*Explains why poverty on rise among Muslims in South West
*“Whereas Christian elite create public jobs, opportunities for their own, Muslims don’t”
*“Muslims are made to fight to be given their rights that are already settled by Constitution” – MURIC
*Bemoans complacency of Muslim political elite to plights of Muslims
*Says Muslims had school system with up to 50 schools in Lagos in 1700s
*As Islam came in 1085, Christian 1852 but Colonial stopped imposed missionary school system on Muslims
By KEMI KASUMU
The heating up of the polity by religious leaders in the country – resulting from their fomenting of troubles through incitement and unguarded utterances, spread of lies and exposition of Nigeria to external security threat – has been described as act that is not covered by fundament human rights laws and so, perpetrators must be timely arrested, prosecuted and judiciary does the needful by sentencing them appropriately.
This was deduced from responses by Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), Prof. Ishaq Akintola, while answering Journalists’ questions during the press conference organised by the Islamic right organisation on “FALSE CLAIMS BY CHRISTIAN LEADERS THAT IT IS ONLY CHRISTIANS THAT ARE BEING KILLED IN NIGERIA”, held at the MURIC’s headquarters, Iba, Lagos State on Thursday on the 4th of August, 2022.
Asked why MURIC, as a civil rights group, does not involve security agencies such as Department of State Security (DSS), Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and even the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) in making its cries against infringements on rights of, falsehood and misinformation done by Christian religious leaders in its fight for Muslim rights in Nigeria, the MURIC leader said problem with enforcing such laws not as a result of the security agencies not being aware of what is happening but because of the general sickness in the society.
“On law enforcement, it does not stop at security agencies alone but general sickness in the society. Nigeria will not change until citizens change for good”, Akintola said, adding that nobody, no agent or agency of state, who has been charged with responsibility to ensure peace and security of lives and safety of properties in the country should watch or wait for crisis to happen before he or it acts.
Also asked by Journalist who attended the press conference from a radio station in Lagos about what MURIC sees about attitude of Christians in the South West, Prof. Akintola said much as Muslims have endeavoured to toe the part of peace and tolerance with fellow Christian citizens, South West Christians particularly in positions of authority do not tolerate their fellow citizens who are Muslims in the region, because of the things that come from the mouths of their leaders.
Citing the instances such as of former Lagos State Governor and current Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), who as a Muslim said on network television that, as far as he was concerned, religion is pushed to the back seat, another Journalist asked the MURIC leader why he should blame Christian leaders for their falsehoods and intolerance of Islam and Muslims when even Muslims in authorities do not protect their own religion and its persecuted members whereas Christians in authority take care of their own.
Responding, the MURIC director said, “Fashola is not alone in pushing religion to the back seat as a Muslim in authority. It is the way of majority of Muslim elite and that is understandably so considering that the education, which they had, was through the colonial education system.”
Continuing he said some of the Muslim elite and Muslims in positions of authority identify with Muslims but that their level of Islamic consciousness may not be strong enough to protect the rights of his fellow Muslims in situation where Christian leaders in that society persecute and deprive them their rights as it has continued to be experienced.
The DEFENDER’s checks and sources revealed that times Muslims suffer more in the South West region of Nigeria have been when Muslim elite rule, with good examples from Osun, Ogun and Lagos states where Muslim students were subjected to series of religious rights breaches like being cunningly made to write Bible Knowledge (BK) in public school entrance examination, and sometimes coerced to be converted to Christianity to be employed into public service as well as those wearing hijab being flogged and publicly disgraced.
The sources further confirmed that those Muslim elite, knowing what the law says about religious rights of every citizen – Christian or Muslim – watched while intellectual and social warfare were being waged against the Muslims and, even where Muslims go to court and are favoured, the Muslims in power found it difficult to implement court judgement that favoured them.
According to them, “Many Muslim politicians were thinking less about their religion until Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) made it the right of Christians to create Directorate of Politics in the Churches. And Muslim politicians, who think less of their religion, started being conscious. When they came back to the Muslim community they were then told ‘But you have said religion should be pushed to the back seat, you are now awake because you know that Christians that you have as fellow citizens in the country do not push religion to the back seat. In fact they want to be in power to deprive Muslims but Muslims are in power to be neutral to the detriment of their fellow religious people.
“But Allah will raise Muslims who will protect the religion and the rights of its members because you will never see a place either in the Qur’an or in the preaching of Muslims preachers, North and South, where Islam tolerate misdeeds, intolerance and deprivation from Muslim in power, be it in multi-religious society like Nigeria or in any Islamic state, to Christians.”
The DEFENDER gathered that during the time of Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Islamic World already took one-third of size of the world with Roman (Christian) Empire and Persian (pagan) Empire holding one-third each of the remaining two-third. Under that era of Muhammad’s administration of Islamic World, he made it clear to Christians, Jews and even pagans, who did not wage war or sabotage the State, that their security, safety, protection of their rights, interests and welfare would be responsibility of State under him and that they would therefore not be deprived of any.
“But in Nigeria, especially in South West where, although subject of debate, Muslims have been in the majority, there have been clear, verifiable claims of how it is problematic for Muslims to access quality education in public schools without being subjected to intellectual trauma due to breaches they suffer because Christians are in charge of management. And those Muslims, who are able to scale through those hurdles, are said not to be employable either in public or private sectors in the South West unless they are able to change their religion and, in the case of women, remove their hijab in addition.
“Many of such cases have led to why Nursing Council approved and designed hijab for Muslim Nurses but Muslim Nurses still face challenges with this approved hijab whenever the Director of Administration of the given hospital is a Christian, for example the case of National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Yaba, Lagos, where two Muslim Nurses were sacked moment such a Christian was promoted and resumed duty as Director of Administration, until their sack was fought by Muslim Journalists and Lawyers and they were restored,” the source said.
In what looks like corroborating the submission, MURIC during its press conference last week complained that, “Christians pretend a lot. They camouflage. They will conduct interview into the ministries on condition that the interviewees would go to Church cleric and collect recommendation letter,” in which case any Muslim interviewee in that situation, who can only go to collected recommendation from Imam that is not acceptable to his or her interviewer, automatically loses the chance of being employed and once there is no job, there comes the tendency that poverty level among Muslims will rise.
MURIC said, “Christians are conscious. They create jobs and opportunities for themselves even to the detriments of Muslims. But Muslims do not create jobs for themselves. It is a major problem.”
In further answering Journalists’ questions during the media meeting, Prof. Akintola explained the reason for the need for Friday as free working day.
“On Sunday, Christians go to Church without running and they go with their families. Whereas on Friday, a Muslim has to go to Mosque but he is even stopped from going because he is at work. They have no opportunity to go to Mosque with their families.
“There are lots of areas of deprivation that Muslims have tolerated and not have not complained and Christians see theirs as entitlement and still deny Muslims even their Allah given right.”
He said, “Islamic rights are constitutional matters that Muslims do not need to go to court to be given. It is settled by the Constitution. But Christians here in Nigeria, especially in South West, make sure that Muslims will never be given their rights until they fight for it.
“Even Christians make sure they impose school uniforms on Muslims,” he said.
Prof. Akintola, making clarifications, said, “We are not fighting for Hijab alone. We are fighting for proper protection of Muslim girl child. It is not as if Muslims do not believe in or have education system, no. Muslims had up to 50 schools in Lagos in 1700s. Islam came to Nigeria since 1085 whereas Christianity came in 1852 and before the coming of Christianity there has been school system established by Muslims. But the West came with missionary education system and abolished the Shari’ah based education system leaving only the family law system in the North,” he said.
The MURIC leader said, “The day Southern Christians allow Muslims to be Muslims and Christians to be Christians, there will be peace in the land.”
Provocations
On why Muslims’ complaints persist, the MURIC director said, “As we treat one problem caused by Christians, they do another one. It is as if Christians have made up their minds to continue provoking Muslims until war breaks out,” he expressed dismay.
He added that Muslims continue to groan in pains and complaints always because those in positions authority, who should solve the problem of inequity being perpetrated against them because of their religion, turned their eyes away like they do not see.
He said, “Lagos State Government, for instance, pretend like they do not know what is happening. They failed to issue circular to implement judgement of the Court of Appeal approving hijab use by female Muslim students in the state until Supreme Court finally approved it and it became biding.
“Even at that, Lagos State Government has continued to fail to issue circular to the effect of the approval of hijab. When we talk, the reply those who are supposed to implement the court approval give is that there is no circular to that effect from the Lagos State Government,” he said.
