslims.
He further claimed that 20 of Nigeria’s 36 state governors are Christians, while 16 are Muslims.
The former minister then turned his guns directly on Sheik Jinjir, asking whether the cleric still maintained the alleged position that Nigeria is a Muslim country and that Christians have no place in it.
“Does Sheik Jinjir still believe that Nigeria is a Muslim country, that Christians are infidels, that Christians have no stake here and that they should all leave the country?” Fani-Kayode asked.
His intervention comes amid growing tensions over religious identity, political representation and allegations of religious imbalance in Nigeria’s political space.
FFK’s post was clearly designed to counter the narrative that Christians are marginalised or lack influence at the highest levels of government, pointing instead to the number of Christians occupying strategic political, economic, diplomatic and security positions.
The former minister’s broadside is likely to fuel an already heated national debate over whether Nigeria should be viewed through a religious lens and whether political appointments under the Tinubu administration reflect an equitable balance between the country’s major faith communities.
