2nd January, 2019
PRESS RELEASE:
MURIC
REJECTS KUKAH’S ALMAJIRI INITIATIVE
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has kicked against Rev. Mathew Kukah’s almajiri initiative. It will be recalled that Rev. Kukah recently revealed his plan to train 10 million almajiri children in Northern Nigeria.
In a press statement
issued on Wednesday, 3rd January, 2019, MURIC claimed that Kukah’s
idea raises more questions than answers. The human rights group described
Kukah’s proposal as a ploy for proselytisation, modern colonialism and a
potential time bomb. The press statement was signed by Professor Ishaq
Akintola, the director and founder of the organization.
“We all agree that something must be done about the
almajiri children. We can welcome ideas from everyone but the implementation
must be in the hands of Muslims in the region. Any other thing will make the
intention questionable. We cannot pretend to be so naïve as to entrust our
Muslim children to the hands of Christian gospellers. As far as we are
concerned, Kukah’s almajiri dream is a Trojan horse.
“These children have
teachers even if the system is unconventional. The parents entrusted them to
the teachers and learning still takes place somehow. The devil we know is still
better than the one we do not know and we expect Rev. Kukah to know better. Can
any Christian community allow an Islamic organization to take their children
away just like that? What is the fate of the children taken from Chibok to an
Edo IDP centre in 2014?
“Whatever the
situation may be, we wish to caution Northern Muslims, particularly the elders,
never to allow it to happen. Instead of allowing Christian missionaries to
seize this kind of initiative, Northern Muslims should empower available Muslim
NGOs to cater for almajiri children.
“We know from
experience that whatever happens will be a point of reference in the near
future. Who will bear the shame at that time? We therefore advise state
governments in the region to rearrange their priorities and concentrate on the
education and welfare of almajiri children.
“One indisputable fact is that almajiri is essentially a
system practiced by northern Muslims. It is not part of Christendom from North
to South. Is Rev. Kukah telling us that he prefers to alleviate poverty among
Muslims to doing same among Christians? Is he telling us that he loves to
assist Muslims more than he loves to help Christians? Can Rev. Kukah give any
guarantee that those children will remain the same at the end of his
intervention? It is modern colonialism.
“When did the reverend
father suddenly develop so much love for Muslims that he has now decided to
give them preference above his Christian folks? Are there no poverty stricken
children in the Christian majority Middle Belt particularly in Benue and
Plateau? Why can’t he take his project there? This type of project demands
trust. No NGO can successfully train children or adults in an atmosphere of
mutual distrust.
“Another question has
to do with funding. Who will fund this gigantic project? Our guess is that the
fund will come (or has come) from one of those foreign donors. We are sure it
cannot be the Nigerian government. This raises another major concern. The
foreign donors and agencies are most likely to be from the West.
“Incidentally, Western
donors are known for their preference for supporting Christian-oriented
non-governmental organizations (NGOs). They dish out huge amounts of money to
non-Muslim NGOs while Islamic organizations get pittance, and that is if they
get anything at all. That is not to say we are blaming them. We have no moral
right to do so.
“But we have every
right to stand up against Kukah’s almajiri initiative and question the
rationale behind a foreign donor or donors funding a project targeted at Muslim
children particularly if the project is to be executed by a Christian
organization.
“Are there no Islamic NGOs in the North? We are aware of
no less than five NGOs that specialize in eliminating poverty among vulnerable
people. In fact, one of them, the AlMajiri Child Right Initiative (ACRI),
specializes in almajiri affairs. Is Rev. Kukah unaware of the existence of
these Muslim NGOs? What effort has he made to find them?
“This project is repulsive. It has the tendency to portray
Muslims as a bunch of unintelligent, irresponsible and carefree people. We
cannot allow such a misleading impression to remain just like that. Muslims are
responsible people, idealistic, pious, self-satisfied and integrity-loaded. The
Glorious Qur’an asserts that we are the best among mankind (Qur'an 3: 110).
Every Muslim is born free. We are nobody’s slaves and we bow only to Almighty
Allah. We cannot allow anybody to paint us in another colour to the outside
world.
“We have reliable
information that some of the existing Muslim NGOs have made futile attempts to
secure funding for similar projects from foreign donors. Why would the same
donors suddenly show interest in funding the initiative of a Christian reverend
father while still ignoring those of genuine Muslim NGOs?
“MURIC smells a rat.
The Kukah intervention is nothing but a trap. It is also intended to ridicule
northern leaders and Muslims. Even now that it has not started, there are
insinuations here and there that Northern Muslims are incapable of rescuing the
almajiri children and a reverend father has to come to their aid. We are of the
strong opinion that there is a hidden derision in this.
“We caution foreign
donors to desist from exploiting our predicament. We know about giving people
fish to feed them for only one day thereby enslaving them forever. But we also
know about teaching people how to fish thereby feeding and emancipating them
for a lifetime.
“We invite foreign
donors who are genuinely interested in helping the almajiris to do so through
Muslim NGOs. This Kukah intervention is a time bomb. It is calculated at
swinging the population pendulum in terms of which faith controls the North in
the next twenty or twenty five years.
“Christianity came to the South in the 19th
century under the guise of Western education. Thousands of Muslims in the
South-West were forcefully converted to Christianity in Western schools. Such a
plan could not work in the North. The next target of the hot gospellers is the
North and the weapon is going to be money. The West is pumping huge amounts of
money into Christian movements in the North.
“On the contrary, the
same West has subjected Islamic organizations in Nigeria to financial
strangulation under the guise of fighting terror. Through blackmail and use of
force, all Arab donors have been neutralized by the West. This has been
happening for the past fifteen years. What kind of game is the West playing and
how do we expect the Muslims to keep quiet when projects like the Kukah
almajiri intervention come up? How do we start seeing the foreign donors as
people who have good intentions for us? How can we trust those they sponsor?
How can we trust Rev. Hasan Mathew Kukah?
“Is Kukah aware that
another way of looking at the almajiris is to see them as Islamic students? Why
would the teachers and parents look on while the Kukah initiative lasts? There
is therefore every possibility that the initiative may lead to religious crisis
midway.
“To secure the
confidence of Northern Muslims, Kukah should put his cards on the table. Who
are the donors? How much are we looking at? What is the time frame? This
project is not transparent enough. It is an attempt to blindfold Northern
Muslims while their children and Islamic students are taken into spiritual
slavery under the guise of economic and educational assistance. Nigerian
Muslims have seen enough from their Christian neighbours to make them wary of
‘generous’ offers.
“As we draw the
curtain, we suggest that Kukah should take Muslim NGOs in the North into
confidence. He can co-opt some of them into a committee, allow them to do the
implementation while he and the donors monitor the use of funds for the
project. Whatever training the almajiri children receive should include the
learning of Arabic language and Islamic studies. Anything short of this is
unacceptable”.
Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
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