16th January 2020
PRESS RELEASE:
HANAN BUHARI: WE STAND BY OUR
STATEMENT - MURIC
An Islamic human rights group has once again reaffirmed its support for
the use of the presidential jet by Hanan Buhari, one of the daughters of
President Muhammadu Buhari. In a statement circulated on by the director of the
organization, Professor Ishaq Akintola, on Thursday, 16th January,
2020, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) cemented its position.
MURIC wonders why Nigerians fail to appreciate the fact that the father
of a Northern girl-child has not been given out in early marriage contrary to
the common practice in the region but has been encouraged to pursue Western
education. The group therefore accused critics of insincerity and ethnic bias.
The statement reads:
“A Tsunami of criticisms trailed our statement of Monday, 13th
January, 2019 in which we expressed solidarity with Hanan Buhari, one of the daughters
of President Muhammadu Buhari. Though mainly
motivated by political prejudice, the criticism cut across religions. Our
organisation was taken to the cleaners simply because we refused to support wailers in bashing a honest man. But the point is
that there is always two sides to a coin. Unfortunately wailers will not bother
to look at the other side. Why must we all reason along one direction? We can
take the bashing. We don’t mind so long as we are convinced that we are on the
right path. Truth is constant.
“One particular aspect has jogged our mind again: the fact that
Hanan Buhari is from a region which is considered to be conservative and educationally
backward. This is a region where millions of male children roam the streets in
almajiri fashion while parents keep the girl-child at home, marry them off at
tender age and declare Western education as taboo.
“Those who are crying foul today
are part of those shedding crocodile tears over the neglect of the girl-child.
Well, something phenomenal happened in the Hanan Buhari narrative. A girl-child
from this same conservative, education-shy region bagged a first class in a
London university where education has genuine quality and first class actually
means first class. Isn’t that alone worth celebrating? Isn’t that alone capable
of inspiring other girls in the region?
“This was exactly what MURIC referred to when it said in its first
statement that Hanan Buhari was an inspiration. We repeat it once again without
any fear of contradiction that she is, indeed, an inspiration and a model.
Nigerians from a section of the country have for long been lampooning Northerners
for giving out their daughters in marriage at tender age. We now have a father
who did not do that but took his time to allow his daughter to get the best
education available. Lo and behold! Nigerians went for his jugular. Who did
this to Nigeria? It is now clear that those making noise over early marriage
and neglect of Western education in the North had never been sincere. They were
more interested in deriding a whole region and reviling others in
self-righteousness.
“Mischief led a section of the media to twist our statement by
giving it a wrong caption in order to mislead the general public and also to
cast aspersion on MURIC. The mischievous caption read, “MURIC Says Hanan Buhari
is an Inspiration While Flying in Presidential Jet”. Of course that was far
from our intention. We were called all sorts of unprintable names. That should
not worry us anyway. Any organization or individual who wants to change society
must be prepared to stomach criticism, both fair and unfair.
“We made it clear in our statement that the issue of the
presidential jet was not major. We insisted that the lessons inherent in a
president’s daughter studying photography and working so hard at her studies as
to bag a first class degree was more important to us. We said it was capable of
inspiring the youth, particularly girls in the region, to imbibe hard work. She
was likely to create an indelible impression on the Northern girl-child. We
said we were proud of Hanan. We still are till tomorrow. We stand by this
statement. We have no apologies for that. No retreat, no surrender.
“Some even alleged that our statement was too pro-North and that
our stand was capable of hurting the Yoruba agenda. We consider this as a gross
misunderstanding of MURIC’s mission. The fact that our headquarters is in Lagos
does not make us a Yoruba group. Far from that. We are a completely detribalised
group. Our membership spreads to all tribes, including the South-East and the
South-South. Our mission is to unite Nigeria. This is why we have consistently
stood by the truth and the truth alone no matter whose ox is gored. We will not
promote any sectional agenda.
“What manner of people are we in this country? We hail loafers and
loath workers. We idolize thieves and demonise honest people. What crime has
the president’s daughter committed? A young lady went for studies as the daughter
of the Number One citizen in our land. She had all the reason in the world to
indulge in self-glorification but she elected to work hard and she excelled. She
came back with the highest laurel from a British university where you cannot
buy grades with either your look or your cash. She came back home believing
that she has neither disappointed her parents nor her compatriots. But we chose
to pour invectives on her instead of encomiums. Who cursed Nigeria?
“Our message to Hanan is very simple: ignore the wailers. They are
in the ‘bad belle’ camp. But they cannot undo what Allah has done. Continue to
do your parents proud and stay focused. You are not alone. Millions of Nigerians
North and South of the Niger are with you. Honest and hardworking Nigerians
appreciate you. It is your moment of glory. Savour it. Glow and shine in its
euphoria.
“We laid little emphasis on the presidential jet. People will
continue to play politics with it and that is what has happened. What has Hanan’s
father done wrong? Why wouldn’t the father be happy with a daughter who did him
proud in a foreign land? We do not see why a biological daughter of the
Nigerian president cannot, once in a while, have access to it for an important
purpose like Hanan has done.
“The United States is a great
democracy. Yet we have seen pictures of President Trump’s daughter, her husband
and their little son as they boarded Air Force One for a trip. It is a pity
that Nigeria’s democracy leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. We need to grow
up. From the daughters of George Bush to those of Lincoln and Obama, White
House kids had broken the rules. Ex-President Obama’s daughter, Malia, was
filmed smoking pot. The Bush twins, Jenna and Barbara were drunkards. They were
also caught using fake identity cards in 2001. Patty Davis was notorious for
sexual recklessness bothering on nymphomania. Luci Johnson almost burnt down
the White House.
“Compared to the White House daughters, Hanan is a pleasure to
behold and a treasure to possess. Unfortunately Nigerians will not appreciate
what they have in the daughter, just as they do not cherish the father who sits
on their wealth and has refused to steal one kobo. When will Nigerians know the
difference between pure gold and ordinary sand?
“To cap the edifice, we wish to correct the wrong impression
created that we said Hanan flying in the presidential jet was an inspiration.
What we actually said was that Hanan’s educational feat was an inspiration to
the Northern girl-child and that there was nothing wrong with her using the jet
for that particular assignment which we, in good conscience, cannot consider as
private. We reaffirm our pride in Hanan and we concretise our faith and vote of
confidence in President Muhammadu Buhari as an exemplary father and president
of our great country, Nigeria.
Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
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