ISLAMIC BANK CONTROVERSY IN NIGERIA

15th June, 2011 PRESS RELEASE: LEAVE THE ISLAMIC BANK ALONE       Bishops of the Dioceses in the Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion have urged the Senate and Federal House of Representatives not to pass any bill that would make the proposed Islamic bank to see the light of the day. According to the Anglican Bishop of Enugu, Rt. Rev. Emmanuel Chukwuma, the emergence of a religious bank "would pose serious threat to the unity of the country" and that they oppose the move because of its "religious connotation."   Millions of Nigerian Muslims who have been eager to put their money in halal (acceptable by Islamic standard) accounts will have the opportunity to do so. The present situation whereby there is no single Islamic bank constitutes a breach of the Allah-given and fundamental rights of Muslims in the country. It stands in contradistinction to the principle of freedom of religion as provided in Section 38 of the 1999 constitution, particularly the right to "manifest" and "practice" one's religion.   We assert clearly, unambiguously and unequivocally that Nigeria's democracy remains a sham until every Nigerian enjoys all his or her rights as enshrined in the constitution. The rights of Nigerian Muslims have been trampled upon in this country for too long. At present, Muslims are forced to patronize financial institutions which operate riba (usury) and which compel Muslims to act against their faith. This is a clear indication of lack of religious freedom.   We call on Nigerians to be objective this time around. The Muslims need Islamic banks. The fact that others do not need it does not mean that they should stand in the way of the Muslims. People read religion into everything but claim that it is not religion when they wish to do mischief.   We call the attention of the Federal Government to this most dangerous trend. We charge the National Assembly to ignore the call of extremists opposing the establishment of an Islamic bank. The security agencies must also pay attention. The international community also needs to watch these developments. A section of the federation is lording it upon another. It had better not be.   The spirit of 'live and let live' is not there. Nigerian Christians are comfortable with the status quo and its pro-Western banking system. Their Muslim counterparts are not. The Muslims are not calling for the abolition of the existing 'Christian' banking system. They are simply asking for an Islamic banking system to run parri passu with what is on ground. Yet Christians are saying, "No. You cannot have yours. You must continue to accept ours." In  short, Christian standards are being imposed on Muslims. It violates the principles of peaceful coexistence.   Christians are forcing Muslims to do things the Christian way. Muslims are being robbed of the vital sense of belonging needed to forge a united country.   The anti-Islamic bank camp is simply an agent provocateur and it should be closely watched. Britain has been operating Islamic banks since 2004 and it has not made that country less British. The first Islamic bank in Italy opened in 2008. We warn that blind and uninformed opposition is dangerous in a democratic setting. The current development also reveals that all the noise about religious tolerance has been to no avail. Looking for religious tolerance in the anti-Islamic bank camp is like looking for a needle in a collection of hay stacks.   MURIC demands parity in the polity. We dismiss the Anglican Bishops' declaration against the establishment of Islamic banks as parochial, mischievious and bigoted. The threat by the bishops to go on demonstration if their position is ignored is not only callous, it is shallow and provocative.   Dr. Is-haq Akintola, Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) 234-818-211-9714 234-803-346-4974   Is-haq Akintola (Ph.D), Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), 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

INAUGURATION: HOW MUCH DID IT COST?

2nd June, 2011 PRESS RELEASE: INAUGURATION: HOW MUCH DID IT COST? ASSETS MUST BE DECLARED NOW   The new administration of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was inaugurated  on Sunday, 29th May, 2011. Also inaugurated were new administrations in most states of the federation where the governors were sworn in.          The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) congratulates President Jonathan and all the new governors. We also felicitate with fellow Nigerians on this memorable occasion as Nigeria marks another significant milestone in its stride towards an enduring democracy.   MURIC asserts that transparency in governance is a major parameter for measuring good governance and the delivery of the dividends of democracy to the citizenry. A good starting point towards this golden ideal is for the presidency to tell Nigerians the cost of the inauguration at federal level. All state governors where inaugurations took place must also reveal the cost of the inauguration.   Today was born from the wombs of yesterday. Nigerians have learnt a lot from the kleptomania syndrome of the past in which leaders impoverished the people, lavished our resources on grandiose projects, their wives and children, their in-laws, their cronies, court-jesters and boot-lickers. While enjoining moderation, Qur'an 17:26-27 describes profligates as brothers of Shaytan. From now on, Nigerians want to know how much is spent at every step.   A second step in this direction is for all elected leaders of the people from the presidency to the law-makers in the states to declare their assets as at 29th May, 2011.   Nigerians have the right to know the economic status of Goodluck Jonathan, the state governors, returned and newly elected senators, returned and new members of the House of Representatives as well as state legislators. It is only by declaring their assets now that the citizens and indeed the anti-fraud agencies can detect any financial misdemeanor at the time of their exit in 2015.   Finally, therefore, MURIC charges the federal and state governments to tell Nigerians how much the May 29 inauguration cost Nigerian tax-payers. Secondly, we demand that President Jonathan and all newly installed state governors declare their assets immediately.   Is-haq Akintola (Ph.D), Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), 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

5 BILLION NAIRA FOR INAUGURATION?

PRESS RELEASE: BILLIONS FOR INAUGURATION? A FATHER CHRISTMAS SYNDROME    The Federal Government of Nigeria is reportedly planning to spend billions of naira on the inauguration ceremonies of the new administration billed to take place this weekend. According to the Sahara Reporters website, about five billion naira has already been set aside for this exercise. Another source alleges only one billion naira would be spent.   The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) strongly condemns this spendthrift propensity. It is outright thoughtlessness and inexplicable insensitivity on the part of the Federal Government to allocate such a huge amount to the inauguration of a new administration. One billion naira sounds too extravagant when less than a quarter of a billion naira would have achieved more positive results. Five billion naira is an expensive joke. Nigeria is being taken to the cleaners right from the start!   The Jonathan regime appears to be sending the wrong signal to the suffering jamaheer (poor masses) that it is here to set off an era of waste. This is a dangerous precedent as ministries and parastatals are likely to emulate this Father Christmas mentality.   Have Nigerian workers started receiving the N18,000.00 minimum wage which was approved more than a year ago? No state government has paid that amount up till now. Even the N18,000.00 as a take-home pay cannot take them home. Neither can it ensure three square meals for them and their families. Paying the school fees of their children and wards is out of the question. House rents have already eaten up workers' pay. Inflation bites hard on a daily basis. Policies such as this widens the gap between the government and the governed, between the employers and the proletariat, between the 'haves-and-the-have-nots'.   The contracts for the inauguration which will gulp billions are going to cronies, court jesters and bootlickers. These are the oppressors of our society. They are the people who can afford to pay one million naira per term for their children's school fees in primary and secondary schools. It creates a situation where too few people have too much while too many have nothing. A super-elitist society has already emerged and this clique, this 'tiny cabal', is being nurtured by Jonathan's administration. It is too early for us to start getting this negative signal. Nigerians don't really deserve this kind of treatment.     How does President Goodluck Jonathan expect workers to receive the news of the huge sum of money billed for his inauguration? The poor workers whose sweat produced the wealth of the nation cannot even smell the aroma of those delicious but wasteful dishes at the state dinners being planned. Neither would they attend the expensive mundane and religious inauguration programmes.   MURIC cautions the Federal Government against extravagance. What Nigerians need is food on their tables, stable electricity, good roads, effective public transport system, qualitative education, an enduring public health scheme and a dependable security system, not extravagance, not waste, not pomp and pageantry.   Is-haq Akintola (Ph.D), Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), 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

INVITATION TO JOIN MURIC

Friends, well-wishers, join me in promoting the rights of Muslims everywhere in the world. The world will know peace if there is justice in the land. The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) is committed to achieving global peace through dialogue. Our avowed motto is 'DIALOGUE, NOT VIOLENCE'. We already have members from all parts of the world. Join our Yahoo Group today by sending your name, telephone number and email address to my Facebook. This invitation is open to all your Muslim friends too. Please invite them. Salaam. Is-haq Akintola (Ph.D), Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), 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

NATO ATTACKS ON LIBYA

NATO ATTACKS ON LIBYAN SHIPS   NATO war planes struck Libyan warships Friday 20 April. Libya insisted that its ships had never been involved in the conflict. We note with great interest the fact that those ships were stationary before they were struck. It is equally interesting that America and NATO in a trans-Atlantic conspiracy has systematically debilitated Libya's military capacity.   Both the US and NATO pretend to be engaged in a chivalrous military campaign in support of the rebels whereas the control of Libyan oil is the hidden agenda. America in particular is in Libya for its 'unfinished business'. We must recall that America under Ronald Reagan bombed Libya in 1986 in a futile attempt to kill Ghaddafi but ended up killing his grandson instead.   How much of Muslim blood is now in the hands of the West? Why are they always in a hurry to strike Muslim nations? We note also that the West is very keen on attacking Ghaddafi because he is the only Arab leader who has refused to serve as a crony to the West. He has been highly critical of Western neo-colonial manouvers and has always publicly challenged the West's positions on international issues.   The African Union has condemned NATO's strikes and urged it to halt them. But the appeal has fallen on deaf ears. America and NATO are definitely abusing their military might. It is aggression of the mighty and powerful over the weak. It is the manifestation of the five evils of which Chamberlain had spoken: brute force, bad faith, injustice, oppression and persecution. Is-haq Akintola (Ph.D), Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), 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

OBAMA KNOWS WHAT TO DO WITH ISRAEL

OBAMA KNOWS WHAT TO DO WITH ISRAEL   American President Barrack Obama proposed on Thursday that Israel should go back to its pre-1967 boarders. Of course visiting Isreali president has rejected Obama's idea as "indefensible". This is coming after years of fruitless negotiations initiated by the Obama administration.   We of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) are not deceived. Obama knows how defiant Israel can be. Yet he knows what the US did in Iraq. He knows what America has been doing in Afghanistan for the past eight years to date. Everyone knows what America and NATO are doing presently in Libya. The whole world knows what is done to nations that defy world opinion. The truth is that Israel is sacrosanct, untouchable!   Israel has defied hundreds of UN resolutions without facing a single sanction. Almost all Arab countries promoting the cause of Islam are facing sanctions from America and the UN. Where then is the 'change' promised by Obama? The US is known for its jet-speed sanctions on Muslim nations. Yet no single sanction has been pronounced on Israel. Even ordinary UN condemnation of Israeli criminal action against civilian population is always vetoed by the US. Is this Western sense of justice? And, by extension, is this your democracy?   Obama's Thursday pronouncement is therefore calculated to placate Arabs and Muslims... a barren political statement. Obama knows how to add meaning to his statements. If Obama is serious about peace in the Middle East, then the US should sponsor a new UN resolution recognizing the pre-1967 boarders for Israel, create a buffer zone in the region and get NATO troops to maintain the buffer.   We have never heard of threats of sanctions against Israel for defying world opinion. Obama should not only threaten Israel with sanctions but he should actually impose it on that country as he has done with Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, etc. Why is it that only Arab and Muslim nations face Western sanctions?   On the other hand, MURIC finds the actions of Arab leaders ridiculous. They cannot even tell America exactly what they want. What a pity! Imagine how they divide themselves and allow the West to descend heavily on one Arab or Muslim country after another. It was Afghanistan day before yesterday. Yesterday it was Iraq. Today it is Libya. Tomorrow it is going to be Iran. After tomorrow.....? It is aggression ad infinitum!   We are waiting for the BIG ONE: the bombing of Makkah and Madina from the air and subsequent invasion of its territories (perhaps Britain or France will wake up one day and accuse Saudi Arabia of violating the rights of its own citizens, amassing WMD, torturing opposition elements, etc). They always have 'evidence'.   We have no iota of doubt that this has become a systematic, highly sophisticated 21st century crusade. The only way for Obama and other Western leaders to prove to us that this is not so is to treat Arab and Muslim nations with respect. As for now, we expect the worst from the West. Justice from that block will be a shocker.   MURIC says to Obama, "Mr. President, if you know what to do with Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Libya, etc, you surely know what to do with Israel". Is-haq Akintola (Ph.D), Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), 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

OBAMA KNOWS WHAT TO DO WITH ISRAEL

OBAMA KNOWS WHAT TO DO WITH ISRAEL   American President Barrack Obama proposed on Thursday that Israel should go back to its pre-1967 boarders. Of course visiting Isreali president has rejected Obama's idea as "indefensible". This is coming after years of fruitless negotiations initiated by the Obama administration.   We of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) are not deceived. Obama knows how defiant Israel can be. Yet he knows what the US did in Iraq. He knows what America has been doing in Afghanistan for the past eight years to date. Everyone knows what America and NATO are doing presently in Libya. The whole world knows what is done to nations that defy world opinion. The truth is that Israel is sacrosanct, untouchable!   Israel has defied hundreds of UN resolutions without facing a single sanction. Almost all Arab countries promoting the cause of Islam are facing sanctions from America and the UN. Where then is the 'change' promised by Obama? The US is known for its jet-speed sanctions on Muslim nations. Yet no single sanction has been pronounced on Israel. Even ordinary UN condemnation of Israeli criminal action against civilian population is always vetoed by the US. Is this Western sense of justice? And, by extension, is this your democracy?   Obama's Thursday pronouncement is therefore calculated to placate Arabs and Muslims... a barren political statement. Obama knows how to add meaning to his statements. If Obama is serious about peace in the Middle East, then the US should sponsor a new UN resolution recognizing the pre-1967 boarders for Israel, create a buffer zone in the region and get NATO troops to maintain the buffer.   We have never heard of threats of sanctions against Israel for defying world opinion. Obama should not only threaten Israel with sanctions but he should actually impose it on that country as he has done with Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, etc. Why is it that only Arab and Muslim nations face Western sanctions?   On the other hand, MURIC finds the actions of Arab leaders ridiculous. They cannot even tell America exactly what they want. What a pity! Imagine how they divide themselves and allow the West to descend heavily on one Arab or Muslim country after another. It was Afghanistan day before yesterday. Yesterday it was Iraq. Today it is Libya. Tomorrow it is going to be Iran. After tomorrow.....? It is aggression ad infinitum!   We are waiting for the BIG ONE: the bombing of Makkah and Madina from the air and subsequent invasion of its territories (perhaps Britain or France will wake up one day and accuse Saudi Arabia of violating the rights of its own citizens, amassing WMD, torturing opposition elements, etc). They always have 'evidence'.   We have no iota of doubt that this has become a systematic, highly sophisticated 21st century crusade. The only way for Obama and other Western leaders to prove to us that this is not so is to treat Arab and Muslim nations with respect. As for now, we expect the worst from the West. Justice from that block will be a shocker.   Is-haq Akintola (Ph.D), Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), 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