14th October, 2022
APOLOGISE OR
MUSLIMS WILL BOYCOTT YOUR BANK: MURIC TELLS POLARIS
A senior
official of Polaris Bank last week instructed Muslim staff not to attend Jumuah
service. The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), an Islamic human rights
organisation, has therefore demanded unreserved apology from the bank management
within seven days failing which Muslim customers may start boycotting the bank.
This was revealed
in a statement circulated among journalists on Friday, 14th October,
2022 by the director of MURIC, Professor Ishaq Akintola.
The statement
reads:
“A senior
official of Polaris Bank, Damilola Adebara, last week addressed a mail to Muslim
staff of the bank in which she instructed them that they should not attend Jumu‘ah
service. It is instructive to add that she added a threat ‘any infraction of
this directive would be dealt with accordingly’. She did this through an email
sent on Tuesday, 11th October, 2022 at exactly 12.10 pm.
“MURIC
strongly condemns this strong-arm tactic aimed at Christianising the bank’s
policies and de-Islamising Muslim staff of Polaris Bank. It is unethical,
unprofessional and intolerant.
“Besides, it is illegal, illegitimate, unlawful and unconstitutional for
any employer or his or her agents to impose measures, take actions or introduce
policies capable of undermining Allah-given fundamental human rights of any
citizen of Nigeria no matter his or her faith or ethnicity.
“Damilola
Adebara’s mail is a flagrant contravention of Section 38 (i)&ii) of the
1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which says, ‘Every person shall be entitled to freedom of thought, conscience
and religion, including freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom
(either alone or in community with others, and in public or in private) to
manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice
and observance’
“The leaked mail was greeted with outrage, bewilderment and nausea among
Nigerian Muslims. Unfortunately the bank’s response to the concern of Muslims
was not good enough. It was mild, vague, escapist and deceitful. Polaris Bank
had said, ‘The said staff had acted in ignorance and we have since addressed
the issue internally’.
“This is a
very poor response. It lacked human face, human sympathy, colour and concern.
It did not show that the bank has control over its erring staff. The bank
responded as if Damilola Adebara is a sacred cow and an untouchable demigod.
“The bank had
already found an excuse for a woman who made millions of Nigerian Muslims lose
appetite overnight and sent them to the abyss of psychological trauma through
her uncouth behaviour, intolerance and exhibition of tramadolised religiousity.
“We wonder why the bank is now the one telling us that the ‘said staff
had acted in ignorance’. What ‘ignorance’? Is Polaris Bank aware that it has
indicted itself by blaming it all on ‘ignorance’? Who should take the blame if
your employee is an ignoramus? Did you train her at all? What happened to post-employment
training and retraining?
“What exactly
did the bank management do apart from finding excuse for her? What disciplinary
measure has the bank taken? Or is it over just like that? This is how matters are swept under the carpet
in Nigeria. What of the Muslim staff barred from attending Jumu‘ah mosque last
week by ‘Her Majesty’, Damilola Adebara, the ‘Alpha’ and ‘Omega’, the one whose
word is law in Polaris Bank?
“How does she
and the bank assuage the unprovoked assault on their spiritual wellbeing? How
does the bank mitigate the fear of Nigerian Muslims that they and their
brethren cannot expect fair play, justice and equity in the hands of Polaris
Bank?
“All that the bank has told Nigerians is that ‘we have since addressed
the issue internally’. How? When? What was done to address the issue? What was
done to instil discipline? What was done to ensure that no Muslim staff is so harassed
in future? This is no longer a private matter. It is between Polaris Bank and the
Nigerian Muslim Community. We demand transparency. Injury to one is injury to
all.
“We are fully
aware that this has also been happening in other banks and we have started
collating reports around the country. We advise banks to review their policies
towards their Muslim staff particularly on this sensitive Friday Question.
“Why is it so
difficult for any bank to give its Muslim staff just two hours to go to the
mosque on Friday when Christian staff have the whole day on Sunday to satisfy
their spiritual yearning? Here comes the Friday Question once again. This issue
will remain knotty until Friday is officially declared a work-free day. But in
the meantime, we must take such measures capable of sending a strong message to
Nigerian banks.
“First and foremost, we demand apology from Polaris Bank. Nigerian
Muslims deserve that courtesy, that respect. That apology should be tendered
within seven days from today, Friday, 14th October, 2022 failing
which Muslim customers may start boycotting the bank. Nigerian Muslims deserve
dignified treatment as homo sapiens compos mentis.
Secondly, the
first offender, Damilola Adebara, must go on a few days’ suspension. There must
be consequences for unprofessional behaviour. On her return from suspension,
she must withdraw the memo sent to all Muslim staff. She must also send copies
of the withdrawal mail to her Christian staff and Polaris Bank management
exactly as she copied them the offensive email ab initio.
“Polaris Bank
should not try to test our will. Whoever thinks Nigerian Muslims cannot
mobilise themselves for unified action nationwide is living in delusion. This
is the age of resistance against all forms of religious apartheid targeted at
Nigerian Muslims. Without firing a single shot, we are determined to teach our
traducers lessons in religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence using
peaceful and civil liberty gimmicks.
#RespectOurRightToWorship
#MuslimDignityNotNegotiable #MuslimBankersFaithMatters
Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
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