27th April,
2021
PRESS RELEASE :
PANTAMI: ALLOW NIGERIA TO MOVE
ON - MURIC
Sequel to the
furore over past pronouncements of the Minister of Communications and Digital
Planning, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami and the confidence-imbuing statement
issued on him by the presidency, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has called
on Nigerians to allow the country to move on.
The call was
made on Tuesday 27th April, 2021 by MURIC’s director, Professor
Ishaq Akintola, in a statement circulated to the media.
MURIC said:
“In a tweet dispatched yesterday 26th April, 2021, Dr. Ben Gbenro (@bengbenro) opened
another vista to the Pantami discourse. He disclosed how he was trained in martial
arts and weapon handling for the church in the past but that he no longer
subscribes to the idea. ‘I was once an impressionable young man. I was a member
of CAN brigade trained in martial arts and weapon handling to fight for d
Church in late 80s & early 90s, I was a strong advocate of Nigeria's break
up in mid 90s, today, I no longer subscribe to any of these
ideologies.’ (https://twitter.com/bengbenro/
“This is a very honest disclosure of one’s past which no longer has
any influence on the speaker. We expect Dr. Pantami’s critics to have a better
understanding of the Pantami affair if they can juxtapose his own case with
that of Dr. Ben Gbenro who sent the above tweet.
“Although today was born from the
wombs of yesterday, it can still effectively sustain an independent life and
character which is completely different from the previous day. History is a
continuum. It has a remote past, an immediate past and a present. You cannot amputate
the remote past for use as parameter on the actions of today without
considering the immediate past and the present. Otherwise you would have
mutilated history and done tons of injustice to homo sapien.
“What the minister’s critics tried to do was to hold on tenaciously
to his remote past of twenty five (25) or more years ago and to cut off his
immediate past and the present. The radical statements were uttered in the
remote past when he was still easily impressionable. He made up for these more
than ten (10) years ago by condemning violence and terrorism. He also
challenged the tgerrorista to debates at that time, and actually engaged them. At
present, he is into a project that is expected to debilitate terrorism and
criminality (NIN) and the terrorists themselves have threatened to kill him
because of it.
“It is
not healthy for our country to find that a large chunk of his critics come from one part of the country and from a
particular faith while his supporters come mainly from another part of the
country and from the other religion. It does not portray us as people who are
objective.
“The desperate attempts to nail him made by critics
who go as far as circulating fake documents are ludicrous. How far can we go to
ensure that we implicate an innocent man? When will Nigerians learn to allow
meritocracy? When shall we stop sacrificing excellence on the altar of
mediocrity? Who did this to Nigeria?
“We call on Nigerians to allow the country to
move forward. We have dissipated too much energy on this debate. It is time to
move on. In the words of Richard Paul Evans, ‘I think the secret to a happy
life is a selective memory. Remember what you are most grateful for and quickly
forget what you are not.’ According to Raquel Cepeda, ‘For some, excavating the
past isn’t an adventure, it’s more akin to tearing a Band-Aid off an open
wound.’
“MURIC commends
the presidency for its bold statement on the matter. We can watch open debates
and listen to criticism without feeling hurt. But there comes a time when the
leadership must demonstrate indisputable clairvoyance and guide the citizenry
to objectivity and what is best for the nation.”
Professor Ishaq
Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights
Concern (MURIC)
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