NEW YEAR MESSAGE

25^th December 2012

NEW YEAR MESSAGE:

LACUNA BETWEEN THE LEADERS AND THE LEAD

As year 2012 rolls to an end, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) takes a retrospective look at events in Nigeria within the year with particular reference to the relationship between the leaders and the citizenry as well as the provision of infrastructure capable of improving the standard of living.

 

The oil subsidy controversy has continued unabated. Fuel scarcity is a common feature in most Nigerian cities with long queues at fuel stations. Palliatives offered by the Federal Government in the wake of the oil subsidy saga have vanished into thin air.

 

Boko Haram, kidnapping, armed robbery and related crimes have made a mess of the country's security system. The transport sector, whether by land or by air, is as safe as playing a game of rugby in a mined field. Electricity, which is the backbone of any economy, is assailed by epilepsy and has rendered the industrial sector prostate.

 

Except in a few states, Nigeria's public hospitals remain public mortuaries patronized only by desperate sicklers willing to commit suicide. To cap it all, the education sector which is the hope for a better tomorrow, is still crawling at 62 and receiving crunches that fall from the politicians' table.

 

Yet Nigeria's woes can be traced to the glaring lacuna between the leaders and the lead. There is total breakdown of communication between banquet-loving Aso Rock and the rest of the country. The leaders ignore the bad roads because they can afford to shuttle in helicopters. The Nigerian president has ten aircrafts in his fleet whereas the American president has only two. Yet the Nigerian president wants more presidential jets.

 

The losses suffered by the aviation sector within the year are symptomatic of the sheer neglect characteristic of the Nigerian leadership. The fact that the deficiencies in all these sectors have started affecting the leaders themselves must be enough lesson for these leaders who have hitherto refused to listen.

 

Perhaps those governors who are rumoured to be recuperating in hospitals abroad (Suntai in Germany, Imoke in the United States and Chime in India) would return home to turn the health sector around in their states. Perhaps the late governor Yakowa of Kaduna State and former National Security Adviser, General Aziza (rtd), would have used the roads if the Niger Delta had been developed. Nonetheless, MURIC wishes to give kudos to governor Idris of Kogi State for rejecting foreign treatment after his crash.

 

Finally, MURIC charges President Jonathan to learn from the lessons of 2012. He should therefore focus the paraphernalia of governance on security, roads, education and health because he or his close relations may need these neglected infrastructure one day.

 

Professor  Is-haq Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC),
234-818-211-9714

234-803-346-4974

CHRISTMAS MESSAGE

25^th December 2012

CHRISTMAS MESSAGE:

IMBIBE THE QUALITIES OF JESUS

 

Christendom is presently marking the birth of Jesus, not only in Nigeria but throughout the world.     

 

The Glorious Qur'an reveals that the life of Jesus was filled with piety, humility and simplicity (Qur'an 6:85). He was "held in honour in this world and the hereafter" (Qur'an 3:45) just as he was righteous (Qur'an 3:46) and was blessed (Qur'an 19:31).

 

The lessons contained in the life of Jesus are enough to surmount the problems facing Nigeria as a country if only all the citizens would emulate him regardless of religious or ethnic background. If we can all be God-fearing, nobody would hate his fellow man or contemplate taking the life of another homo sapien.

 

Nigeria would be paradise on earth if we could all be as loving as Jesus. Seeking revenge would become history in our country if all would embrace the qualities of fortitude and forgiveness. Neither would poverty pervade the land if we adhere to Jesus' pattern of simple life. Adoption of simplicity, shunning the temptation to accumulate wealth, imbibing the hospitable art of giving and sharing are the only measures capable of alleviating the grinding poverty ravaging our nation.

 

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) cautions clerics of all divides and the elite to shun materialistic propensities. We charge holders of public offices to avoid the temptation to appropriate to themselves all the milk and honey in the land. We call on leaders to remember that those among them who died while holding public offices could not take any money or property to their graves with them. Leaders should therefore remember that their primary duty is not to line their own pockets but to cater for the welfare of the citizens.

 

To the generality of Nigerians, MURIC calls for a change of mindset. Nigerians must think positively of their country. The followership must resist the temptation to join the maddening crowd of corruption in the wrong and misleading dogma that only the corrupt can succeed in this country. In this regard, we urge parents to lay good examples for their offsprings and to desist from encouraging the latter to engage in sharp practices.

 

 

Professor  Is-haq Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC),
234-818-211-9714

234-803-346-4974

 

'NO' TO ASO ROCK BANQUET HALL

5^th December 2012

PRESS RELEASE

'NO' TO ASO VILLA BANQUET HALL

 

The Nigerian Federal Executive Council recently approved a whopping N2.2bn for the purpose of building a banquet hall inside the palatial Aso Rock Villa.   

 

This approval raises more questions than answers. Is a dancing hall Nigeria's next priority? Have we provided accommodation for the homeless thousands who sleep under the bridge? Are our roads motorable? Have we conquered the power monster? Is the gangrene sucking the blood dry in the education sector plugged out yet? Do we now have drugs in the hospitals? Bombs are still exploding. Kidnappers are having a field day. What, therefore, does President Jonathan want to celebrate in a presidential banquet hall?

 

It beats the imagination of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) that a man who narrated his shoeless childhood to a sympathetic and gullible nation would turn around to propose N300m for plates and spoons in Aso Rock and N18bn for the maintenance of the presidential fleet of aircrafts. When will Nigeria grow? Saudi Arabia hosts an average of five million people for two months annually without the lights blinking for a second. The taps run ad infinitum. The roads are bumpless and macadam. When will Nigeria grow?

 

It was this same Nigeria that was declared the 26^th poorest and later 20^th hungriest country in the world. 100,000 Nigerians die of tuberculosis annually. Another 300,000 die yearly of ordinary malaria. Life expectancy, which was seventy as at independence, is now 47. Eighty million Nigerians live below poverty line. Per capita income is less than $300 and the average Nigerian lives on less than $1 per day. There is no hope of employment for Nigerian graduates. We therefore have every reason to declare the Jonathan administration as deaf, dumb and clueless.

 

The Glorious Qur'an says, "Allah has set a seal on their hearts and on their hearing and put a veil on their eyes…." (Qur'an 2:7). MURIC reminds Aso Rock of the divine warning contained in Qur'an 102: 1-4 "You compete in the accumulation of wealth…and it diverts you (from the welfare of the citizens)…until you go into your graves. Soon you will know…Very soon indeed you will know".

 

We assert clearly, unambiguously and unequivocally that the proposed banquet hall is an exercise in frivolity, opulence, gross irresponsibility and executive insensitivity. MURIC rejects this culture of reckless spending. The signals coming from Aso Rock confirm the fear earlier expressed by some activists in the country, namely, that Jonathan is out to out-Herod Herod.

 

Professor  Is-haq Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
234-818-211-9714

234-803-346-4974

 

 

PAROCHIAL PUNCH EDITORIAL

PAROCHIAL PUNCH EDITORIAL   The government of the State of Oshun recently declared a one-day public holiday in recognition of the first day of the Islamic calendar. In a conservative and myopic reaction to the declaration, the Punch newspaper  of Tuesday, 20th November, 2012 , page 18, poured vitriolic attacks on the state government for taking this patriotic and much belated action.   The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) takes the Punch editorial with a pinch of salt. Though we are not unaware of the crusader and anti-Islam character of the Punch from its inception,  we are shocked that this newspaper can descend so low.  The Punch is simply acting the script of some fanatical Christian leaders and groups  who see nothing good in Muslims and who are determined to keep the current assymetrical system in the country without  allowing any room for Muslims. We are aware  of  the existence of many level-headed and moderate Christians who are prepared to co-exist peacefully with Muslims but this group is not vocal. Rather the Punch has chosen to silence such moderate Christian groups  and remain the major megaphone for champions of Islamophobia.   MURIC calls on the authorities to watch media houses like the Punch. Stoking the fire of religious bigotry is not the right thing to do at this point in time when Nigeria needs people with clear understanding of the religious atmosphere in the country. That editorial is malicious, sinister and parochial, and that is to say the least.  The Punch will continue to lose respect among Muslims so long as it fails to realise that this country is not for Christians alone. We  reaffirm our demand for a national conference  where all the demands of religious and ethnic groups will be tabled. We assert that the constitution of this country remains a fraud so long as it fails to recognize those Allah-given and fundamental rights of Muslims.  Our democracy is fake if there is no equal rights. By declaring a public holiday in recognition of the 1st day of the hijrah calendar, Oshun State government has merely responded to the yearnings, aspirations, demands and protests of Muslims which date back to the 80s. Punch's condemnation of the declaration of hijrah holiday has only exposed its ignorance of the fundamentals of democracy. The hijrah holiday is a dividend of  democracy and the right of Muslims. Democracy is all about participation and sense of belonging. Oshun government has given Muslims that much needed feeling of patriotism. Punch should stop fanning the embers of hatred.   Punch needs to be told that the governor of the State of Oshun has simply exercised the powers vested upon him by the Public Holidays Act  chapter 378 to enable Section 38 of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which grants every Nigerian freedom of worship to see the light of day. Muslims in the South-West who constitute more than 55%  of the total population in the region have long been deprived of this right in spite of several petitions and peaceful demands.  Is this the Punch's sense of democracy? MURIC challenges the Punch or anyone else that feels bothered with this to go to court. We warn that no newspaper should use its priviledged position to pour invectives on public officers simply because the latter happen to be Muslims or because they take the right decision. It is cheap blackmail. Those who wrongly use  the power of the press to intimidate and coerce should go back to the pages of history. It is ironical that an organ which is expected to be the voice of the voiceless has allowed religious bigotry to turn it into an instrument of tyranny. Punch has carried its Islamophobia too  far.   Neither can anyone in his right sense accuse the governor of the State of Oshun of favouring Muslims at the expense of Christians. A brief look at the statistics of government officials is enough to allay such a fear. In fact it is the Muslims in the state who have been accusing the governor of short-changing them in appointments to public offices.  Perhaps we should ask Punch to tell us how many Muslims are in the state government's executive and how many are in the list of permanent secretaries recently appointed in the state? For the avoidance of doubt, we state the figures as they are at present: of the thirteen (13) commissioners in the state, only four (4) are Muslims, the remaining nine (9) are Christians; of the twenty nine (29) permanent secretaries, eight (8) are Muslims while the remaining twenty one (21) are Christians. Again, only five (5) of the fourteen (14) special advisers in the state are Muslims compared to the remaining nine (9) who are Christians. Why didn't Punch complain about this lopsidedness if indeed it represents justice and fairness?   MURIC asserts clearly, unambiguously and unequivocally that Nigerian Muslims will continue to pursue their peaceful and legitimate demands for the rule of law, equal rights and justice in this Westo-Christian dominated country. We believe that this land belongs to us all. Nobody is going to run away for anyone. What is good for the goose is equally good for the gander.  Christians and Muslims must live peacefully together with fully recognised rights. A constitution that fails to fully recognise the rights of all is only fit for the dustbin. There has been enough bloodshed in the land. Punch should allow peace to rain. It should therefore stop the publication of provocative editorials to avoid setting fire to the keg of gun powder.   Professor Is-haq Akintola,  Lagos State University, P.O. Box 10211, LASU Post Office, HO 102 101, Ojo, Lagos, Nigeria. Tel. 234-803-346-4974        234-818-211-9714 Website: www.ishaqakintola.com Blog: drishaqakintola.blogspot.com Twitter:  ishaqakintola Facebook: facebook.com/ishaqakintola Twitter: ishaqakintola   I remain oppressed untill the hungry are fed, the naked clothed, the sick healed and the homeless sheltered

PRESS RELEASE: TACKLE INSECURITY NOW

14^th November 2012

PRESS RELEASE:

TACKLE INSECURITY NOW

 

There is no gainsaying the fact that the security challenges facing the Nigerian nation is gargantuan. From the Boko Haram imbroglio in the North to the widely organized kidnapping saga in the South and the ever widening gyre of armed robbery all over the country, the picture is that of a country at war with itself.

 

Yet the fundamental responsibility of any government worth its salt is to ensure the safety of lives and properties. It is only after this is done that the citizens can have the confidence to pursue their legitimate duties and contribute their quota to the building of the economy. Therefore any threat to the lives and properties of individuals within a state constitutes a clog in the wheel of economic progress.

 

We of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) wish to alert the authorities that the rate of crime has risen in recent times particularly as we enter the ember months. However, we wish to register our observations regarding the combat-readiness of the security agencies, particularly the police. In our humble opinion, men of the Nigerian police are doing their best. We note with pleasure that there are gallant officers and heroes among our policemen.

 

We call on the Federal Government to properly equip the police to enable them to function effectively. There is also the need to boost police numerical strength in view of the revelation that the total number of policemen in the country is just a little over 300,000. This number is grossly inadequate to effectively protect a rising population of about 167 million.

 

We charge state governments to rise to the challenge by complementing the efforts of the authorities at the center. Above all, governments must pay serious attention to the issue of police welfare. A robust welfare package must be put in place. This must take care of education opportunities of children of policemen, free health-care facilities for the police and members of their families, adequate compensation in case of injury and a reliable insurance scheme in case of death.

 

MURIC charges members of the public to play their own role in the security question. Security cannot be left in the hands of the police alone. The citizens must complement the job of the police by providing information and by organizing themselves for community police network. We therefore urge community leaders throughout the country to stand up and be counted for the role which destiny has placed before them.

 

Finally, we warn Nigerians not to allow the misdeeds of a few bad eggs among the police to erode their confidence in the police force.

 

Professor  Is-haq Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
234-818-211-9714

234-803-346-4974

 

 

Professor Is-haq Akintola,

Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC),

234-803-346-4974

234-818-211-9714

E-mail: muslimrightsconcern@yahoo.co.uk

             muslimrights@gmail.com

Website: www.muric.net

Yahoo Group: groups.yahoo.com/group/muslimrights

Blog:       muslimrightsmuric.blogspot.com

Twitter:   twitter.com/muslimconcern

 

 

 

 

 

Be just Justice is the soul of peace

No one can deny one and have the other

Neither can violence or naked force bring lasting peace

PATRIOTIC BILL: KUDOS TO THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

9th October, 2012 PRESS RELEASE PATRIOTIC BILL ET AL: KUDOS TO NATIONAL ASSEMBLY   Nigerian senators recently drafted a bill that will disallow public office holders from sending their children abroad for studies. Known as the Patriotic Bill, the move seeks to drastically reduce the common but selfish practice of Nigeria's public officers who sponsor their own children and wards abroad while stinting the education sector at home of essential infrastructure. Exempted from the bill are children of public officers who are adults and fending for themselves; those pursuing courses in areas not offered in any Nigerian institution and those who are already pursuing programmes overseas before their parents got to public offices.   The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) lauds the Upper House for initiating this bill and for having the courage to debate it and move it forward. It is further proof of the progress of democratic practices in Nigeria. The National Assembly appears in recent times to be focused on delivering the dividends of democracy to ordinary Nigerians. We recall its noble stand on the removal of fuel subsidy in January this year. At present, the National Assembly is locked in a battle of wits with the presidency over the implementation of the 2012 budget. In our humble opinion, Nigerian legislators are waxing stronger in their oversight functions.   MURIC however calls the attention of the National Assembly to the need for reviewing the exemption clauses in the bill. We frown at the exemption of public office holders whose children have been studying overseas before they became public officers. We believe very strongly that anyone who aspires to public office should be patriotic enough to keep his or her children or wards in Nigerian institutions. Those who already have children or wards abroad have the option of bringing them back into the country to continue their studies if they need public office at all.    The reality is that our public officers abandon Nigeria's education sector because most of them train their children and wards overseas. They must be made to retain their children here so we can all improve the system together. The taste of the pudding is in the eating. How can they know it if they don't feel it? In addition, MURIC suggests that the Patriotic Bill be amended to include banning public office holders and members of their nuclear family from seeking medical attention outside the shores of Nigeria except in cases where treatment of such ailments cannot be done in the country. Our hospitals became public mortuaries simply because government officials show no interest in what transpires there. They go abroad to treat ordinary headache and abandon the poor masses who voted them into power to attend hospitals where drugs are not available and vital facilities are either malfunctioning or not available at all. Millions of poor Nigerians died prematurely as a result of this criminal and reckless behavior.      Professor Is-haq Akintola,  Lagos State University, P.O. Box 10211, LASU Post Office, HO 102 101, Ojo, Lagos, Nigeria. Tel. 234-803-346-4974        234-818-211-9714 Website: www.ishaqakintola.com Blog: drishaqakintola.blogspot.com Twitter:  ishaqakintola Facebook: facebook.com/ishaqakintola Twitter: ishaqakintola   I remain oppressed untill the hungry are fed, the naked clothed, the sick healed and the homeless sheltered

PRESS RELEASE ON MUBI MASSACRE

3rd October, 2012 MUBI MASSACRE: THE HEIGHT OF BESTIALITY   Unknown gunmen went berserk yesterday Tuesday 2nd October, 2012 at the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi, Adamawa State. About forty eight people were killed, many of them students. Both guns and knives were used as weapons in the melee. The attackers reportedly called their victims by name before killing them. Several others sustained varying degrees of injuries and are still undergoing treatment in different hospitals.        The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) strongly deplores this barbaric attack. It is the height of bestiality. Whatever may have been the casus belli, the end does not justify the means. It is simply unthinkable that anyone would carry out an attack of this magnitude on an institution of higher learning.   Yet what is most worrisome is the ease with which the attackers carried out the killings before melting into thin air. It is a serious indictment on our security agencies. This massacre further amplifies the helplessness of our security network. Nigeria is no longer safe. People are living in fear. The details of the attack further compounds our fear as it becomes difficult to point an accusing finger at any group. Among the victims were Christians and Muslims as well as people of various ethnicities.   The Federal Government must look inwards to identify the pernicious policies which have caused this animalistic behavior. Something must be done to fill the empty stomachs of the hungry jamaheer (masses). Job opportunities must be provided for this angry army of unemployed graduates.   This violence is scaring away investors both locally and internationally. Aso Rock must put its house in order before inviting foreigners to come and invest in Nigeria otherwise the international community will continue to laugh at us. The violence is killing incentive and creativity in young  Nigerians. Talents are being suffocated by conscienceless power. The Jonathan regime is fast losing its moral right to remain in power as it has failed to fulfill a vital part of the social contract it signed with Nigerians, namely, the provision of security of lives and properties.   While the ordinary Nigerian lives in fear, President Jonathan recently launched a special arm of presidential guards. This reveals the selfishness of the president. Jonathan is only thinking of himself. He believes everything is fine as long as he remains untouched. Aso Rock keeps digging in, thereby increasingly exposing the jamaheer to canibalisation, dehumanization and untold psychological trauma.   MURIC charges Mr. President to wake up from his illusions. We did not vote for him for the purpose of surrounding himself with armoured tanks. There is an urgent need to properly equip the security agencies so as to enable them to perform their primary duty of protecting Nigerians. Jobs must be provided to take the hungry but angry youths off the streets.    Professor Is-haq Akintola,  Lagos State University, P.O. Box 10211, LASU Post Office, HO 102 101, Ojo, Lagos, Nigeria. Tel. 234-803-346-4974        234-818-211-9714 Website: www.ishaqakintola.com Blog: drishaqakintola.blogspot.com Twitter:  ishaqakintola Facebook: facebook.com/ishaqakintola Twitter: ishaqakintola   I remain oppressed untill the hungry are fed, the naked clothed, the sick healed and the homeless sheltered

INDEPENDENCE DAY MESSAGE

29^th September, 2012

NIGERIA AT 52: QURANIC PARABLE OF A BLESSED BUT WASTED COUNTRY

 

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) congratulates all Nigerians as the country clocks 52 on Monday 1^st October, 2012. The only cheering news in our independence anniversary is that we are still alive to witness the occasion and that in spite of all odds, this country is still intact, at least to the ordinary eye.

 

The Glorious Qur'an appears to have encapsulated the Nigerian phenomenon in its parable of the blessed but wasted city when it says, "Allah sets forth the parable of a city enjoying security and peace, abundantly supplied with its needs from everywhere, yet it failed to appreciate the favours of Allah, therefore Allah made it taste hunger and fear because of the evil handiworks of its people" (Qur'an 16:112).

 

Nigeria has failed to harness its vast human and material resources and this has resulted in the tragedy staring us in the face today: unemployment, hunger, insecurity, disunity, corruption, bad roads, poor health facilities, epileptic power supply, leadership failure and boot-licking citizenship.

 

Nigeria has all it needs to be a great nation if both the leaders and citizens change their mindset. Leaders must be prepared to render selfless service. Followers must be transparently honest in places of work. Parents and guardians must properly discipline their children and wards. Above all, the fear of God and the love of our fellowmen must be the first consideration in all our dealings. Until this is done, Nigeria remains a blessed but wasted country.

 

ADEGBITE'S DEATH: NIGERIA LOST A GEM

28th September, 2012 PRESS RELEASE: DEMISE OF DR ADEGBITE: NIGERIA HAS LOST A GEM   The sad death of Dr. Abdul Lateef Adegbite was announced this evening by the Ogun State Government. Dr. Adegbite was until his death the Secretary General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and the Seriki Musulumi of Egbaland. He was 79.   We of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) receive the news of his death with equanimity, submitting to the will of Allah since Islam teaches the philosophy of death as sine qua non. We commiserate with the government and good people of Ogun State, the President-General of the NSCIA Sultan Abubakar III, the Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland, Alhaji Abdul Azeez Arisekola Alao, the Nigerian Muslim Ummah, the Federal Government and the generality of Nigerian citizens.   Dr. Adegbite was the founding father of the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN) in the early sixties. He also played a vital role in the establishment of the NSCIA in 1973.   He lived a life of devotion and piety. He promoted the golden qualities of religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence. Even at the peak of the worst crisis and irrational provocation, he never uttered an angry word. He worked assiduously for the progress of Nigeria. He was a great statesman, a patriot primus inter pareil, a lover of peace, a preacher of love and forgiveness and an exemplary leader.   Generous to a fault, Dr. Adegbite was a friend of the weak. He projected the enviable principles of non-violence and constructive dialogue. A team player nulli secundus, he steered the ship of the Muslim Ummah with the dexterity of an egg-vendor and the skill of a juggler simultaneously spinning several breakables in the air yet breaking none. Nigeria has lost a gem.   We pray that Allah in His Infinite Mercy will forgive him and repose his gentle soul in Al-Jannah Firdaws. Professor Is-haq Akintola,  Lagos State University, P.O. Box 10211, LASU Post Office, HO 102 101, Ojo, Lagos, Nigeria. Tel. 234-803-346-4974        234-818-211-9714 Website: www.ishaqakintola.com Blog: drishaqakintola.blogspot.com Twitter:  ishaqakintola Facebook: facebook.com/ishaqakintola Twitter: ishaqakintola   I remain oppressed untill the hungry are fed, the naked clothed, the sick healed and the homeless sheltered

ANTI-ISLAM FILM: CRIMINALIZE BLASPHEMY

26th September, 2012 PRESS RELEASE: ANTI-ISLAM FILM: CRIMINALIZE BLASPHEMY   The whole world was recently jolted by news of a film disparaging Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Provoked Muslims in many parts of the world reacted angrily. There were violent demonstrations in several Arab capitals. Libya was worst hit as the American Ambassador in Benghazi was killed along with three of the consulate's staff. Muslim demonstrators also suffered casualties as many of them died during clashes with the local police.   The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) condemns violent demonstrations. We prefer dialogue even in extreme provocations. We believe that superior argument is capable of disarming the worst enemies. Violence is a square peg. Provocation is a round hole. What we fight for is not always what we gain at the end of the day. In fact losses often outweigh the gains in such circumstances.   The world today is sandwiched between two hydra-headed monsters: Muslim fanatics and Western extremists.  Yet only a change of mindset on the part of Western countries can bring lasting solution. The West asks the Muslim world to check its fanatics but fails to restrain its own extremists from irresponsible publications. MURIC rejects this double standard in very strong terms. It is true that there is freedom of speech, but one man's freedom stops where he starts to breach the liberty of others. Licentious publications and reckless productions targeted at other religions are manifestations of religious intolerance. They constitute palpable threats to peaceful coexistence.       Cases abound in which the West defends its own religious fanatics when the latter act recklessly. Salman Rushdie became a baby of Western countries in spite of the outrage in the Muslim world over his provocative Satanic Verses published in the 90s. The author of the Danish cartoon enjoyed the same protection. Now the same West is asking Muslims to ignore this outrageous film. The list of anti-Muslim acts is endless. Pig-heads are thrown inside mosques in the US. Faeces is thrown on the floors of mosques. Hate-pouring graffiti is painted on mosque walls overnight and the US government does nothing to stop all these in its own territory.   MURIC is of the opinion that the West is sponsoring Islamophobia. This impression will remain so until countries of the West redefine their concept of free speech. Britain can extradite Abu Hamza to the US to face charges of hate-preaching but the same Britain sees nothing wrong in a hate film. Posterity must judge whether or not the West is guilty of hypocrisy. Chamberlain had earlier remarked that the problem with the world is "brute force, bad faith, injustice, oppression and persecution".     We strongly believe that blasphemy against any religion must be criminalized to serve as deterrent against potential blasphemers. The West must unleash some control mechanism on the advocatus diaboli within its system. We will hold the West responsible for the recklessness of its citizens until this is done. Muslims have suffered immense psychological trauma from this name-calling and witch-hunting. Taking a cue from the unfortunate event which took place recently in Benghazi, Libya, the West must learn the limits of sponsoring and arming dissidents in Muslim countries. Finally, MURIC calls on governments around the world to legislate against blasphemy. We urge the Nigerian National Assembly to take this very seriously and act on it most urgently. We nurse the fear that the world may not be the same again after the next blasphemous act. Professor Is-haq Akintola,  Lagos State University, P.O. Box 10211, LASU Post Office, HO 102 101, Ojo, Lagos, Nigeria. Tel. 234-803-346-4974        234-818-211-9714 Website: www.ishaqakintola.com Blog: drishaqakintola.blogspot.com Twitter:  ishaqakintola Facebook: facebook.com/ishaqakintola Twitter: ishaqakintola   I remain oppressed untill the hungry are fed, the naked clothed, the sick healed and the homeless sheltered