Sultan of Sokoto is our leader, Yoruba Muslims knock Banji Akintoye, Gani Adams

By KEMI KASUMU

That regardless of the thought of anybody, so long you are not a Muslim and you are not talking to us or the press on the basis of true knowledge from impeccable sources, we will not accept your opinions about what happens to Muslims of Northern Nigeria which you want to offer to us as excuse to disconnect ourselves from them.

Some Muslims of South West under the name Concerned Muslims of Yoruba Land, have exposed what the call the lies of Professor Banji Akintoye and Mr Gani Adams over their claims of Sharia and on how Yoruba Muslims do not believe Sultan is the leader.

The group, in a statement released on Thursday February 6, 2025, described those claims by the two boastful Yoruba secessionist agents as though inconceivable but can be pardoned as, according to them, hate and ignorance are responsible for their antagonism towards Islam and Muslims in the region.

For the avoidance of doubt, they declared that Sultan of Sokoto is leader to Muslims of Yoruba Land like he is to Muslims in other tribes across Nigeria’s  other regions.

Jointly signed by Ustadh Musharafa Al-Khakaq, its Convener, and Mr. Omololu Hakeem Adegesin, its Secretary/Public Relations Officer, the Concerned Muslims of Yoruba Land said in details:

“Our attention has been drawn to a new phase of hate speech and propaganda founded on falsehood being currently deployed by some so called persons parading themselves as Yoruba leaders namely Professor Banji Akintoye and Mr. Gani Adams.

“As for Professor Banji Akintoye, a pitiable error of thought runs in his veins for him to tell in a what he called Letter to Sultan of Sokoto where he said Yoruba Muslims do not agree with him as their leader although he is addressed as leader of Muslims in Nigeria. And Gani Adams said his own, according to a news report titled, “Those religious fanatics masquerading as Muslims should stay away from acts that could set Yorubaland on fire.”

“To start with, Orimolagun Obego, in an article published recently in the newspapers, had done what we are supposed to do here when he told the likes of Akintoye and Adams in the article titled, “SHARIAH: We are not the only tribe living with Muslims in Nigeria, let us, Yoruba take caution”.

“Obego, who wrote from Khabarovsk, Russia, expressed discomfort with attitude of these men of discord when he said, “My attention has just been drawn to some anti-Islam and anti-North campaign activities going on via the social media platforms mainly on Facebook credited to some bloggers of Yoruba Land extractions back home in Nigeria. These campaigns followed a statement issued by the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and signed by its Igbo Deputy National Legal Adviser, Imam Haroun Muhammad Eze Esq, as read in The DEFENDER from my base here in Khabarovsk, Russia.” It said.

The Concerned Muslims of Yoruba Land, while enlightening the antagonists about how Sultan come to be Leader of Nigerian Muslims inclusive those in Yoruba Land, said by the Constitution of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) the Muslim Ummah of the country his well structured that any person on the throne of Sultan of Sokoto Caliphate is permanent President-General that Sarkin Musulumi of Nigeria and Yoruba Land produces the permanent Secretary General of the Muslims of the country.

Also, Leader of Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria (MUSWEN), by recent arrangements, is permanent Deputy President-General (South) of the NSCIA while the Shehu of Borno is permanent Deputy President-General (North) of the NSCIA. The group then called on Akintoye and Adams to go and learn to be educated before they talk about anything, even as they were dismissed as unqualified to talk about or interfer in how Muslims live and practice their Islamic religion as they alone fo not own Yoruba Land.

Read details of Obego’s article by clicking the link below:

SHARIAH: We are not the only tribe living with Muslims in Nigeria and in the world, let us, Yoruba, take caution {OPINION} 

According to the Group, “We have taken our time to pick an extract from the Orimolagun Obego’s article to underscore our earlier assertion that he has done what we should be doing with this press release so you do not say “but nobody told us this is what the matter actually is.” All we will only do here is simply debunk the wrong impression that Professor Banji Akintoye and Mr Gani Adams tried to create in their respective thoughts that Muslims who believe in Sharia and are talking positively about it are religious fanatics wanting to cause war in Yoruba Land (in the words of Adams) and that Muslims of Yoruba Land do not believe that Sultan of Sokoto is their leader (in the words of Professor Banji Akintoye).

“In the umpteenth time, whereas the public statements made by these two unstable men were made especially that of Gani Adams right in the domain of Ooni of Ife who, despite having worked closely with Sultan of Sokoto Caliphate for many years to know that such statements are no more than falsehood borne by inherent hypocrisy, has not condemned them for trying to use Ile-Ife as ground for destabilization of Nigeria, we want to affirm by this press release that not only His Eminence Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, CFR, mni, but also any person occupying the Throne of Sultan of Sokoto Caliphate is Leader of the over a hundred Muslims of Nigeria as it stands (before, today and in the future) and we Muslims of Yoruba Land are not excluded.

“We are also passing a vote of confidence on that Usmaniyyah Throne in Sokoto that it’s occupant, Sultan, is a true Khalifah always committed to the peace, unity and development that are required to achieve a United Nigerian State and that our unalloyed loyalty and allegiance to that leadership is not in doubt.”

Obego, a true Omoluabi representing Nigeria and Yoruba tribe well as a Diasporan Russia, said and was quoted again by the Group that, “As the highest Islamic council in Africa’s most populous country, according to the report by The DEFENDER, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) only exercised its lawful duty within the ambit of the law as it ventilated its concerns about the incessant religious intolerance and flagrant disregard for the rights of Muslims going on in the Southern part of the country, especially in the South West. And that it did in the statement it titled ‘Live and Let Live’, calling on Governors and traditional leaders, especially in the South West, to ensure that the constitutional rights of Muslims in their respective domains are preserved and protected.

“What, under the firmament of any common sense, can any Yoruba man attacking the Sultan’s personality for standing for the Muslim Ummah he leads point to as wrong with the position of the Council? Why are we, Yoruba people, in the marriage called Nigeria always creating the impression that our tribe, which creation is even beyond our imagination, is the only set of creatures created by God Almighty? This idea of taking ethnicity and culture too far to the detriment of many others is something that the Federal Government of Nigeria must now sit down to address. Yoruba politicians in power, lawyers and activists in the civil society organisations must begin to rise up to speak against and condemn these unholy campaigns being launched by their side of the Nigerian tribes if truly their essence in national politics and administration is for the good of the entire country.”

It continued, “Obego even went further more to quote a media report of the statement Gani Adams and Banji Akintoye are twisting: “The Islamic Council cannot place where the natural freedom and rights of Muslims or Christians to live by dictates of their religions, which is global knowledge and practice, continues to be a thing of concern especially in the Yoruba part of Nigerian regions anytime Muslims decide anything based on their religion and which is constitutional.”

It said, “Orimolagun Obego pointed to the Islamic benefits the likes of these men – who choose to think that only Yoruba tribe and not of Nigerian Nation matters – should be talking about where he cited examples from the past, saying:

“The other time, just at the announcement of Islamic banking commencement in Nigeria, not just in South West, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the unfortunate row that announcement generated, which the media made-believe like nationwide, was initiated and executed by Yoruba people. We have always known that what the Ngbati Press (of Lagos-Ibadan concentrated media of the old) used to make look like conflicts between Muslims and Christians in the country is simply because we, the Yoruba people, are at work with our hate.

“That was why the uproars against Islamic banking system at the time was made to seem like Christians hate Islam, no. After all, the Islamic banking system, which is legal, was not even initiated by Sanusi but Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, a Christian CBN Governor in his time before Sanusi. The uproars occurred simply because the CBN Governor that announced its implementation is a Fulani man from Kano, Northern Nigeria.

“Today, Islamic banks especially JAIZ Bank PLC, TajBank PLC and Lotus Bank are a good reference of banking delivery service that many Nigerian (non-Muslim) customers and investors want to be part of. JAIZ Bank in particular is Islamic bank but it is the most religiously tolerant financial institution in Nigeria today as it allows many Christian staff and investors participants in its daily banking operations and business management, I learnt from the report.

“With the same Sultan of Sokoto, being hypocritically vilified by our Yoruba people for saying “We are Muslims and Islam is our religion”, and President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) now doing well as they jointly and effectively, too, administer affairs of the nation’s scriptures-based religions, the wind has blown to the face of those mischief makers and we have now all seen the rump of the fowl,” Orimolagun Obego had said recently, according to the Concerned Muslims of Yoruba Land.

He was noted to have added that, “Here in Russia, where we have a government that is truly committed to the good of the people, national interest and security, such people who use mischief to destabilize the country through faked religious conflicts are adjudged treason offenders committable to death. Political leaders in our home country should stop being silent over this stupidity and take decisive action against perpetrators, no matter where they hide and fish them out even from under whichever professional cover they claim.

“Yoruba at home in South West Nigeria should always think twice before they foment trouble over a matter that does not concern them. Yoruba is just a tribe, out of the over 250 tribes in that country and several uncountable ones globally. The last time these evil minded people – who now eulogise Satanism saying “Esu” (satan) is a righteous person – went on the social media attacking our own revered Timi of Ede for what they claimed was his prostrating for the Emir of Ilorin during a visit to headquarters of the Kwara State Emirate Council. How should Timi of Ede have greeted an aged Emir of Ilorin, whose more convenient posture to receive visitor is done seated for reason of age? The same Yoruba people have tried a lot to want to go to Ilorin and reclaim Geri Alimi from what they called the Fulani Northern Nigeria, albeit returned with failure, but they continuously failed to make such attempt to go to reclaim the Anagos (Yorubas) from the Dahomeans now called Republic of Benin, where they have since become citizens by fate,” he said and we adopt that article by this press release to form that core of our response to Professor Banji Akintoye and Mr Gani Adams.

According to the Group, “On a final note, we as CONCERNED MUSLIMS OF YORUBA LAND warn Professor Banji Akintoye and Mr Gani Adams against an unpatriotic behaviour that is capable of making Yoruba Land the next war zone after our good people of South East have now come together with reasons and will never again engage in things that cause destability of their well endowed South East region.”

The Group said, “We affirm with the following conclusions:

“1 That all the noise in Yoruba Land in the name of Yoruba Nation about Hausa-Fulani being the number one enemy of Nigeria and wanting to hide behind Islam to capture Yoruba Land is untenable, false and in no way connected with common sense.

“2 That Muslims all over the world are brothers (Allah says so in the Qur’an) and so, no amount of mischievous tribal propaganda that is founded on hate can succeed in breaking us the Yoruba Muslims from that rope of divine order.

“3 That, against the arrogant ignorance of the likes of Banji Akintoye and Gani Adams, Sultan of Sokoto Caliphate is not just Sultan of Sokoto State Nigeria but Sultan of the entire Kingdom of Northern Nigeria who Emirs and otter traditional rulers of that indivisible region revere as their President, and is Sultan whose traditional jurisdiction transcends Nigeria and runs into some other provinces in West African countries. No wonder he is one monarch with the all the untainted multifaceted qualities to lead the National Traditional Rulers Council of Nigeria albeit with Ooni of Ife as Co-Chairman.

“4 That Muslim Ummah of Nigeria is well structured by Constitution of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and the Sultan is permanent President-General of that structure while Yoruba Land feeds the position in the structure as Secretary General, currently Professor Is-haq Oloyede, CON. By latest arrangement, the Yoruba Land’s President of Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria (MUSWEN), currently Alhaji Rasaki Oladejo, successor to late Alhaji S. O. Babalola is the permanent Deputy President-General (South) of the NSCIA. Shehu of Borno is permanent Deputy President-General of the Council (North). So, all the noise makers who non-Muslim intruders interfering in Islamic affairs in Yoruba Land should go and learn to be educated.

“5 That regardless of the thought of anybody, so long you are not a Muslim and you are not talking to us or the press on the basis of true knowledge from impeccable sources, we will not accept your opinions about what happens to Muslims of Northern Nigeria which you want to offer to us as excuse to disconnect ourselves from them.

“6 That, finally, Muslims of Yoruba Land (South West) are not different from Muslims of Hausa-Fulani of Northern Nigeria in spite of your views and so are inseparable because Asobiyyah (fight in defence of tribalism but nationhood) is a great sin before Allah and so any Muslim, be he of those who like Gani Adams and Banji Akintoye have always failed to embrace the true dictates of Islam and Christianity they once professed before now turning pagans, who says anything to separate himself as a Yoruba Muslim from Hausa-Fulani Muslim is not a Muslim but hypocrite.

“Thank you and God bless the Muslim Ummah of Nigeria, Yoruba Land and Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the deliberately elongated statement said.