11th
March, 2023
PRESS RELEASE:
REMOVE YOUR NAME
FROM OUR MOSQUE:
MURIC TELLS
MAKINDE
Governor
Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has renamed the Adogba Central Mosque, Iwo Road,
Ibadan, after himself. The mosque was demolished by his administration in 2020.
It was recently rebuilt. However, an Islamic human rights organization, the
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has told the governor to remove his name from
the mosque and return its original name.
In
a statement issued on Saturday, 11th March, 2023 and signed by the
group’s Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, the organisation maintained
that Makinde has no moral right to name the mosque after himself because it was
a replacement of the original mosque which was demolished by him. MURIC advised
the governor to effect the change before the gubernatorial election on Saturday
to avoid protest vote.
MURIC’s
statement reads :
“Our attention has been drawn to the name of
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State which has been conspicuously printed on the
newly rebuilt Adogba Central Mosque, Iwo Road, Ibadan. It had better not be. It
is an insult on the corporate dignity of the Muslim community of Oyo State in
particular and the entire Muslim Ummah in Nigeria.
“We
demand that Makinde removes his name from that mosque. It does not belong to
him. It is an attempt to rewrite history. Adogba Central Mosque was built for
the Organisation of Tadomunul Muslimeen by the Saudi-based Haramain Islamic
Organisation.
“The
mosque was pulled down by the Makinde administration despite protests by the
Muslim community. The demolition was one of the governor’s anti-Muslim actions.
Within six months of his resumption of office in 2019, Makinde became known in
Muslim circles as a serial mosque destroyer.
“He threatened to pull down Olore Mosque, turned
Bodija Muslim praying ground to a recreation centre and bulldozed Adogba
Central Mosque. To date, we are not aware of a single church that Makinde
demolished. MURIC warned in November 2019 that Makinde should leave Muslim
mosques alone but he went ahead with the demolition and promised to rebuild it.
“The governor has
rebuilt the mosque in another location but he renamed it after himself. We are
shocked to our marrows. What audacity! It is desecration of our place of
worship. We cannot worship Makinde. We will worship Allah alone. It would have been
right if he had not destroyed our mosque ab initio. But now we can still
ask him ‘Where is our mosque?’ It is highly immoral. His action also lacks tact.
“Makinde can only be justified to name the mosque after
himself if the money spent on its construction belonged to him personally. He
needs to prove that to us but he has not. He used our common patrimony. That
money belongs to the tax payers of Oyo State. It is not Makinde’s money.
Therefore he has no moral right to name the mosque after himself. It is
daylight robbery. It is abracadabra: the more you look, the less you see. Makinde
has robbed Peter to pay Paul.
“Apart
from the immoral angle, the governor has exhibited ulterior motive. Even the
timing of the completion of the mosque was calculated to coincide with the 2023
electioneering period. Seyi Makinde has played on the intelligence of the Oyo
State Muslim community. It is outrageous.
“Unfortunately
the governor does not know that the Muslims are not pleased with his action. The
best advice we can give him at this point is to remove his name from the mosque
and replace it with the original name of the mosque which he destroyed, viz,
Adogba Central Mosque.
“MURIC is known for dialogue and
non-violence. Our motto is ‘Dialogue, No Violence’. Neither do we issue threats
or give ultimatum. But the best time for the governor to effect the change of
nomenclature is before the gubernatorial election coming up next week, Saturday,
18th March, 2023 in order to avoid protest votes on that day.
“We
say capital ‘NO’ to ‘Makinde Central Mosque’. It is a rogue nomenclature. Our
mosque is ‘Adogba Central Mosque.’ Engr Seyi Makinde has no mosque.”
#NoToMakindeCentralMosque
#AdogbaCentralMosque #ReturnOurMosque
Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Executive Director,
Muslim Rights
Concern (MURIC)
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