MURIC LAUDS WITHDRAWAL OF QUIT NOTICE TO IGBO

25^th August, 2017

PRESS RELEASE:

MURIC LAUDS WITHDRAWAL OF QUIT NOTICE TO IGBO  

The quit notice given to Igbos living in Northern Nigeria by the coalition of Northern youths under the banner of the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) was temporarily vacated yesterday.  

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) lauds the temporary withdrawal and commends the leaders of AYCF for listening to appeals made by stakeholders.

We urge other separatist groups to reciprocate by backing down on their aggressive stance and mellowing down their language of engagement.  

We see an urgent need for tension to be doused in order to allow peace to reign. Nigeria is not the only country populated by various ethnic groups. Europe, Asia, North and South America as well as other African countries have their own shares of ethnic enclaves but they are being civilized, accommodating and generous with it. Again, apart from Biafra which is seeking to secede, there are many other groups on the African continent demanding separation.

Examples are Bubi from Equatorial Guinea, Lunda-Tchokwe from Angola, Mombassa from Kenya, Ambazonia from Cameroon and Western Sahara from Morocco. We must not allow anger and bitterness to set in here when others are adopting diplomacy and maturity to resolve their differences.

While the Nigerian authorities must not allow the nation to degenerate into the Hobbesian state of nature, we contend that the idea of a totally egalitarian society as pontificated by certain pressure groups is Utopian. We therefore caution against extreme positions on both sides in the interest of peace. Perceived imbalance can only be addressed gradually and methodically and not in a fire-brigade manner otherwise it will be counter-productive.

On a last note, we appeal to the various separatist groups to eschew hate speech and abuses. Qur’an 49:11 warns against the use of mockery, sarcasm and outright abuse by one tribe against another. Again, Qur’an 49:13 affirms that no single tribe or group of people is better than the other while Muhammad (SAW) the Prophet of Peace posited that mankind is all one. “You are all from Adam and Adam was created from dust. Therefore you are all equal”, Prophet Muhammad maintained.      

Professor Ishaq Akintola,
President,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)