Could Femi Fani-Kayode’s vision of World War III become reality?

By Jean Baptiste Ndabananiye

In his “14 Steps to World War III” story, Femi Fani-Kayode emphasizes the critical role of Israel-Iran hostilities in sparking a chain reaction that could involve major superpowers. He suggests that the escalation of these hostilities could lead to World War III, arguing that this scenario is not only possible but planned by powerful, shadowy elites.

On one hand, the idea of a premeditated global war orchestrated by unseen forces differs significantly from the commonly accepted views of experts in the field of geopolitics. The notion that powerful elites have designed world conflict to establish dominance is a long-standing conspiracy theory, but Life In Humanity isn’t convinced that undeniable evidence exists to support this claim. Fani-Kayode asserts that the war will be triggered by Israel-Iran tensions which will be aggravated and eventually draw superpowers into the conflict. On the other hand, signs are emerging that suggest these two nations could be inching toward full-scale war. Could Fani-Kayode be right? This article seeks to explore that question.

Initially, we encountered this story shortly after Israel’s attack on Gaza, when Hezbollah and Iran had yet to engage in direct hostilities. At the time, we dismissed the narrative. However, recent developments in the Middle East have reignited the conversation, prompting us to critically reexamine Fani-Kayode’s claims. This article is organized around these sections:

1. Who is Femi Fani-Kayode?
2. First part of his story
3. Second part of his story: other steps
4. Conclusion

Who is Femi Fani-Kayode?

According to Premium Times Nigeria where we first came across the article, Femi Fani-Kayode —a lawyer—was a Nigerian Minister of Aviation. It adds that before then, he acted as a Minister for Culture and Tourism as well as Special Assistant on Public Affairs to President Olusegun Obasanjo. This platform further reports that he defected from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party to the opposition All Progressives Congress in mid-2013.

Wikipedia echoes this Nigerian channel, while adding that his full name is David Oluwafemi Adewunmi Abdulateef Fani-Kayode and that he arrived on the Earth on 16 October 1960. It further reports that that he is an author. His website, Femi Fani Kayode, also confirms this biography and adds that he is an evangelical Christian, essayist and poet too.

First part of his story

“The Arab world declares an Intifada against Israel and declares war against it. Sadly over the next few months and years, each of these events are likely to happen. We are very close to World War III and guess what: the whole thing was planned and contrived many years ago by those who wish to establish a New World Order,” says Kayode. Premium Times Nigeria published the story on October 9, 2023. This channel specifies that it was Kayode that wrote it. He produced the article only two days after Israel invaded Gaza, following a large-scale surprise attack by Hamas on Israeli territory.

The first six steps, before reaching World War III according to Kayode, are the following:

1. Hamas attacks Israel in a savage and brutal manner, killing thousands of Israeli civilians.

2. Israel declares war on Hamas, flattens and occupies Gaza and kills thousands of terrorists and innocent Palestinian women and children.

3. Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad fires rockets into Israel in solidarity with Hamas.

4. Israel launches a devastating counter-attack against Hezbollah and unleashes a brutal and vicious ground offensive in Southern Lebanon and occupies it.

5. Israel launches air strikes against Iran for consistently providing 70 per cent of funding and lethal weapons to Hamas and for consistently providing 90 per cent of funding and lethal weapons to Hezbollah.

6. Iran hits back with air strikes and the declaration of war against Israel.

Up to now, almost all the first four steps have already materialized.

However, on the date when Kayode had his story released, what had occurred was Israel’s war declaration on Hamas and Hezbollah’s shooting at Israel. Meanwhile, Gaza’s flattening predicted by Kayode has occurred.

Al Jazeera’s 7 October 2024 article reads “October 7, 2023 – Hamas’s operation in Israel. Fighters aligned with Hamas and other Palestinian resistance groups broke through the barrier around the Gaza Strip for an operation in Israel, killing 1,139 people and capturing about 250. Traumatised Israelis rallied behind the government to support retribution on the entire population of Gaza, hoping to retrieve the captives. One year later, Israel has killed at least 41,870 people in Gaza, though the actual figure is presumed much higher. Thousands more are buried under the rubble of destroyed buildings or unaccounted for, and still thousands of others are likely to die from continuing bombing and conditions created by Israel’s war.”

Al Jazeera reports that Israel’s retaliation started on the same date in the afternoon, with Israel responding by hitting Gaza with air attacks. “A few hundred were killed in the first hours as Israel claimed it would ‘eradicate Hamas’. October 8, 2023 – Hezbollah joins the fight. After 24 hours, Hezbollah began launching rockets, announcing its support of the people of Gaza and that it would stop when a ceasefire was announced. For 11 months, Hezbollah and some of its allies fired rockets, predominantly at Israeli military sites. For every rocket launched from Lebanon, Israel responded with at least five.”

Entire neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble. Reconstructing Gaza will take so numerous years. The following information explains the extent to which Gaza has been levelled.

Radio-Canada in its 07 October 2024 article indicates the indescribable state of Gaza devastation. It reports “Cleanup expected to take at least 15 years. Rough estimates by international organizations suggest it will take at least 15 years to clean up the 42,000 million tonnes (new window) of debris generated by the buildings, roads, bridges and other infrastructure destroyed or damaged in the conflict.” Probably Radio-Canada has been mistaken on those tons of trash, since 42,000 million tons should be 42 billion tons. The correct number could be 42 million tons, as even reported by the Mississippi Free Press (MFP).

UN analysis of satellite imagery  from last July showed “The recent conflict in the Gaza Strip has produced a volume of debris that is 14 times greater than the combined total from all conflicts over the past 16 years.” 

MFP is a nonprofit, digital news organization based in Mississippi. It was founded in 2020 by Donna Ladd and Kimberly Griffin. While it agrees with Radio-Canada upon the duration required to remove the trash created by the war, its statistics on the volume of the waste don’t match those provided by Radio-Canada. It however doesn’t prevent from highlighting the unspeakable intensity of the catastrophe.

MFP in an 07 October 2024 article by Joseph Krauss, Sarah El Deeb and Associated Press says “The first obstacle to any significant rebuilding is the rubble—mountains of it. Where houses, shops and office buildings once stood, there are now giant drifts of rubble laced with human remains, hazardous substances and unexploded munitions. The U.N. estimates the war has left some 40 million tons of debris and rubble in Gaza, enough to fill New York’s Central Park to a depth of eight meters (about 25 feet). It could take up to 15 years and nearly $650 million to clear it all away, it said.”

Shifaa Hejjo- a 60-year-old housewife living in a tent pitched on land where her home once stood, according to MFP- has said “This war is destruction and misery. It would make the stones cry out. Whoever sees Gaza, it will make them cry.” This article points out that when Israeli ground forces pushed into the southern city of Khan Younis in January 2024, Shifaa Hejjo and her family quit their four-story home with only “clothes they were wearing. They spent months in various tent camps before she decided to return—and the sight brought her to tears. Her entire neighborhood had been destroyed, her former home and the roads leading to it lost in a sea of rubble.” She shared “I didn’t recognize it. I couldn’t tell where people’s homes were.”

Those are just a few facts proving the extent to which Gaza has been flattened, with infrastructures having been severely spoilt. The U.N. estimates that approximately 70% of Gaza’s water and sanitation plants have been destroyed or damaged. 

MFP says “With no end in sight to the war and no plan for the day after, it is impossible to say when—or even if—anything will be rebuilt. Gaza’s water and sanitation system has collapsed. More than 80% of its health facilities—and even more of its roads—are damaged or destroyed. ” Corey Scher,  a U.S.-based researcher using satellite radar to document the wars’ devastation has said “I can’t think of any parallel, in terms of the severity of damage, for an enclave or a country or a people.”

Israel-Iran tensions

While Israel-Hezbollah war is raging in Lebanon considered the primary base and stronghold of Hezbollah where Lebanon is being pounded by Israel, there loom signs of an Iran-Israel full-fledged war.

In its 2 October 2024 article, Associated Press said “Iran fires at least 180 missiles into Israel as regionwide conflict grows. Iran launched at least 180 missiles into Israel on Tuesday, the latest in a series of rapidly escalating attacks between Israel and Iran and its Arab allies that threatens to push the Middle East closer to a regionwide war. Iran said the barrage was retaliation for a series of devastating blows Israel has landed in recent weeks against the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon, which has been firing rockets into Israel since the war in Gaza began.”

The USA is already involved in the war. The BBC reports that this country helped Israel to down Iran missiles. White House national security spokesman Jake Sullivan described Iran’s attack as a “significant escalation“. He told reporters: “We have made clear that there will be consequences, severe consequences, for this attack, and we will work with Israel to make that the case.”

Reports are circulating that Israel is preparing retaliation against Iran. In its 5 Oct 2024 article, Al Jazeera reports “Israel vows retaliation for Iran attack.” Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has already officially included Iran in Israel’s explicit enemies. Kyiv Post in its 07 October 2024 article highlights “One year after the October 7 attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country faces war on seven fronts, naming Iran and its proxies, including Hezbollah and Hamas.”

Iran has warned devastating consequences, if Israel responds.   Iranian President has vowed “Harsher Response”. “We are not looking for war. It is Israel that forces us to react,” Pezeshkian said after arriving in Qatar for a summit with Asian countries, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in its October 02, 2024 story. “If the Zionist regime (Israel) does not stop its crimes, it will face harsher reactions,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said in a message on X that the attack targeted “solely military and security sites” involved in what he stated was the Israeli “genocide in Gaza and Lebanon” and was conducted by Iran in “self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter.” “Our action is concluded unless the Israeli regime decides to invite further retaliation. In that scenario, our response will be stronger and more powerful.” With its 04 October 2024, Al Jazeera reports “ Supreme leader defends Iran’s attack on Israel as ‘legitimate’, and calls on Muslim countries to unite. Our enemy is one. If their policies are sowing the seeds of division in one country, they may prevail and once they seize control of one country, they move to the other.”

Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar said that the message of unity counteracted “criticism over the past decade” that Iran had been detaching itself from the region.“His speech was focused on unity because he has seen now that the possibility of a regional war is real and that’s why he is asking Muslims to be united, to somehow eliminate this threat as a common action, so a regional war can be aborted.”

Second part of his story: the other steps

7. The Arab world declares an Intifada against Israel and declares war against it.

8. America, the EU, the UK, Australia, Canada, India and their allies stand with Israel.

9. Russia, China, North Korea, Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Arab world and their allies stand with Hamas, Hezbollah, the Palestinians and Iran.

10. The war in Ukraine gets even worse as Russia crushes the Ukrainian forces and takes more territory.

11. NATO finally jumps into the fray in the Ukraine and Europe is plunged into total war with the use of tactical nuclear weapons.

12. China, Iran, North Korea, the Arab world and their allies side with Russia whilst America, NATO, the EU, the UK, Canada, Australia and their allies side with Ukraine.

13. China invades and occupies Taiwan making good their threat and claim on the island and asserts her power in the South China sea.

14. America responds and all hell breaks loose on earth.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, sadly over the next few months and years, each of these events are likely to happen. May God save the world from the shape-shifting reptilians, Satanists, Lucifereans and Illuminati cult members behind this frightful and utterly demonic agenda. Pray hard and have a great day!”

Conclusion

As already implied, Life In Humanity does not carry unquestionable evidence with which it can take a position. In other words, this platform cannot dare to align with Kayode’s stance. It cannot dare to reject his claim too. Life In Humanity doesn’t currently possess any proofs substantiating either side. Only time will tell. However, we are convinced that World War III could be excessively ruining that nobody is likely to benefit from it.