TRUMP’S QUESTION: CAN SOLD NIGERIA TO THE US

 

10^th September, 2020

                             

PRESS RELEASE:

TRUMP’S QUESTION: CAN SOLD NIGERIA TO THE US

 

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday, Tuesday 9^th September, 2020, recalled that President Donald Trump of the United States (US) asked him during his visit to the US in 2018  why he was killing Christians. Reacting to this incident, the Nigerian Muslim rights group, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has accused the Christian Association of Nigeria of selling Nigeria to the US. MURIC also advised the US leader not to bully the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.            

 

MURIC spoke on Wednesday 10^th September, 2020 via its helmsman, Professor Ishaq Akintola.

 

 

“We take serious objection to the language used by President Donald Trump of the US when he spoke with President Muhammadu Buhari. Trump asked Buhari, ‘Why are you killing Christians in Nigeria?’

 

 

“That question was based on false and misleading reports which the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has been sending to the outside world. We expect Trump to know better because the killings are not being done by the Nigerian security agencies. How then can the Nigerian president be accused of doing the killings?

 

 

“Again, it is not Christians alone that are being killed. Muslims are also victims. This is the same false information that was spread about Boko Haram. People were told that the terrorists were killing Christians only and bombing churches. It was later learnt that Boko Haram is killing emirs, Imams, Islamic scholars and ordinary Muslims too. The violent group was also destroying mosques.

 

“The crisis is mainly between herders and farmers, not between the government of Muhammadu Buhari and Nigerian Christians. So how can anyone accuse President Buhari of killing Christians? Apart from this, herders-farmers clashes predate Buhari’s administration. It has been occurring for a very long time. It was there in ex-President Jonathan’s period and even in ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s days.

 

 

“Jonathan and Obasanjo are Christians but the killings also occurred during their regimes. Why is CAN externalizing it and making it look as if a Muslim president is killing Nigerian Christians? CAN is selling Nigeria too cheaply to the US. Worse still, it is using false propaganda to achieve this parochial objective. We have no doubt that the narrative will change if Buhari is succeeded by a Christian president. Why is CAN always determined to give no peace to any Nigerian president?

 

 

“Even the question was in bad taste and the questioner (President Trump) least qualified to interrogate the president of another sovereign nation. The world sees Trump misrepresenting the American nation today. His administration is falling apart. Men of integrity are distancing themselves from him. What right, therefore, has Trump to question Buhari?

 

 

“89 former defence officials recently trashed Trump  (https://www.businessinsider.com/89-former-defense-officials-speak-out-against-trumps-protest-response-2020-6?IR=T). They accused him of dividing Americans and rubbishing America’s integrity.

 

 

“Former security advisers from his Republican party also spoke last week. They alleged that Trump had gravely damaged America’s role as a world leader; that he is unfit to lead during a crisis; that he had failed to stand up for American values; that he had dishonoured the presidency and that he had ‘divided our nation’ (https://www.defendingdemocracytogether.org/national-security/, https://www.illuminateourworld.org/post/over-70-gop-national-security-officials-from-the-reagan-and-bush-years-say-trump-is-unfit-to-lead).

 

 

“It is clear from the above that Trump’s administration is scattered like wild oats and resignations occur on a daily basis. How can such a leader play the role of an interrogator? He wants to divide Nigeria the way he divided the US. He lacks the pre-requisites to harness facts and to objectively and independently analyse them. Trump has no locus standi to ask any leader such a question because he himself lacks credibility. Americans have gotten for themselves a president they do not deserve this time around.

 

 

“Above all, leaders of CAN should stop peddling lies about the killings in some parts of the country. They are heating up the polity and reasonable Nigerians no longer believe them.

 

 

“In a nutshell, Trump should stop breathing down the neck of Buhari. Nigeria is not a satellite of America. Neither is Buhari another Manuel Noriega. Nobody can twist the most credible leader on the African continent around his fingers. Even Panama has wised up.”

 

 

Professor Ishaq Akintola,

Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)

 

MURIC ADVOCATES SPECIAL COURTS FOR CORRUPTION CASES

 

8^th September, 2020

                             

PRESS RELEASE:

MURIC ADVOCATES SPECIAL COURTS

FOR CORRUPTION CASES:

Wants Rapists Castrated, Life Jail for Kidnappers

 

The Nigerian Muslim rights group, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has again backed the call for the introduction of special courts to try corruption cases. This was sequel to the call made by the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), Mr. Umar Abba Mohammed, for the establishment of Special Courts to try corruption cases.

 

 

EFCC’s Acting Chairman made the call in Abuja on Friday, 4^th September, 2020 while receiving members of the Monitoring Committee of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), who paid him a working visit. MURIC reiterated its support for special courts for corruption cases on Tuesday, 8^th September, 2020 in a release issued by its Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola.

 

 

“Although the war on corruption has registered some convictions and scored victory in some areas, it is very glaring that many cases are being delayed in court courtesy of legal technicalities. Many certificated kleptomaniacs are still hiding under the indulging umbrella of legal razzmatazz to delay and consequently frustrate and escape justice.

 

 

“Special courts will remove such obstacles and ensure that cases are speedily and efficiently disposed of. We therefore reiterate our call for the establishment of special courts for trying those who steal public funds. Life imprisonment and death penalty may appear too radical but that is exactly what will scare rogues and fraudsters away from the Nigerian political landscape leaving room for honest and hardworking citizens who nurse a genuine wish to contribute their own quota to national development.

 

 

“Those who made it impossible for the jamahiir (masses) to enjoy the dividends of democracy deserve no mercy. Those who rob the masaakiin (poor citizens) of the opportunity to have access to life more abundant do not deserve to roam freely on our streets. Those who frustrated all efforts to make Nigerians enjoy 24-hour power supply but who themselves install four or five silent and powerful generators in their homes should not be allowed to use those generators. They should be thrown into dark dungeons and denied access to both daylight and electricity for life.

 

 

“A special prison should be constructed for those who steal pensioners money. The inmates of this jail should be in chains 24-7. Rapists should be castrated while kidnappers should be given long jail terms. This reclassification of punishments will deter criminally-minded Nigerians.

 

 

“We therefore charge the National Assembly to expedite action on the establishment of special courts particularly to try corrupt public officials. The present NASS is on course and it should not relent until it gives Nigeria special courts. The machinery for enacting a bill on special courts for corruption into law should be set in motion in the NASS without any delay.

 

 

“There is every reason to believe that the executive is ready and willing. The legislature should play its own role because democracy is all about separation of powers. It is only when the legislature has done its duty that the judiciary can make a move. Only then can we add some bite to the war against graft. Posterity will not forgive any arm of government that fails to play its own role.

 

 

“The infrastructural development which we see in various places have been made possible by the fact that Nigeria now has an incorruptible leader. We would not have been talking of any Abuja metro line, any Mambilla Hydropower project of 3050 megawatts forty years after it was abandoned, any Itakpe-Warri-Ajaokuta standard gauge rail line abandoned since 1987, any Second Niger Bridge and many more.

 

 

 

“Our assessment is devoid of political sentiment. We are motivated by patriotic zeal for our beloved country. We will continue to support the war against corruption because we know that the latter is the bane of development in this country. Our support will continue even after the exit of President Muhammadu Buhari, the Father of New Nigeria, and it will be for any leader (regardless of political leaning) who shows the will to fight corruption the way the current leader is doing it.”

 

 

Professor Ishaq Akintola,

Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)

 

PRESS RELEASE: OYO TESCOM CHAIR LIED - MURIC

 

3^rd September, 2020       

                      

PRESS RELEASE:

OYO TESCOM CHAIR LIED - MURIC

 

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has accused the chairman of the Oyo State Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM), Pastor Akinade Alamu, of lying against it during his interview on Fresh Radio. The interview was held at 10 am on Monday 31^st August, 2020.       

 

 

MURIC’s allegation was contained in a press statement issued on Thursday, 3^rd September, 2020, by its helmsman, Professor Ishaq Akintola.

 

 

The statement reads:

 

“It will be recalled that MURIC issued a statement on 14^th August, 2020 condemning the Christianisation of the Computer Based Test (CBT) that was being organised by Oyo TESCOM. We based the allegation on the fact that Muslim candidates were given bible-based questions.

 

 

“TESCOM reacted the next day (15^th August, 2020) blaming the computer system for the incident and promising adequate redress. But TESCOM chairman went beyond issuing a press statement by calling the director of MURIC on telephone that same day seeking his cooperation. He also invited the director to his office and the CBT centre although the director declined.

 

 

“He therefore asked the director of MURIC to send representatives. The director gave him the telephone number of the chairman of its Oyo State chapter. The latter later confirmed that he had been contacted by TESCOM chairman and invited to come to the CBT centre in the University of Ibadan to monitor the rest of the examination. MURIC headquarters approved the visit in good faith.

 

 

“To show goodwill, MURIC reciprocated the next day by issuing a public statement thanking the chairman of TESCOM for reacting quickly to its complaint. However, we did not mention his telephone calls and his invitation to MURIC. This was for strategic reasons. We knew we might need this information in future.

 

 

“Based on his invitation, three members of MURIC went for the exercise (the chairman, Dr. Nurudeen Oloso, the Ambassador, Ibrahim Agunbiade and Barrister Abdul Waahid Lawal). They were warmly received and conducted round the venue. They went daily until the examination ended. The involvement of MURIC in the monitoring occurred in an atmosphere of friendliness and the three-man team was even given a Certificate of Recognition while pictures were also taken with TESCOM officials as memorabilia on Friday, 21^st August, 2020.

 

 

“But to our surprise, the same chairman of TESCOM who invited MURIC to the centre went on air to claim that MURIC came to disrupt the CBT examination. If that is so, why was MURIC eulogised during the closing ceremony? Why did the TESCOM chairman say that the presence of MURIC at the CBT centre lent credibility to the examination? That was an indefensible volte-face. Oyo TESCOM chairman lied. We are shocked to our marrows. We are highly disappointed that a man placed in such a position of trust could lie to the public without batting an eyelid. It is a betrayal, a stab in the back.

 

 

“We are also disturbed that the chairman is a pastor. It is a very bad reflection of the abyss of moral decadence into which our religious leaders have sunk. By lying against us on Fresh FM, Pastor Alamu has broken one of the Ten Commandments: Thou shalt not bear false witness against your neighbour (Exodus 20:16).

 

 

“The Bible also says, “You shall not spread false report about your neighbour’ (Exodus 23:1) but this man went on a live radio to spread falsehood about his Muslim neighbours. Or are we not neighbours just because we happen to be Muslims? Revelation 22:15 classified ‘dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood’ as being ‘outside’.

 

 

“For the avoidance of doubt, MURIC is in possession of incontrovertible evidence of Pastor Alamu’s telephone call to its director as well as pictures taken and certificate received at the CBT centre during the closing ceremony. Pictures do not lie. Neither do certificates, at least genuine ones don’t.

 

 

“TESCOM chairman has discredited his CBT examination by his own character. Falsehood cannot produce anything credible. You cannot build anything on nothing. Nemo dat quod non habet (You cannot give what you don’t have). Worse still, he has done great damage to interreligious dialogue. Taking a cue from Pator Alamu, it will take a long time before Muslims in Oyo State can trust Christians in public office. TESCOM’s CBT test is hereby declared highly questionable. Its transparency cannot be guaranteed as no result was immediately released.

 

 

“A computer-based test that took more than a week to release cannot be free from manipulations. It is not even the computer this time around. It is the finger on the keyboard and the hand that holds the mouse. MURIC cannot vouch for Pastor Alamu’s finger on the CBT keyboard. We therefore pass a vote of no confidence on the whole exercise.”

 

 

Professor Ishaq Akintola,

Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)

 

 

CLARIFY ANTI-NORTH SCHOLARSHIP LIST: MURIC TASKS FG

 

2^nd September, 2020                             

PRESS RELEASE:

CLARIFY ANTI-NORTH SCHOLARSHIP LIST: MURIC TASKS FG

 

An unconfirmed list of successful candidates for the 2020/2021 Federal Government scholarship has gone viral on social media thereby generating tension. The list is allegedly attached to a letter written by a prominent Nigerian citizen in the diaspora to the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu. The author complained that the list is an embarrassment to the entire North.

 

 

The Nigerian Muslim rights group, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has intervened in the controversy by tasking the Federal Government to confirm or deny the authenticity of the controversial list. MURIC’s intervention came through a statement signed by the director of the human rights organisation, Professor Ishaq Akintola on Wednesday, 2^nd September, 2020.

 

 

MURIC said, “It had better not be true. The entire nineteen (19) Northern states have just twenty-one (21) successful candidates while the seventeen (17) Southern states have seventy candidates (70). This list has greatly short-changed the North. What criteria was used to generate this anti-North list?

 

 

“Worse still, there is only one Muslim among the 13 successful candidates from North Central. This is unacceptable. Such an exercise can only be designed for the purpose of Christianising the North. It is as diabolical as it is Islamophobic. If confirmed, it means another cunny move to Christianise Nigeria has just been uncovered.

 

 

“Although we suspect that this list may be another fake news and the handiwork of enemies of peace, yet the Federal Government must speak up on it before it causes further damage to the already thin veneer of mutual confidence in the North-South dichotomy as well as the fragile Christian/Muslim relationship in the country.

 

 

“Not only that, it has been used as a tool for playing tortuous religious politics particularly the preference for picking minority Christians from predominantly Muslim areas. This could only have been intended to further deepen ignorance and poverty among the Muslims while the infinitesimally small Christian group in the North is unjustly lifted into the circle of elites and the bourgeoisie.

 

 

“It is rather unfortunate that while we consistently lay emphasis on the need for fair distribution of the dividends of democracy among all groups, some unpatriotic elements are determined to continue exhibiting gymnastic religiousity in their official capacities.

 

 

“In spite of recent attempts to smear our image in order to blackmail us into silence, MURIC will not keep quiet in the face of elite tyranny. We will not kowtow to the poohpooh of shenanigans masquerading as regional heroes. We will never accept discrimination against any tribe. We will continue to stand for justice, fairness and equity no matter whose ox is gored. Stability, peace and prosperity in every part of Nigeria is the major concern of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC).”

 

 

Professor Ishaq Akintola,

Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)