REJECTION OF N400 MILLION ARMOURED CAR: BUHARI IS LEADING BY EXAMPLE

11^th July, 2015

PRESS RELEASE:

REJECTION OF N400 MILLION ARMOURED CAR:

BUHARI IS LEADING BY EXAMPLE

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday turned down an offer by the Federal Government to procure five new armoured Mercedes Benz S-600 (V222) cars for his use. The total cost of the cars is about N400 million.

They were planned for purchase by the State House management but the president told them that the purchase was unnecessary. Describing the proposal as a waste of scarce resources, Buhari said the cars he inherited from former President Goodluck Jonathan were good enough for him.

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) applauds this inspiring and altruistic gesture. It shows that Mr. President is walking his talk. It will be recalled that Buhari had promised fiscal prudence during the campaigns.

Cementing his principled stand on cutting costs, the president and his vice, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo were also widely reported today to have slashed their salaries by half.

As if these two heart-warming news are not enough, Nigeria’s foreign reserves have risen from $29.1 billion left by the immediate past government to $31.89 billion. This came about as a result of Buhari’s tight fiscal policy anchored on blocking of leakages.

The most surprising thing here is that the increase occurred within just five weeks of Buhari’s new administration. Cynics who are still in doubt about Buhari’s achievements since assuming office need to check their records.

Even the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, has attributed the sharp rise in Nigeria’s foreign reserves to “the strong efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari, to block all leakages”.

Add to these three positive developments the revitalization of the country’s refineries which the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has reliably informed Nigerians that they would all start refining petroleum at full capacity from this month of July.

Yet there is more. Already, there are reports that some of those who siphoned the people’s money into their private pockets have started refunding it.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has suddenly woken up from its deep slumber. There is a flurry of activities from the economic watchdog in the past five weeks. Old files are being dusted and at least one immediate past governor has just been sent to jail. These would have been unimaginable barely two months ago.

MURIC can therefore conclude that the Buhari ‘wonder’ is here with us again. As the retired general worked tirelessly for Nigeria when he was military head of state, Buhari appears not to have lost any steam or iota of passion in his drive for idealistic leadership.

We have always said leadership is Nigeria’s problem. From the late Tai Solarin and Gani Fawehinmi to living legends like Femi Falana, all past and present social crusaders have chorused this truism.

The dream of these great men is about to come true with the emergence of Muhammadu Buhari in Aso Rock. It now appears that Nigeria has crossed the leadership hurdle.

Yet for this silent revolution to succeed, Nigerians should take the cue. From governors to commissioners, permanent secretaries, chairmen of para-statals, heads of research centers, tertiary institutions, contract awarding bodies, etc., the change mantra must be felt and embraced.

With the huge human and material resources at our disposal, Nigerians have no business being jobless, hungry and homeless. But poverty prevails due to mismanagement, wickedness, cluelessness, greed, avarice and a culture of waste imposed on ourselves. Only 15% of the population arrogate to themselves all the milk and honey in the land while the remaining 85% of the population is left to suffer in abject want.   

Almighty Allah already told homo sapiens that He had provided enough for those on earth such that they should neither be hungry, thirsty, homeless or naked. “You shall not be hungry there or go naked. Neither will you be thirsty or suffer from the heat of the sun” says Qur’an 20:118-119. Yet man’s inhumanity to man will not allow the resources to go round.

We have no doubt that our infrastructure will come back to life again if we all stand up to be counted in the silent revolution. There will be drugs and facilities in the hospitals. Our roads will be safe once again if we plug holes and stop corruption. Our youth will bounce back with hope and Nigerians in diaspora will not only walk the streets of Europe and America with pride, they will have a home to which they can return.

In conclusion, we appeal to Nigerian politicians to allow Buhari to clean the system. We charge the National Assembly (NASS) to work for Nigeria and not for any individual.  We warn that any attempt by those in the NASS to impede Buhari’s selfless and silent revolution will be resisted by the masses.

In view of promising signs of good governance with Buhari in the driver’s seat, we appeal to the advanced democracies of the world to come to Nigeria’s aid. Nigeria cannot do it alone. A lot will be achieved if foreign countries refuse to collaborate with corrupt Nigerian officials.

Foreign powers must facilitate speedy repatriation of money stolen from Nigeria. In addition, countries like Sweden which make it possible for people to hold secret foreign accounts must review its fiscal laws and make them less conspiratorial.

Professor Ishaq Akintola,

Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)

ACCEPT BOKO HARAM OFFER ON SWOPPING OF CHIBOK GIRLS

9^th July, 2015

PRESS RELEASE:

ACCEPT BOKO HARAM OFFER ON SWOPPING OF CHIBOK GIRLS

Boko Haram militants yesterday reportedly offered to swop the Chibok girls with its detained militants.      

Coming soon after the Presidency made an official statement indicating its positive inclination towards dialogue with the militant group, we of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) consider this as a positive development.

Unlike the procrastination and deception which characterized Jonathan’s administration and which caused the prolonged tension over the abducted girls, the new Buhari regime needs to seize every good opportunity at the nick of time. Buhari must not only strike while the iron is hot, he must make the iron hot by striking.

The militants’ offer opens a new window of opportunity for the commencement of dialogue. Many experts in the field of insurgency have affirmed that military option alone is not enough to end the Boko Haram phenomenon. The footsoldiers need to be rehabilitated. Socio-economic life must be revitalized in the North East of Nigeria. The Federal Government also needs to speedily develop infrastructure in the affected area.

Above all, genuine dialogue must be put in place, unlike the phantom talks with fake militants which took place during the Jonathan regime. This will not be anything peculiar to Nigeria because other foreign governments have engaged rebels in similar talks in the past.

Spain dialogued with the Basque Separatists. Italy dialogued with the Red Brigade. Britain held prolonged talks with the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Turkey discussed with the PKK. Even the United States recently held a round table with the Taliban in Qatar.

The whole world is waiting for the girls. We want our daughters back. The biological parents have gone through unbearable trauma. Some of them have lost their lives during the painful wait. MURIC therefore supports such an exchange of prisoners as would bring back our girls.

Professor Ishaq Akintola,

Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)

ATTENTION FG: SLAVE LABOUR IN BENIN ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION COMPANY (BEDC)

9^th July, 2015

PRESS RELEASE:

ATTENTION FG: SLAVE LABOUR IN BENIN ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION COMPANY (BEDC)

Workers of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) which was privatized along with others a long time ago did not receive their letters of appointment until May 2015 (two months ago). The letter stated that salary would depend on the percentage of total commission in each month. To their dismay, the May 2015 salary which was paid on Thursday, 11^th June, 2015 allegedly fell short of expectation as some of the workers received 50% of their full salary while some got less than that.  

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) is dismayed by this development and we strongly condemn it. It is dehumanising, debasing and degrading. It runs counter to the principles of human dignity, liberty and equal access to the dividends of democracy. We are surprised that some Nigerians could still be treated like slaves in their own country 55 years after independence.

Any reduction in workers’ take-home-pay in these hard times is most likely to result in additional suffering for the underpriviledged. The Nigerian proletariat is the producer of our common wealth. Therefore workers deserve wages commensurate with their efforts. A situation where labour is overworked, underpaid and overtaxed can only produce socio-economic disequilibrium.        

Shortchanging workers and exploiting them in any form is not only inhuman, it is ungodly. The Glorious Qur’an Chapter 16 (Surat an-Nahl) verse 90 commands fairness, justice and equity. It says, “Allah commands justice, good deeds and generous giving to kith and kin. He forbids impropriety, exploitation and rebellion. He counsels you that you may be reminded.”

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) also enjoined employers to pay workers promptly and adequately. He said inter alia, “Aatuu al-ajiir ajrahu qabla an yajifa ‘araqahu”, i.e. Give the labourer his wage before his sweat dries.    

Maltreating workers is therefore an infringement on their Allah-given fundamental human right. The Supreme Creator gave every worker the right to be paid promptly and commensurately too. He also game every man dignity of his human person. “We have honoured the children of Adam, We provided them with means of transportation and sustenance on land and sea, then We conferred on them special favours above all other creatures” (Qur’an 17:70).

If Almighty Allah who created us has honoured us, why should BEDC deprive its workers of this honour? Is BEDC saying that its own employees are less human and should be subjected to slave labour?

MURIC contends that BEDC has flagrantly violated the Labour Act Chapter 198 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990 as in Part I General Provisions as to the protection of wages.

We therefore charge the Federal Government to, as a matter of urgency, wade into the matter. We also call the attention of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) which is the umbrella organization of all labour unions in the country to come to the aid of the oppressed staff of BEDC.

NLC should be able to find out if this obnoxious policy is peculiar to BEDC or to all privatized companies and take such steps that will ensure the protection of workers’ interests in those companies. Another term of reference in which NLC may show interest is to find out if it is true that  Mrs. Dame Patience Jonathan, wife of  Dr. Goodluck Jonathan,  former head of state, owns 60% of BEDC shares and how far this has encouraged the company’s management to engage in acts of impunity.

Is this how those elected by the people are expected to treat poor workers? Are they supposed to privatise public property, sell such properties to themselves, their wives, their children, family members, concubines and friends at the expense of the downtrodden? Any public office holder who does this has broken his oath of office.

We urge the Buhari administration to show interest in this angle. All recently privatized companies should be investigated with a view to identifying the buyers and whether or not due process has been followed. It will serve as deterrent for public officers who have the noun ‘thief’ and the verb ‘to steal’ in future.   

As far as MURIC is concerned, oppression of one is oppression of all, regardless of religion or tribe. We believe that Nigerians should be set free particularly in this new dispensation of ‘Change’. We remain oppressed until every Nigerian worker is adequately paid, until every hungry Nigerian is fed and until every illiterate Nigerian is educated.

Professor Ishaq Akintola,

Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)