MURIC CONDEMNS KILLING OF 66 FULANIS IN KADUNA

15^th February, 2019

PRESS RELEASE:

MURIC CONDEMNS KILLING OF 66 FULANIS IN KADUNA

Sixty-six Fulanis have been reportedly killed in Kajuru Local Government of Kaduna State. The incident occurred towards evening on Friday, 15th February, 2019. 

In a swift reaction, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has condemned the killing. MURIC, an Islamic human rights organization, described the killings as barbaric, inhuman and provocative. In a press statement issued minutes after the report of the killings reached Nigerians, the rights group said it was certain that the killings were intended to truncate the general elections which are set to begin tomorrow, Saturday, 16th February, 2019. The statement was signed by the director and founder of the organization, Professor Ishaq Akintola.

“This killing is horrendous and cowardly act. It is calculated to truncate the general elections and also to provoke reactions. It is nothing but a terrorist act. No more, no less. The culprits must be apprehended. We strongly condemn the killings. Those who target vulnerable and innocent women and children for merciless killings deserve due punishment.

“These are rebellious subjects, enemies of peace. They see defeat staring at them squarely in the face in the 2019 elections. But they have decided to tow the path of violence instead of taking the expected outcome with equanimity. 

“MURIC charges the Commissioner of Police in charge of Kaduna State to bring the culprits to book with immediate effect. Steps must be taken by both the government and security agencies to prevent the crisis from escalating. We appeal to Fulanis in the state to exercise restraint.

“The timing of the killings suggest that the culprits intend to cause mayhem capable of disrupting the general election not only in Kaduna State but in the whole country. That is why they launched their attack on the eve of the general elections. They have only used Kaduna State as a launching pad. We therefore call on the Nigerian security agencies to be on the tip-toes of alertness in order to ward off any crisis that rears its ugly head anywhere in the country particularly during the general elections.

Professor Ishaq Akintola,

Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)

MURIC TO NIGERIANS: VOTE FOR A NEW NIGERIA

14^th February, 2019

PRESS RELEASE:

MURIC TO NIGERIANS: VOTE FOR A NEW NIGERIA

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has admonished the Nigerian electorate to ‘vote for a new Nigeria’ as the nation goes to the polls on Saturday 16th February, 2019 and Saturday, 2nd March, 2019. 

MURIC, an Islamic human rights organization declared in its voters’ enlightenment statement issued on Thursday, 14th February, 2019 that Nigerian voters must sustain the tempo of the change mantra and rapid growth which has manifested in various facets of life in the country. The statement was signed by the organisation’s founder and director, Professor Ishaq Akintola.

Expatiating further, MURIC said, “Nigerians were treated with derision outside the country until recently. Transparency International (TI) ranked Nigeria First Most Corrupt Country in 2001, Second Most Corrupt in 2003 and Third Most Corrupt in 2004 while a former prime minister of Britain described Nigerians as ‘fantastically corrupt’ about three years ago.

“Nigeria remains poor despite our humongous human and material resources due to corruption. All these are due to the fact that only 1% of the population (the notorious but powerful tiny cabal) have arrogated 85% of the total wealth to themselves while the overwhelming 99% struggle over the remaining 15% of the resources of the land. As a result of this socio-economic imbalance, Nigeria is rated today as the 26^th poorest and 20^th hungriest country in the world. The average Nigerian still lives on less than $1 per day. Our per capita income is still under $300.  

“Our oil export revenue between 2010 and 2014 speaks eloquently of our culture of waste. The average price per barrel was $110. But we frittered every kobo away. We enjoyed stable oil production at 2.4 million barrels per day during this period. At the lowest we sold at $93.61 per barrel. Thus we were able to realise $224 million per day and $81b per year (N12.8 trillion at the old rate). The most spectacular year was 2011 when Nigeria earned $99 billion!  

“Yet there is virtually nothing to show for all that money. Successive regimes from 1999 to 2015 struggled to out-Herod Herod. It was an outrageous contest to out-do the biblical prodigal son (Luke 15:11 – 19) and an equally ludicrous quest to ensure that Nigeria matched up to the description of the Qur’anic city of ingrates (qaryatan aaminatan mutmainatan fakafarat bi an‘umillahi Glorious Qur’an 16:112).

“As a result of their superfluously voracious greed, our roads became death traps. Public hospitals were worse than public mortuaries. The walls of school buildings fell while the roofs leaked. Earlier on, Nigeria’s public assets like the Nigerian Airways and the Nigerian Railway Corporation received the death sentence courtesy of rapaciously greedy political shenanigans and their avariciously gluttonous and pathologically corrupt capitalist business class.   

“Surprisingly, the present administration which earned $95 billion only from oil in its three and a half years was able to perform better. Note that the Jonathan administration had realized $99 billion in 2011 alone. These are the facts that we owe Nigerian citizens as a human rights body. These are facts that can guide them rightly as they go to the polls.

“It is the sacred duty of civil society to educate the electorate with fact-laden analysis. It is the inalienable Allah-given fundamental right of MURIC to lay the facts bare without fear or favour. Besides, it is the duty of every patriotic Nigerian to search for and rely on real facts. These are verifiable facts and figures. Nigerians should not allow political demagogues to hoodwink them. We note with deep concern that those who brought the country to its knees in their 16-year rule of ruination are the most vocal because they have mastered the art of controlling the paraphanalia of false propaganda.

“Most state governments were owing salaries until the present regime came. In spite of the low income from oil at an average of $45 per barrel and the loss of 1.2 million barrels per day due to disruption by the Niger Delta Avengers, this administration was able to bail out debtor states. Retirees in the railway and airways who had been abandoned for over 15 years were paid. The monthly allowance of youth corpers was increased. The railways roared back to life in Kaduna, Abuja, Abeokuta, Ajaokuta and Itakpe-Warri axis. Lagos-Ibadan distress-way wore its old bright smile as a real express-way. Second Niger Bridge broke more than a decade old jinx.

“Nigeria overcame recession within one year. Power generation rose from under 300 megawatts to 7,000. Even Forbes could not ignore the monumental and speedy growth as it listed Nigeria as numero uno among ten other African countries which it described as biggest economies in Africa for the year 2018.

“External reserves now stand at $47 billion from a paltry $28 billion inherited from the past regime in 2015. But the icing on the cake is the fact that unlike past administrations, this regime refused to dip its hands in the external reserve to finance the 2019 general elections. Boko Haram insurgents who occupied 17 local governments in Borno State are now on the run. They now come poaching from Chad and Niger in hit and run guerilla tactics.

“What does this kind of administration deserve? How can we show our gratitude to a leader who gave us so much and took nothing in return? In a country where many public officers hide hundreds of millions of naira, and foreign currencies in multiple local and foreign accounts; in a country where 55 houses are traced to a single public official; what does a leader who has just one 3-bedroom bungalow in his home town and another house in Kaduna, a leader who has no foreign account, no private jet, etc deserve? 

“We in MURIC ask Nigerians: Are you going to be like the ten lepers whom Jesus healed but only one of them came back to show gratitude (Luke 17:11 - 32)? The Glorious Qur’an says Allah will increase His blessings for us if we manifest gratitude (Qur’an 14:7). The hadith says those who fail to appreciate their fellowmen (who they see clearly and whose dividends of democracy they enjoy) will never thank the Supreme Creator (whom they do not see). How best can we express gratitude? 

“We affirm that the best way that Nigerians can show their gratitude to the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is by voting for him on Saturday 16th February. Contrary to the erroneous impression that groups should remain neutral, MURIC upholds the philosophy of standing up for the truth and rejecting falsehood and fence-sitting. We do not have to please politicians. The only entity we owe allegiance is Nigeria. We have a duty to hit the nail on the head in order to save our country from going back down the drain one more time after making so much progress. 

“We have seen the ‘good’, the ‘bad’ and the ‘ugly’ on the Nigerian political landscape. The ‘good’ are on the side of integrity, transparency, probity and accountability. They are the friends of the masses and the true patriots who are developing the country’s infrastructure and touching the lives of the poor masses in various ways. The ‘bad’ are on the side of selfishness, waste, greed and corruption. They nearly ruined Nigeria. They are agents and sympathisers of the 1% over-pampered tiny cabal. The ‘ugly’ are in-between. They are the onlookers who idolize their oppressors out of ignorance. But in this battle between the good and the ugly, every onlooker is either a traitor (of his country Nigeria) or an accomplice (aiding and abetting the destruction of his country). 

“As we draw the curtain, we remind Nigerians that they should not expect their own country to be fixed in three and a half years when it took Mahathir Muhammad 22 years (1981-2003) to fix Malaysia. Lee Kuan Yew spent 30 years of eight consecutive terms in office (1959-1990) to redeem Singapore. Jerry Rawlings spent 26 years (1981-2002) before he could reform Ghana and Meles Zenawi worked assiduously on Ethiopia for 12 good years (1995-2012). Nigerians must therefore vote for the sustenance of the new Nigeria whose emergence began in 2015. We must not allow the mistake of 1985 to repeat itself. We ask patriotic Nigerians to vote for integrity, infrastructure and steady growth.

Professor Ishaq Akintola,

Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)

MURIC CHARGES NIGERIANS TO VOTE MASSIVELY

11^th February, 2019

PRESS RELEASE:

MURIC CHARGES NIGERIANS TO VOTE MASSIVELY

As Nigerians prepare to vote in the general elections on 16th February, 2019 and 2nd March, 2019, an Islamic human rights organization has appealed to Nigerians to go out and vote massively on election days. 

In a statement issued on Monday 11th February, 2019, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) appealed to Nigerians not to adopt a lukewarm attitude towards the forthcoming general elections. The statement was signed by the founder and director of the organization, Professor Ishaq Akintola.

MURIC added, “We must not be lackadaisical about this election because it is a watershed in the history of our nation. For the first time in a very long period, Nigerians have the opportunity to choose between sentiment and objectivity and between reality and sheer mirage. 

“We have a lifetime opportunity to choose between motion without movement and progressive motion. This is the time to decide whether to return to the regime of rapaciously voracious kleptomaniacs who gave us darkness and bad roads, those who killed our old railway, national air carrier, Dunlop, Michellin, etc,  or to march forward with those who have improved our electricity, repaired our roads, built new Macadam roads, brought back the good old days of rail transport system, paid retirees and did much more.

“MURIC will not hide the truth from Nigerians because we are very much concerned. We cannot keep quiet because we are significant stakeholders. The next few days will determine whether the Nigerian masses who are under severe economic oppression and acute poverty will be set free. These are men and women who are at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid in this country today. There is an urgent need to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor and only a regime which is committed to the development of critical infrastructure can do that. 

“We must vote our conscience. What we are advocating is massive turnout at the polling booths. Nigerians of all persuasions: Christians, Muslims, traditionalists must go to the polls. Nigerians of all tribes must do the same. Poverty knows no religion. Disease knows no creed. Hunger knows no tribe. Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, Itsekiri, etc, Muslims, Christians and traditionalists have all been trapped for hours on the bad roads for the past sixteen (16) years. All of us have been enjoying it now that they are being repaired regardless of where we belong. The new trains will not turn back anyone because he is a Muslim or a Christian. 

“The sacrifice which we must make on those voting days are not for us per se, it is for our children, our grand children and our great grand-children. Let us stand there in the sun or in the rain as the case may be on that day knowing fully well that it is the day of sowing so that we can reap in future. The smooth roads, the tube, the underground rails, the trollies, the trams, the fantastic engineering network of overhead bridges which advanced countries enjoy today did not just get there by wishful thinking. The citizens worked consciously for it and made sacrifices. They also made sure that they did not elect thieves. They picked people of integrity. It is now our turn. 

“Unless we do the needful, our children are going to ask us what we did when we saw things were deteriorating in this country. Why did you allow Nigeria to become this rotten? Why did you surrender our country to political shenanigans? Why can’t we enjoy electricity like other countries? 

“We heard that you restarted the railways and they worked in 2019, where are they now? We heard that the second Niger Bridge was more than half completed in 2019, who stopped it? We heard that an ultramodern cancer machine was installed in the University of Lagos Teaching Hospital (LUTH) in 2019, what happened to that machine? Why are Nigerians still travelling outside the country to cure cancer? Why is cancer still killing Nigerians? Why is our generation wasted away?

“MURIC reminds Nigerians that 2019 election is not about religion or ethnicity. We must vote for those who will make our country great by improving infrastructure, raising the standard of living, paying workers regularly, plugging leaking holes and promoting transparency, probity and accountability. 

“We urge young Nigerians to eschew violence in all its ramifications before, during and after the elections. Those who hire thugs will continue to live after the election whereas many of those who allow themselves to be used may die in the process. Our youths must therefore avoid violent acts like ballot-snatching and the kidnapping of opposition candidates.

“As a parting shot, MURIC appeals to Nigerian voters: don’t sell your vote. It is your power. It is your right to choose the direction you want your country to go. It is your conscience and your conscience is your essence. The man dies in him who puts his conscience on sale. We appeal to candidates of various categories in the 2019 general elections to be valiant in contest, humble in victory and magnanimous in defeat. It must be Nigeria first. 

Professor Ishaq Akintola,

Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)

IGNORE T. Y. DANJUMAH : MURIC URGES NIGERIANS

7^th February, 2019

PRESS RELEASE:

IGNORE T. Y. DANJUMAH : MURIC URGES NIGERIANS

Retired Lt. Gen. TY Danjuma recently warned Nigerians that Islamists must not rule Nigeria again. He accused the Buhari administration of Islamisation of the judiciary and threw his weight behind the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen. The retired general and others spoke on the platform of the Northern Christian Elders Forum (NCEF). 

However, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) in a press statement issued on Thursday, 7th February, 2019 has urged Nigerians to ignore the retired general. The statement was signed by its founder and director, Professor Ishaq Akintola. The Islamic human rights organisation described the allegation of Islamisation as baseless, unfounded and mischievous. 

“Lt. Gen. Danjuma is trying to mislead Nigerians”. MURIC said. “He is inciting them against Muslim leaders. He and those who joined him in this last journey to nowhere seek to turn Christians and Muslims against each other. We will not allow that. Such a move is self-serving and callous. It is the road to self-destruction. A house divided against itself cannot stand. We urge Nigerians to ignore them. 

“Nigerians who are not victims of collective amnesia will recall that the cry of ‘Islamisation’ has always been on the lips of Islamophobics from time immemorial. Yet nobody has been Islamised. They ranted over sukuk bonds until they saw its fruits being used to build roads everywhere, including the South East. Of the 36 ministers in the country, 18 are Christians while 18 are also Muslims. In addition, Christians were given two juicy posts by this Muslim president: the secretary to the Federal Government and the Chief of Staff. Where lies Islamisation agenda? Islamisation or Fulanisation is a mirage, a phantom. It exists only in the imagination of disgruntled elements. 

“Nigerians should ask Danjuma and his ilks the following questions. Is it Islamisation to construct the Second Niger Bridge? Is it Fulanisation to refurbish Lagos-Ibadan expressway? How many of the 9.2 million school children who are being fed free by this administration are Fulanis or Muslims? Is the new fast train in Abuja part of the Islamisation? How many Muslims have taken the train without their tickets and how many Christians have been turned back on the basis of their faith? Buhari may be a Muslim but his new roads know no religion. His trains know no religion.

“How can anyone interpret the suspension of a billionaire CJN who possesses 55 houses in Abuja alone as Islamisation? The next qualified person was picked for the post and that is due process. What crime has he committed for being a Muslim? How can that be interpreted as Islamisation? Very soon it will be Islamisation for Nigerian Muslims to get employment. It will be Islamisation if a Muslim eats. It will be Islamisation if the pilot of a plane or the driver of a bus is a Muslim. It is mass profiling and indiscriminate stigmatization of Nigerian Muslims.

“It is the Acting CJN today. It can be any Muslim tomorrow. MURIC will continue to defend Allah-given fundamental rights of Nigerian Muslims with every legitimate means at its disposal. No amount of blackmail, intimidation and name-calling can deter us. Both Muslims and Christians have the right to rule Nigeria because this country is a multi-religious state. We will not stand akimbo and allow some self-acclaimed elders to mislead Nigerians or to blackmail or scare away Muslims who have leadership potentials  

“Progressive people around the world are not using religion as a criterion for picking their leaders. They look at industry, antecedence, integrity, competence and morality. This should be the focus of Nigerians. We must free ourselves from the bondage of articulated religiousity. Religion is not about hate, killing and burning. Religion is love. We were human beings before we knew about any religion. So religion is humanity.

   

“We charge Nigerians to be wary of peddlers of hate. It is not religion. Neither is it ethnicity. We strongly suspect that TY Danjuma is calling for a personal pound of flesh. The tap from which free money has been flowing for so long has been closed by this administration. The Father Christmas mentality of past regimes has given way to prudent management of government’s resources. Oil licenses and blocks are not being renewed.

“No wonder, therefore, that a prominent member of the tiny cabal is venting his spleen on the Buhari regime. The electioneering period has been chosen to drive the point home. But Nigerians should not be deceived. It is neither about religion nor ethnicity. Otherwise why are the candidates of the two leading political parties Muslims and ‘Islamists’? How did this come about in spite of all the noise in the churches that Christians should not vote for Muslim candidates? Why are the candidates of the two major political parties of Fulani extraction despite the outcry in churches that Christians should not vote for any Fulani man?

“The truth is that the capitalist bourgeoisie political class to which the tiny cabal belongs are fidgety. They see themselves as the owners of Nigeria and they are deeply worried that power is gradually shifting to the masses. They are just 1% of the population. But they are so powerful that they control 85% of the total wealth of Nigeria. They control the media and they used to control government until 2015. The 99% who are the masses continue to struggle over the sharing of the remaining 15% of Nigeria’s resources. It cannot go round and this explains why we always fight among ourselves. To make matters worse, people like Danjuma and his NCEF inject the opium in religion and the heroin in ethnicity into the system to add fuel to the conflagration.

  

“It should be noted that the NCEF has already been disowned by the officially recognized body of Nigerian Christians. NCEF is no more than a concoction and an unknown nomenclature, a pain in the neck even for Christendom and an embarrassment for true and patriotic Christians.

“MURIC advices Nigerians to disregard religious jobbers and spiritual busy bodies looking for a platform to unleash acrobatic religiousity and gymnastic spirituality. NCEF is fanning the embers of religious extremism among Christians. It can only lead to mayhem. This is a group known for fomenting trouble and for crying wolf where there is none. Its stock-in-trade has always been hate speech and incitement.

“Lt. Gen. Danjuma Must learn to live and let live. We remind him that the world is watching. We appeal to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to call NCEF to order once again. We call the attention of foreign observers, leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union to the inciting statements of Lt. Gen. Danjuma and his cohorts.

Professor Ishaq Akintola,

Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)

CHOPPER CRASH: MURIC REJOICES WITH VP OSINBAJO

5^th February, 2019

PRESS RELEASE:

CHOPPER CRASH: MURIC REJOICES WITH VP OSINBAJO

The helicopter of the Nigerian Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, crash-landed in Kogi State on Saturday 2nd February, 2019. Everybody on board alighted safely from the damaged chopper. 

In a message congratulating the Vice President on his miraculous escape, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) said the incident proved that Allah loved Nigeria and that the Supreme Creator actually chose the professor for Nigerians. MURIC, an Islamic human rights organization, maintained that there has never been any vice president like Yemi Osinbajo. The statement which was issued on Tuesday 5th February, was signed by the director and founder of the organization, Professor Ishaq Akintola.

“We warmly felicitate with our Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, for coming out alive and unhurt from the crashed chopper. We just cannot contemplate the huge loss and the gravity of the tragedy if it had been the other way round. 

“We affirm that Nigeria cannot afford to lose Osinbajo at this crucial moment. We have never had a vice president like him. Osinbajo is cut for the job. He is the most loyal, most level-headed and most active vice president Nigeria ever had. It is also clear from his handling of issues on all the occasions that he has acted in the absence of President Muhammadu Buhari, that he is not greedy or overambitious. These are some of the reasons MURIC is deeply appreciative to Allah that we did not cry over his dead body on Saturday.

“Besides, Professor Osinbajo is the kind of Christian leader we as Muslims will be comfortable with any time any day. We have seen how he treats Nigerians of different faiths equally. He has freed himself from religious bigotry. He is totally detribalized and his analysis of the Nigerian debacle has often doused tension.

“We urge Nigerians of all creeds and ethnicity to pray for Allah’s continued protection for him and for President Muhammadu Buhari. We assure the vice president that he enjoys tremendous goodwill across the board. We charge him to apply more grease to his elbow. The fact that this is the second time that he will escape death through helicopter crashes indicates that he has a date with history. We pray that he will overwhelm all obstacles in his path in order to fulfill his destiny.   

Professor Ishaq Akintola,

Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)

PRESS RELEASE: ONNOGHENGATE: PRESIDENCY NEEDS SOLOMONIC WISDOM

1^st February, 2019

PRESS RELEASE:

ONNOGHENGATE: PRESIDENCY NEEDS SOLOMONIC WISDOM

A 12-man team of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has reportedly met with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo following the suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen. The meeting allegedly took place early on Monday, 28th January, 2019 and the subject-matter was how to get a soft landing for the suspended CJN.

Among the options suggested by the team were the following:

1.  CJN to resign or retire without coercion;

2.  Govt to withdraw all charges against Onnoghen.

3.  No molestation of CJN under any guise;

4.  Acting CJN should quit.

5.  NBA team to prevail on relatives, friends to persuade Justice Onnoghen to resign.

6.  Consensus on the need to clean up the Judiciary (long term measure).

     

Meanwhile the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), an Islamic human rights organization, has accepted option 6 in its entirety. The group also agreed with option 1 with an amendment. It rejected options 2 and 4; described option 3 as superfluous, suggestive and ill-motivated. The group regards option 5 as ridiculous, laughable and unsavoury. 

The statement which was issued on Friday evening 1st February, 2019 was signed by the founder and director of the organization, Professor Ishaq Akintola.

MURIC said, “We accept option number 1 with an amendment. We have always said that the suspended CJN must resign. Retirement is not on the table. But the idea of ‘without coercion’ is outrageous. Who has been coercing the suspended CJN? Who has this administration coerced before? It is obvious that the NBA team came with a mindset and that is not good enough in dialogue. Why should they start with name-calling? Who are they trying to label as a tyrant? That option should be reviewed. Onnoghen should resign not only in the interest of the nation but also to save the judiciary from this monumental embarrassment.

“Option 2 is unacceptable. Why should government withdraw all charges? Now we can see how unnecessary plea-bargaining begins. We usually forget that every celebrated matter like this one, particularly those involving public figures and government officials are always placed first in the court of public opinion. Lawyers may bring technicalities but Nigerians are not fools. 

“The man in the street is going to ask for the rationale for dropping charges. The number of criminals will increase because people are angry that a whole CJN allegedly got 55 houses in Abuja city alone with more than N1.1 billion cash in the kitty by robbing with the pen. So why shouldn’t armed robbers rob with the gun? This suggestion brings the contradictions in our society more clearly and rudely to the forefront. It should not be tried because it will create another bad precedent. This is a case in which government has to be firm. How do we create a deterrent for others? We have no doubt that other judges who have the noun ‘thief’ and the verb ‘to steal’ will expect plea bargain championed by the NBA in future? 

Option 3 is superfluous, malicious, suggestive and ill-motivated. NBA is asking government not to molest the CJN. It is also implied in option 1. What exactly does NBA mean by molestation? Does the NBA think Nigerians will continue to respect this administration if the Federal Government (FG) announces a national award for the suspended CJN just as some people did in the past? What we know of this regime is that it upholds human dignity, freedom of the press, free speech and the rule of law. What else does NBA want for the suspended billionaire CJN? 

“Option 4 is a satanic option. It offends the principle of natural justice. Why should the new acting CJN resign? What offence has he committed?Is it a crime to be a Northerner? NBA should eschew ethnic jingoism. We are not unaware of hate speeches in video clips targeted at the new acting CJN but we do not expect NBA to buy into tribal particularism. We believe in a united Nigeria. We respect and love lawyers but we love Nigeria more. We do not expect less from our lawyers.

“NBA’s satanic option 4 is reminiscent of the story of the two women who brought their case to Prophet Daud (peace be upon him). A wolf had taken one of the children away and there was a dispute concerning whose child was still alive. Prophet Daud declared the older woman as the owner but Prophet Sulayman (peace be upon him) who was the son of Daud and whom Allah gave more wisdom than his father reviewed the judgement.

“He said, ‘Bring me a knife so as to cut the child into two pieces and distribute it between them’. Although the older lady agreed, the younger lady said, `May Allah be merciful to you. Don’t do that, give the child to her, it is hers. Sulayman knew instantly that the younger lady who did not want the child to die was the true owner. So he gave the child to her (Qur’an 38:30 – 34; Sahih Bukhari 1:487; I Kings 3:16 – 28).

“So who deserves the post of CJN between Justice Onnoghen and Justice Muhammed Tanko? Whose child was carried away by the wolf, Onnoghen or Tanko? NBA wants the child cut in two halves! NBA has surprised us with this strange suggestion. Who has a case to answer? Who abused his office? Who is the billionaire CJN? How many days has Tanko spent in office as acting CJN? Is it possible for eminent members of the NBA to also join the camp of haters and wailers? Why are we like this in this country? Who cursed Nigeria?

“We are confounded by option 5. NBA is pledging to ‘prevail’ on relatives, friends will ‘persuade’ Justice Onnoghen to resign. We reject this option. It is infantile, pedestrian and preposterous. NBA is spoon-feeding Onnoghen. What concerns the Nigerian public with ‘relatives’ and ‘friends’ in this matter? So NBA wants a whole Nigeria with 200 million people to start prostrating for a single person? Must we prostrate for a cow because we want to eat beef? Is that it? Should it be so? No, it had better not be. Nigeria is bigger than the suspended CJN. How can such a peripheral issue supplant the tangential?

“We are not surprised though. We are not surprised because NBA has decided long ago that it would ignore the substance and treat the symptom. As far as NBA is concerned, Justice Onnoghen is a saint. He must be idolized. MURIC rejects this stance. It is an attempt to turn Onnoghengate to a comedy. That suggestion should be sent to Nollywood or reserved for the senator who spent 19 hours on treetop. We are being serious here please.  

“Option number 6 concerning the need to clean up the judiciary appears to us to make the most sense. Our judiciary stinks and a total overhauling of the system is long overdue. This should be done as soon as possible. 

“We appeal to the NBA to call a spade a spade. The body of lawyers should avoid spite and the pull-them-down syndrome. NBA appears to be cutting its nose in order to spite its face. This seems to be what the association is doing by trying to extenuate the offence committed by Justice Onnoghen while demonising Justice Tanko. Is the NBA not biased? Isn’t Justice Tanko also a member of the legal body? How should we judge an association that treats one member as a sacred cow and pushes another onto the rail line when a train is approaching at full speed? It is the most odious and insidious segregation. NBA needs to reassess itself.   

“If Nigerians agree that our judiciary needs cleaning up, the man to do it is President Muhammadu Buhari. He has the necessary qualities for the task. The boldness, the determination, the ascetic mien and the incorruptibility are the effective weapons needed for the job and he already possesses them. But we are already in the twilight of his first term in office. Nigerians will definitely need him for a second term particularly to clean the Augean stable. 

“As we rise from this intervention, MURIC charges the Federal Government to immediately set in motion the machinery for overhauling the Nigerian judiciary. It is a miscarriage of justice to ask the newly appointed acting CJN to resign. He should continue his work. On the contrary, it is the suspended CJN who should resign honourably now. The Presidency should apply Solomonic wisdom to Onnoghengate by sparing the ‘innocent child’”.  

Professor Ishaq Akintola,

Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)