Friday, April 26, 2024

PRESERVE THE NORTH/SOUTH-WEST ACCORD – MURIC

 


27th April, 2024

PRESS RELEASE:

PRESERVE THE NORTH/SOUTH-WEST ACCORD – MURIC  

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has called on all stakeholders in the North/South-West accord which produced the current Muslim-Muslim ticket to ensure its preservation. The Islamic human rights organization spoke on Saturday, 27th April, 2024 through its Founder and Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola.

The full statement reads:

“Recent developments in the political arena tend to indicate cracks in the Muslim-Muslim ticket camp. The situation requires political sagacity and emotional maturity.

“MURIC wishes to reiterate that the Muslim-Muslim ticket is the best thing ever to happen in the Nigerian political history since 1966 as it constitutes a strong and reassuring handshake across the Niger. There is no other existing alliance in the current political architecture that guarantees the unity and indivisibility of Nigeria better than this.

“We remind the major stakeholders in the accord to talk less, act with caution and continue to work for the success of the Tinubu/Shettima administration. They must not forget that the anti-Muslim-Muslim ticket camp remains active, divisive, vengeful and lethal. The alliance must therefore avoid collateral damages.

“We appeal to major actors both at state and national levels to desist from taking actions or making statements capable of jeopardizing the chances of the handshake across the Niger in 2027 or likely to expose any of the main actors to unnecessary distraction and dissipation of energy.”

#MuslimMuslimTicket

#SustainNorthSouthWestAccord

 

Professor Ishaq Akintola, 

Founder/Executive Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC).

 

 

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

REBUILD, RETURN MOSQUE CONVERTED TO MARKET – MURIC

 


24th April, 2024

PRESS RELEASE:

REBUILD, RETURN MOSQUE CONVERTED TO MARKET – MURIC


The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has condemned the conversion of a mosque to a market in Mangu, Plateau State. The group said the action amounts to bidding farewell to peace in the zone. 


This was stated in a press statement issued on Wednesday, 24th April, 2024 by the Founder and Executive Director of the organization, Professor Ishaq Akintola. 


The full statement reads:


"The Bungha Dawo Jumu'ah Mosque in Mangu Local Government has been forcefully converted into a market place after it's destruction by Mwaghavul Christian militia. Reports say the abominable action was taken by the Dawo District authorities. 


"MURIC condemns this action in very strong terms. It is extreme, provocative and belligerent. It is tantamount to bidding farewell to peace. 


"By converting an existing mosque to a market place, the district authorities have declared to Muslims in the zone in particular and the rest of Nigeria in general, that they do not want any cordial relationship with Muslims at all. 


"The destruction and forceful conversion of this mosque brings to mind the five evils that Chamberlain spoke about: brute force, bad faith, injustice, oppression and persecution. 


"MURIC calls the attention of the Nigerian government and the general public to this brutish act of aggression, particularly those who have been blaming Muslims of Plateau State for the endless violence going on in the state.

 

“We urge the state governor, political leaders and elders in the zone to intervene. Already, a Muslim group in the zone has demanded that the mosque should be rebuilt and handed back to the Muslims. We support this position. The desecration of a mosque anywhere in the world should not be trivialized.


“The destruction and conversion of the mosque to a market constitutes a blatant encroachment on the fundamental human rights of Muslims and a threat to freedom of worship in the area. It is also a dangerous precedent which must not be allowed to become a point of reference.”


#NoToConversionofMosqueToMarket

#RebuildReturnMosque


Professor Ishaq Akintola, 

Founder/Executive Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC).

 

Sunday, April 21, 2024

MURIC TO GOVERNMENT AGENCIES: EMULATE JAMB

 


22nd April, 2024

PRESS RELEASE:

MURIC TO GOVERNMENT AGENCIES: EMULATE JAMB

Overzealous officials of the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) who harassed an hijab-wearing candidate have been sanctioned by the examination body. Meanwhile notable Islamic human rights advocacy group, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has called on government agencies to emulate JAMB in fairness, promptness, transparency, probity and accountability.

MURIC’s call came in a brief statement circulated on Monday, 22nd April, 2024 by its Founder and Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola.

The full statement reads:

“The Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) has announced that it has sanctioned some overzealous officials of the examination body who harassed an hijab-wearing candidate, Aisha Tiamiyu, on Friday, 19th April, 2024, during this year’s matriculation examination at Bafuto Institute, Ile-Iwe Bus Stop, Ejigbo, Lagos State.

“Aisha Tiamiyu was asked to remove her hijab and she was not allowed to enter the examination hall because she refused to do so. Officials yelled at her and intimidated her. She caved in after realizing that she had lost a large chunk of the critical starting period.

“But reprieve came her way when JAMB authorities reacted to reports of a newspaper which published her travails at the examination centre on Saturday (https://muslimnews.com.ng/2024/04/21/lagos-center-stops-hijab-wearing-students-as-utme-commences/#google_vignette). According to the authorities, the officials responsible for the candidate’s torment have been identified and dealt with according to the rules (https://muslimnews.com.ng/2024/04/21/2024-utme-jamb-responds-to-muslim-news-report-sanctions-officials-over-harassment-of-hijab-wearing-candidate/).

“This swift reaction from JAMB is reassuring and we call on all government agencies to emulate JAMB in fairness, promptness, transparency, probity and accountability. Religious violence will become a thing of the past if all parties experience fair treatment and receive swift attention.

“Imagine how peaceful Nigeria will be if all government agencies address public grievances the way JAMB attended to the incident at the examination centre. JAMB acted swiftly and sanctioned the erring officials within 24 hours. It is record-breaking. Justice and equity will fill the land and Nigerians will have a true sense of belonging which, in turn, will boost patriotism across the country if all government agencies do this.

“This incident shows that it is not Nigerian institutions that discriminate against Muslims in the country. It is individuals who have personality crisis as they cannot divulge their personal religious belief from their official jobs. It is non-Muslims who carry their Islamophobia to their workplaces who are responsible for most cases of persecution of Muslims.

“Some have resolved to use their official positions to serve their faith only, to deny Muslims their rights and to subject Muslims who appear before them to horror. Such disposition is often the product of hate sermons. The video clips of sermons of some religious clerics which went viral confirm this.

“MURIC appeals to JAMB to give special and compassionate consideration to the case of the victim in this particular incident. Whereas the officials at the examination centre acted ultra vires by asking her to remove her hijab, the period of stereotyping the candidate ate deeply into the time given for the examination. The poor candidate was not allowed to enter the examination hall and she lost almost thirty minutes in the process.

 

“This is what Muslim-haters subject Muslim candidates to in examination centres. Precious time is often lost when Muslims try to assert their rights and the oppressors refuse to shift ground. Meanwhile the authorities will only hear about this act of tyranny after the examination is over.

 

“It is our considered opinion that the scripts of such innocent victims should be set aside somewhere for a second look after the first assessment. Considering the time lost due to no fault of the victim as well as the psychological trauma to which the candidate had been subjected which unsettled him or her and made it impossible to properly situate him or herself in an atmosphere conducive for writing an examination, we appeal to JAMB authorities to give the scripts of such candidates special treatments as deemed necessary.

 

“We charge religious leaders to preach peace, love, tolerance and forgiveness. We urge Nigerians to develop a sense of justice and fairness. We must learn to give people their rights regardless of their religious leaning. Those who deny people their rights cannot expect to enjoy peace, the former is fundamental, the latter, conditional.”

#EmulateJAMB

 

Professor Ishaq Akintola, 

Founder/Executive Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC).

 

 

Saturday, April 20, 2024

NAIRA RECOVERY: TINUBU, CARDOSO DESERVE KUDOS - MURIC

 


20th April, 2024

PRESS RELEASE:

NAIRA RECOVERY: TINUBU, CARDOSO DESERVE KUDOS - MURIC 

 

Nigerians have been asked to appreciate the efforts and achievements of the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Olayemi Cardoso in the steady rise of the naira in the past few weeks. Making the call at the weekend was the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), an Islamic human rights organization. 

 

In a statement issued by the Founder and Executive Director of the organization, Professor Ishaq Akintola, on Saturday, 20th April, 2024  the group extolled the speed at which the naira is recovering as well as the bandwagon effect on prices of some products which have started falling. 

 

The group said:

 

"The fear of Nigerians over the plight of the naira now appears to be melting with the recent steady rise of the Nigerian currency which began nosediving eleven months ago. The fall of the naira began even before the inauguration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in May 2023 when it exchanged for N465.07 to $1 compared to the exchange rate of N411.935 in January 2022.

 

“The naira plummeted to N1,524 to $1 in the early days of February 2024 (https://apnews.com/article/nigeria-currency-economy-naira-tinubu-cbn-49f5686d9638e9db2ac42ae3cecd2f24). It suffered its lowest exchange rate when it fell to N1,830 to $1 at the black market on 21st February, 2024 (https://nairametrics.com/2024/02/21/naira-hits-record-low-of-n1830-1-at-the-black-market/). This development threw Nigerians into a wild panic and some unpatriotic elements started predicting that the naira would reach N2,000 to $1. 

 

"The free fall of the naira created tension around the country and the attendant rise in prices put many in the panic mode. Prices of all products skyrocketed and life became meaningless and unbearable particularly for the hoi polloi. It was so bad that a bag of rice was sold as high as N80,000 in some areas while the price of cement hit the roof. 

 

"However, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through its new governor, Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, proved his competence when he applied necessary fiscal measures that forced the dollar to retreat while naira began to rise steadily. Consequently the official buying rate of the CBN fell to N1,160.131 while selling was N1,161.131 as at Thursday, 18th April, 2024 (https://www.cbn.gov.ng/rates/exchratebycurrency.asp?beginrec=1701&endrec=1800&currencytype=).

 

“This feat is already ricocheting in the prices of goods around the country. Gas dealers have crashed its price from N1,500 to N1,100 per kilogram (https://www.legit.ng/business-economy/energy/1588222-dealers-crash-cooking-gas-price-n1100-kg-stronger-naira-pushes-costs/). A 50-kilo bag of rice which costs N84,000 in February now goes for N68,000, a decrease of 19% (https://newsrainng.com/2024/04/17/price-of-rice-reduced-by-19check-rice-price-here/).

 

“Even cement that was selling between N15,000 and N12,000 four months ago fell to between N7,000 and N7,500 (https://www.legit.ng/business-economy/industry/1588037-n12k-bag-survey-shows-dangote-bua-crash-cement-prices-low/#google_vignette).

 

"It is our candid opinion that those who lay strong emphasis on good governance should equally demand and practice good citizenry. The latter involves readiness to commend performing leaders with the same alacrity employed when criticizing them for inadequacies. 

 

"Unfortunately the reverse is the case in Nigeria, thus turning leaders at times to unappreciated species. If there is a time to pour out a tornado of criticisms, there must be a time to churn out a plethora of commendations. That is objectivity. This is because leaders are also homo sapiens and blood flows in their veins. Criticism dampens their appetite for service while praises inspire them to do more.

 

"It is in this vein that MURIC finds it mandatory to commend the efforts of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for leading the naira out of the woods within such a short period. In the same manner, Mr. Cardoso, the CBN governor, deserves our encomiums for performing this feat. 

 

"We are not unaware that Nigeria is not there yet but our appreciation could turn out to be that vital shot in the arm which these leaders need to catapult the country to the El-Dorado that we all crave.

 

“We therefore advise Nigerians to be more positive in the profiling of their country. Nigeria is a great country and its citizens should not attempt to pull it down. The cleaner our reputation the better the chances of our citizens outside the country. Greece, Brazil and Argentina are yet to recover from the global depression of 2016.

 

“Nigeria’s economy is the concern of the Muslim Rights Concern because whatever affects Nigerians has affected the largest concentration of Muslim population in the whole of Africa. The right to decent living is one of the Allah-given fundamental human rights of every Muslim. MURIC cannot afford to ignore the welfare of more than 150 million Muslims. To make Nigeria trully great, politically stable and economically buoyant is therefore the concern of the Muslim Rights Concern.”

 

#NairaRecovery

#KudosTinubu

#KudosCardoso

 

Professor Ishaq Akintola, 

Executive Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC).

 

Tuesday, April 16, 2024

2027: LAGOS MUSLIMS YEARN FOR THEIR OWN - MURIC

 


16th April, 2024

PRESS RELEASE:

2027: LAGOS MUSLIMS YEARN FOR THEIR OWN - MURIC

 

Muslims in Lagos State are yearning for one of their own as governor come 2027. This was disclosed by an Islamic human rights organization, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC).

 

In a statement circulated to pressmen on Tuesday, 16th April, 2024, the group's Executive Director and Founder, Professor Ishaq Akintola, said any attempt to impose a Christian governor on Lagos for a third time will be a violation of the rules of fairness, equity, inclusivity and participatory democracy.

 

The full statement reads:

 

"As Nigerian politicians settle down for governance around the country, plans are also being made for 2027. Already, new alliances are taking shape while profound pronouncements that serve the interest of different groups are being made. 

 

"In order not to be caught unawares, Muslims of Lagos State are setting the machinery in motion to ensure that one of them, a fellow Muslim, emerges as governor in 2027. 

 

"It is the only path to sanity in the Lagos political architecture. The incumbent, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, is a Christian. He took over from Akinwunmi Ambode, a Christian, after the latter's second term ambition was truncated. 

 

“In a metropolitan and multi-religious state, it is only natural that Muslims will make this demand at this point in time. It should be noted that the Christians of Lagos made a similar demand in 2013 for a Christian to be governor. That was how Ambode became governor in 2015.

 

"Instead of spending only one term to complete the Christian occupation of Lagos government house, Sanwo-Olu went ahead for a second term thereby shortchanging the Muslims. The Christians would have spent a whole twelve years in government by 2027.

 

"Nobody should come around this time ventilating the gospel of competence, the pre-eminence of skill or the priority of talent. They are mere smokescreens designed to hoodwink the public. Competence abounds everywhere. Nigerians, and indeed Muslims, are highly skilled. 

 

"No section of Nigeria suffers from any desertification of competence. Muslims are talented just as Christians are skilled. Competent people can be found in the North, West and East. It is those in power who should sniff around well enough to locate competent Nigerians. They should not concentrate on one religious group or sector.

 

"It is an insult to the collective intelligence of Nigerian Muslims to give appointments to Christians only with the excuse that you have given those appointments to competent people. Let's not repeat that again please. It is nauseating. 

 

"It depends on where you looked. It reflects the direction where you spread your tentacles.  To conduct a fair, objective and balanced search, leaders must extend their dragnets to both Muslim and Christian individuals, professionals and communities. That is fairness. Searches must be conscious of the need for inclusiveness. So must the position of state governors.

 

"No group must be seen to be enjoying the monopoly of power. Christians have been governors for three solid terms (Ambode: 2015-2019; Sanwo-Olu: 2019-2027). It should therefore be the turn of the Muslims in 2027.  

 

"Any attempt to impose a Christian governor on Lagos for a third time will break the rules of fairness, equity, inclusivity and participatory democracy. It will also be an encroachment on Allah-given fundamental rights of Lagos Muslims to participate in all aspects of governance and to exercise their civils rights to vote and be voted for.

 

"We have not said Ambode under-performed. No, he took Lagos to the next level in his own time. Sanwo-Olu has also been doing wonders since 2019. But that is not the point. True democracy does not hero-worship. Neither does it perpetuate or concentrate power in one hand. 

 

"That is why elections are held every four years no matter how well the incumbent has performed and his or her second mandate must end after the second term even if he has performed magic. 

 

"The Christians must therefore step aside for their Muslim counterparts in Lagos by 2027 even if Ambode and Sanwo-Olu have given helicopters to every single Lagosian, daily lunch tickets at Sheraton to every civil servant and free train and bus rides at all times on both the red and blue lines in the state of aquatic squalor.

 

"Let's stop underrating and in the process marginalising Muslims in the political arena. We can beat our chests that Professor Ishaq Oloyede is the best performing public officer in Nigeria today. Somebody found him and it would not have happened if he had not looked in the direction of the Muslims. 

 

"Professor Ibrahim Ali Isa Pantami would not have surfaced in the public sphere as a cyber security genius if we had held tightly to the dogma of 'no talent among Muslims'. Professor Babagana Zulum is generally accepted as the best performing governor in Nigeria. He is a Muslim. There are many more hidden talents in the Muslim camp. 

 

"There is no gainsaying the fact that any political party that picks Oloyede as its 2027 gubernatorial candidate in Ogun State is destined to win by a huge landslide. Ditto for Pantami for Gombe State. The interesting side is that both are Islamic scholars, not ordinary Muslims. Lagos Muslims have their own gems. Give them equal opportunity as Ambode and Sanwo-Olu were given."

 

#Lagos2027

#Lagos2027ForMuslim

 

Professor Ishaq Akintola, 

Executive Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC).

 

Friday, April 12, 2024

MURIC TO TWO ENUGU VARSITIES: YOUR EXAMS ARE ILLEGAL

 


13th April, 2024

PRESS RELEASE:

MURIC TO TWO ENUGU VARSITIES: YOUR EXAMS ARE ILLEGAL

An Islamic human rights advocacy group, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has declared examinations taken in two universities in Enugu on Tuesday and Wednesday 9th and 10th March 2024 respectively illegal, null and void.

In a statement issued on Saturday, 13th April, 2024, the group's Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, described the examinations as illegal and unacceptable by any standard because they were taken on days declared as public holidays by the Federal Government (FG). The group called for the cancellation of the examination and tests.

The full statement reads:

"Reports reaching us from the University of Nigeria Enugu Campus (UNEC) and the Federal University of Allied Health Sciences, Enugu, reveal that both institutions ignored the holidays declared on Tuesday and Wednesday by the Federal Government (FG). While the former conducted examinations on Salah day, the latter held two tests on that day.

"These are acts of insubordination and outright disobedience on the part of the vice chancellors of both institutions. We expect the minister of education to take up the matter with them. Failure to call them to order will only egg them further to act arrogantly against policies and decisions of FG in future.

“It has never been heard that a university based in the Muslim dominated North conducted an examination or test during a Christmas or Easter holiday. Some authorities in the South-East are out-Heroding Herod in their quest to persecute Muslims by all means. Islamophobia is becoming rampant in that zone but what is surprising is that, this time, it is coming from higher institutions where people are expected to be more liberal.

"Meanwhile we are constrained to declare both the examination and the tests taken in both universities as illegal, illegitimate, unlawful and unconstitutional. They are ultra vires, null and void.

"We call on the vice chancellor's of those two institutions to ensure that no student, whether Muslim or Christian, who missed the examination or the tests is sanctioned. Those events never happened. There was simply no examination. Neither was there any test because nothing of that nature is expected to happen during a properly declared holiday. At least there is ample evidence that the holidays were announced ahead of time and long enough for all members of the public to be fully aware.

"That examination and those two tests constitute a void, a sham, a nullity and anything built on nullity remains a nullity. That examination never took place in UNEC and no tests were held in the Federal University of Allied Health Sciences, Enugu. That is the position of the law.

"No examination or test held in any school, polytechnic or university on a public holiday can be recognized by the law. A public holiday is holiday period for all and sundry, civil servants, teachers, lecturers and students. The law does not recognize invigilators and candidates on public holidays.

"MURIC advises the two vice chancellors, through the deans of the erring faculties, with the active participation of the heads of departments, to instruct the lecturers to cancel the ill-conceived, bitterness-loaded and luciferous examination and tests. They never took place. This is the soft landing we can offer the erring lecturers, department and faculty.

"It is our fervent hope that nobody will make any attempt to massage egos because both the heads of departments and the deans of the faculties where this abnormality occurred may have to explain the reason for their dereliction of duty. Damage-control measures may be too late at that time."

#MinisterOfEducation

#PublicHoliday

#NoExamNoTest

 

Professor Ishaq Akintola, 

Executive Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC).