2nd June, 2021
PRESS RELEASE:
COAS APPOINTMENT : STOP
MISLEADING THE PUBLIC
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has advised those criticising
President Muhammadu Buhari over the recent appointment of Major General Farouk
Yahaya as the new Chief of Army Staff (COAS) to desist from misleading the
public.
The Islamic human rights group joined issues with those criticising
President Muhammadu Buhari in a statement issued by its director, Professor
Ishaq Akintola, on Wednesday, 2nd June, 2021.
The statement reads:
“Some Nigerians are making a mountain out of a mere mole hill. The
recent appointment of Major General Farouk Yahaya as the new COAS has attracted
a tornado of criticisms. Unfortunately most of the comments were short in objectivity
but long in sentimentality.
“MURIC will like to place the issue in its proper perspective in order
to put the records straight. Many of the criticisms were full of outright lies
and deliberate inexactitude. Some falsely claimed that the South has produced
only four COAS against the North’s seven.
“For the records, Victor Malu, a Christian from Benue State was COAS
from 1999 to 2001. He was succeeded by Alex Ogomudia, another Christian from Delta
(2001 – 2003). Martin Luther Agwai who was also a Christian from Kaduna State
took over from 2003 to 2006. Agwai handed over the baton to Owoye Andrew Azazi,
another Christian from Bayelsa (2006 – 2007). Luka Yusuf, a Christian from Kaduna
served in the same capacity from 2007 to 2008. He was succeeded by Abdul Rahman
Danbazzau, a Muslim from Kano (2008 – 2010).
“Azubuike Ihejirika, a Christian from Abia State, came on the scene from
2010 to 2014 and he was succeeded by another Christian from Rivers State,
Kenneth Minimah (2014 – 2015). Tukur Buratai, a Muslim from Borno State and the
longest serving army chief had a taste of leadership of the Nigerian Army in
2015 and he left office in 2021. Ironically, he was succeeded by the shortest
serving COAS, Attahiru Ibrahim, another Muslim from Kaduna. Attahiru was in
office for just four months (January 26, 2021 – May 21, 2021). The newly
appointed COAS, Farouk Yahaya, is a Muslim from Sokoto.
“It is clear from the above that seven Christians have been COAS against
only four Muslims. No Muslim was deemed fit to be COAS during the reign of
Obasanjo (1999 – 2007). Interestingly enough, there is no record of Muslims in
the country accusing Obasanjo of Christianising the country the same way
Christians are screaming to the rooftops today about a phantom Islamisation.
“Also self-evident from the above data is the indubitable fact that
seven Christians were appointed as COAS over a 14-year period with only one
Muslim who served for less than two years. Cumulatively also, Christians have
served as COAS for fourteen (14) years in the last 22 years while Muslims have
served for eight (8) years only.
“Nigeria’s armchair critics will not provide any data and when they do,
they manipulate and skew it to send their perceived enemy to the guillotine.
PMB’s appointment raised such a storm that we thought the heavens would come tumbling
down.
“Yet this is not the first time a Nigerian president will appoint a COAS
from his own region and religion. Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan removed Danbazau
(a Muslim from Kano) in 2008. He replaced him with a Christian from the South
and the Muslims did not complain. Neither did the Northerners raise any
eyebrow. Azubuike Ihejirika (September 2010 – January 2014) whom Jonathan
appointed to replace Danbazau, is a Christian from Isuikwuato, Abia state. Jonathan
still appointed another Southerner and a Christian, Major General Kenneth
Minimah (January 2014 – July 2015) from Opobo, Rivers State.
“This trend has also proved that hate merchants will not be satisfied no
matter what Buhari does. Exempli gratia, Buhari appointed Rauf
Aregbesola, a Yoruba, to replace Abdul Rahman Bello Danbazzau from Zaria as
Minister of the Interior (2015 – 2019) yet the Yorubas who also have their
kinsmen as the vice president, minister of works, etc are still pursuing an
irredentist agenda.
“Ninety percent of Nigerian critics lack the power of critical analysis.
Unfortunately Nigerians are so gullible that they swallow the shallow baits
hook, line and sinker. Majority of Nigerians suffer from mass amnesia. We do
not look back to compare events.
“The appointment of a COAS, particularly in the African context, is a
matter of trust. Presidents appoint those with whom they feel comfortable. No
president wants an Orka or a Dimka or, worse still, an Nzeogwu. That is the
reality. We either take it or leave it. Those behind this false propaganda
should stop misleading the public.
“They should also stop trying to dissuade us from speaking the truth. We
cannot allow ourselves to be fooled by their agents who spend hours talking to
us on telephone and sending to us text messages which qualify for the Longest Text
Messages in Africa Award (LTMAA) in an attempt to convert us into the wailers’
camp. Their threats mean nothing to us because as an Islamic human rights
group, we take our inspiration from Islamic tenets where thanatophobia (the
fear of death) has no place at all.
“The Glorious Qur’an says, “Say, ‘Nothing will happen to us except what
Allah has decreed for us. He is our Protector’. And in Allah let the believers
put their trust.
“We call on Nigerians to jettison this North-South dichotomy. It is an
ill wind that will blow no good towards any Nigerian. It is slowing us down. It
is creating bias, narrowing our perspective and beclouding our senses of
judgement. Let us embrace integrity as yardstick for electing leaders and
meritocracy as perimeter for appointments. But above all, let us love and
forgive.
“For the umpteenth time, we affirm that MURIC is neither for the North
nor for the South. NIGERIA is our tribe. NIGERIA is our region. We are for all
states and all tribes because we have members in all parts of the country.
Neither shall we be partisan because our members are in all political parties.
Our truth may be bitter but we will not forsake it for falsehood. We will
continue to strike a balance using facts, figures and objectivity; eschewing
sentiments, with malice towards none, with charity for all.”
Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
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