TheCable

Kingsley Moghalu, former presidential candidate of the Young Progressive Party (YPP), has urged the Nigerian government not to recognise the Taliban-led Afghanistan.

Taliban fighters had on Sunday invaded Kabul, and took over power after Ashraf Ghani, the Afghanistan president, fled.

Speaking on the development, Moghalu said the situation in Afghanistan is an important lesson for Nigeria, noting that religious fundamentalism, as seen in the activities of Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), does not bode well for the nation.

In a series of posts on Twitter, he cautioned Nigeria not to have any dealing with the Taliban.

He said Nigeria, as a multi-religious country, must not condone people who are sympathetic to the cause of “globally recognised terrorist groups while political dissenters are branded terrorists”.

“Recent events in Afghanistan, where the fundamentalist and terrorism-incubating Taliban has taken over the country, carries important lessons for Nigeria. Religious fundamentalism is dangerous and tends to verge into terrorism as we see with BH, ISWAP etc,” he said.

“We must stop cuddling so-called “repentant” Boko Haram. Which serious country absorbs erstwhile terrorists into its armed forces?

“Nigeria and its @NGRPresident and @NigeriaGov must never recognize or deal with the Taliban. We can never be a theocracy. What has happened in Afghanistan is possible only because of its monolithic religious makeup.

“The Government of a multi-religious country that is constitutionally a secular state must never tolerate some of its members harboring and expressing sympathy for globally recognized terrorist groups, while political dissenters are very quickly branded terrorists.”

Moghalu added that the crisis in Afghanistan shows that violence does not pay, adding that if Nigeria breaks down into civil war, no one will come to save the country.

“The other lesson from this is that the destiny of any country will ultimately be decided by its own people. Clearly, many Afghans are quite comfortable with the Taliban, while a minority are opposed to them. American intervention in 2004 that dislodged them from power was clearly unpopular with the locals, and Washington has decided to leave the Afghans to their fate. If Nigeria breaks down into civil war and violence, no one is coming here to save anyone. We will ALL suffer the consequences,” he added.

“A word is enough for the wise on all sides of our political divides, whether “this” or “that”. Violence destroys, does not pay, and is destructive. It is only permissible in self-defense.

“The characteristic of a failing state is when non-state actors use it without consequence. That is Nigeria today. Can we turn this ship around? Certainly. But not without Nigerians citizens taking their destiny in their own hands and voting massively for democratic change to a competent government that can protect our territory and our citizens.”