MURIC HAILS BUHARI FOR LIFTING THE STATUS OF TEACHERS

 

12^th October, 2020

                             

PRESS RELEASE:

MURIC HAILS BUHARI FOR LIFTING THE STATUS OF TEACHERS

        

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has hailed President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) for his new national teaching policy which came into force last week. The new policy raised the retirement age and service from 60 to 65 and from 35 to 40 respectively; established a special salary scale; provided rural allowance; increased science allowance; promised automatic admission and free tuition for children of teachers in their places of work; automatic recruitment for education graduates, etc.

   

 

In its reaction, MURIC thanked the Nigerian president for putting smiles on the faces of teachers in the country. The human rights group described the development as a significant milestone in the history of education in Nigeria. This was revealed in a statement issued by the Director of the organization, Professor Ishaq Akintola, on Monday, 12^th October, 2020.

 

 

“Nigerian teachers have never had it so good. PMB has raised their level with the new teaching policy announced last week. Teachers can now raise their heads with pride as their reward which used to be in heaven has become a low-hanging fruit just waiting for them to stretch out their hands and pluck.

 

 

“The brain drain syndrome which Nigeria has been experiencing in the education sector is most likely to come to a halt or reduce drastically as a result of this humane gesture by the PMB-led Federal Government (FG). With the Buhari initiative, Nigeria is gradually moving close to global best practices in the welfare of teachers.

 

 

“Switzerland gives teachers the highest average salary in the world which is $110,000. This is keenly followed by Luxemburg : $100,000, Canada : $74,000, Germany : $70,000, Netherlands : $67,000, Australia : $67,000, United States : $60,000, Ireland $53,000 and Denmark : $52,500.

 

 

“These are whopping sums of money and they easily attract Nigerian teachers who are poorly paid. About 10,000 Nigerian university lecturers were in the United States alone seeking greener pastures as far back as 2010. This is in spite of the scarcity of the same lecturers in Nigerian universities. Britain lured 58 Nigerian doctors with 14 days per month work and N47.9 million annual salary in July 2020.

 

 

This point was corroborated in 2016 by Professor Biodun Ogunyemi, president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) when he confirmed that Nigeria was in dire need of no less than 100,000 lecturers (https://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/07/we-need-100000-new-lecturers-for-nigerian-varsities-asuu/). Nigeria had 61,000 lecturers as at 2017 but this was no match for the student population of 1.9 million in the same year.

 

 

“At the level of primary and secondary schools whose teachers are the direct beneficiaries of the new teaching policy, Nigeria had 764,596 primary school teachers, 292,080 teachers in junior secondary schools and 398,275 teachers at the secondary school level as at 2016. But that was four years ago. Though recent data is not readily available, the new policy will impact the lives of no less than two million teachers in the public sector. This is a tremendous leap.

 

 

 

“It is another feather in PMB’s hat. Buhari is rebuilding Nigeria and history is going to register him as the ‘Father of Modern Nigeria’. To those who criticise MURIC for always praising President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB), we say, ‘What say you on PMB’s largesse to teachers? Is it reforming or reactionary? Is it Fulanisation or Islamisation? Show us a palatial house bought by PMB in Paris, London or Luxemburg. Blow the whistle on a single foreign account belonging to Buhari in any part of the world and we will join you in tongue-lashing him. PMB will do better without all these unnecessary distractions and unobjective criticisms.

 

 

“We are aware that Nigeria’s leading political parties are like six and a half dozen and political prostitutes are in all of them in large number. Few of them have ideological focus, principle and discipline. Our support for PMB has nothing to do with his political party or his faith. Rather, the raison d’etre for our admiration for PMB lies in his austere way of life, his high level integrity and his Everest-height patience. Above all, we are motivated by love for our great country, Nigeria.

 

 

“On the contrary, corrupt elements hate PMB because he has closed the tap from which free and dirty money flows. Such people also hate MURIC because we promote the ideals of the man they hate. We can understand. It is called transferred aggression. 

 

 

“Perhaps Nigerians will understand us better when, in future, we give equal support to any leader who brandishes the same qualities particularly if such a leader is not a Muslim or in the same political party with PMB. MURIC will remain nonpartisan, detribalised and devoid of any form of gymnastic religiousity.

 

 

“We urge Mr. President to remain focused and to replicate the same feat in the health sector where strikes are too frequent for comfort. At least two thousand doctors migrated to other countries in the last few years. As at 2018, only 74,543 doctors attend to a population of 200 million ((https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2019/4/8/nigerias-medical-brain-drain-healthcare-woes-as-doctors-flee). This stands in sharp contrast to 91,375 practicing medical doctors attending to 37.59 million people in Canada as at 2019. The implication is that in Canada, 241 doctors attend to only 100,000 patients while in Nigeria a single doctor attends to 2,683 people! Better welfare will make working at home more attractive to our medical doctors.

 

 

“MURIC calls on teachers around the country to prove their mettle through improved performance, dedication and high level professionalism. To whom much is given, much is expected. Our teachers must allow FG’s kind gesture to reflect in the performance of pupils. The mass failure which was recorded in the WAEC examinations of 2018 and 2019 is unacceptable. Only 3,102 out of 12, 202 candidates (26.08%) passed in a minimum of five subjects in 2019. Only 17.5% passed in 2018. It is hoped that PMB’s latest intervention will bring the desired improvement in the shortest time possible.”

 

 

Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Director, 
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)

 

 

MURIC CHIDES OGUN GOVERNOR OVER BB NAIJA GIFTS

 

8^th October, 2020

                             

PRESS RELEASE:

MURIC CHIDES OGUN GOVERNOR OVER BB NAIJA GIFTS

        

The Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun, yesterday 7^th October, 2020, gave a bungalow and N5 million cash gifts to the winner of Big Brother Naija, Moshood Olamilekan Agbeleshebioba. He also appointed him the Ambassador of the Youth in Ogun State.

 

 

However, the Nigerian Islamic human rights organization, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has described Governor Abiodun’s action as disappointing, disgusting, misplaced and myopic. MURIC’s reaction was revealed in a statement circulated to the media on Thursday, 8^th October, 2020.

 

 

MURIC said, “We are miffed by Governor Abiodun’s action. What does he think he is promoting? A whole governor is idolizing indecency and encouraging greed and materialism. It is disappointing, disgusting, misplaced and myopic. This is happening at a time millions of young men and women are roaming the streets of Oke Agbede, Itoko and Asupopo in the state’s capital in search of jobs that are not there. That N5 million could have evacuated twenty five area boys from Panseke, Lafenwa and Ashero, all in Abeokuta. These are roads that the governor himself plies everyday and he sees abject poverty printed on the faces of the youth.

 

 

“It is misplaced priority. What is in BB Naija that the governor has to waste the resources of Ogun State on a contestant who had already been over-pampered by the organisers? Afterall Moshood received a whopping N85 million, a car and a house from the organizers. Why give him a house again when he had already been given one? Is it a reward for hard work, intellectual display or what? How old is the winner? BB Naija is a cornucopia of repulsive, nauseating and Bohemian behavior. Or what does Governor Abiodun think of open sex on television being watched by all and sundry, including our underaged children? It is a big shame.

 

 

“The Muslim Rights Concern is deeply concerned that even our traditional rulers all over the country failed to add their voices to that of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, when he called on the Federal Government (FG) to ban BB Naija. No single traditional ruler spoke in support of that clarion call.

 

 

“FG must also take responsibility for the damage this irresponsible programme has done to the psyche of Nigerian youth. How can we allow a foreign idiosyncracy to bastardise the values and norms which we hold very dearly in our land? It is not Nigerian if it is not Nigerian.

 

 

“The Glorious Qur’an says, ‘Evil has appeared on land and sea because of (the evil)  which men's hands have committed, so that He may make them taste part of that which they have done, in order that they may show remorse. (30:41)

 

 

“We congratulate Governor Abiodun for demonising hard work, for idolising laziness and for celebrating indecency. Abiodun has undone all that his predecessors had done in the past. We commend him for encouraging greed and materialism among the youth. The police in Ogun State should simply go to sleep since we have a governor whose body language seeks the proliferation of Yahoo Yahoo, 419 and armed robbery. That is what the governor has succeeded in doing because the peers of the BB Naija winner will definitely aspire to get by the bend what they cannot attain by the straight.

 

 

“If we may ask our over-generous governor, what did you give those who excelled in educational feats in Ogun State? We have teenagers like Ojo Tobiloba of The Scholars Universal in Ota who scored 354 in the 2020 UTME examination. Ismail Opaleye scored 338 while Nafeesat Ajani had 320. What did the governor give them? Governor Abiodun has elected to sacrifice excellence on the altar of mediocrity. His action will have far-reaching effect as he has given official recognition to the growing faith in the dogma of getting rich young and by fair or foul means.

 

 

“Nigerians are sick and tired of some of our political leaders. It is in all political parties. Abiodun is an APC governor but he suffers from acute desertification of the APC change mantra. We wonder where that N5 million came from. We doubt if it came from the governor’s private pocket. We are equally worried about the former owner of the bungalow which the governor gave Moshood. Was it Abiodun’s private building?

 

 

“As we draw the curtains, our candid advice to the governor is to return that money to government coffers if it was taken from tax payer’s money. The governor must also withdraw the bungalow if it is not his private building. He can build a whole estate for the BB Naija winner from his personal money for all we care. As for the ambassadorial appointment, decent parents will not allow the winner of BB Naija to represent their children.”

 

 

Professor Ishaq Akintola,
President, 
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)

RESTRUCTURING: MUSLIMS SEEK SIX RELIEFS - MURIC

 

5^th October, 2020

                             

PRESS RELEASE:

RESTRUCTURING: MUSLIMS SEEK SIX RELIEFS - MURIC

 

Sequel to the clamour for restructuring Nigeria, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has reminded the Federal Government and the general public of the six reliefs it enumerated and demanded for Nigerian Muslims since October, 2017.   

 

 

The six reliefs were revisited in a press statement issued by the Director of MURIC, Professor Ishaq Akintola, on Tuesday, 5^th October, 2020, exactly three years later.

 

 

The statement reads:

 

“We demanded six reliefs on behalf of Nigerian Muslims exactly three years ago. The reliefs were contained in a press release issued by MURIC on 9^th October, 2017. We are aware that the present government is not positively disposed to restructuring and it has declared its determination to avoid it. Nonetheless, we have decided to represent demands which are of special interest to Muslims for the records.

 

 

“Let us make it abundantly clear ab initio that MURIC has zero tolerance for separatist and secessionist proclivities. We therefore reiterate our rejection of demands for Biafra, Oduduwa Republic and all other parochial, selfish and unpatriotic agitations.

 

“It is equally important at this juncture to state that this press statement is designed to remind those who are agitating for the balkanization of Nigeria and restructuring that they are not the only ones who have grudges in this union. Just as there is no perfect marriage, there is no nation in the world without its headaches. In the same vein, just as couples manage their imperfections and try to understand their differences in order to avoid broken homes, so do stakeholders in nation-building sink their group interests for national cohesion.

 

 

“We reproduce below our press statement dated 9^th October, 2017 and captioned ‘Restructuring Nigeria: Muslims seek Six Reliefs’ (https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/245569-restructuring-islamic-group-muric-seeks-six-reliefs-nigerian-muslims.html). It should be noted that none of the six demands has been addressed hitherto:

 

 

“The Federal Government appears set for restructuring particularly with the setting up of a committee on this crucial matter by the ruling party, the All Peoples’ Congress (APC). Restructuring became popular after the South East, South South and a section of the South West complained about marginalization. Several politicians from both the opposition and the ruling party have since spoken in support of this clamour.

 

 

“However, we of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) dissociate ourselves from all agitations for secession. We condemn all irredentist movements rearing their ugly heads in Southern Nigeria, particularly the agitation for the creation of Oduduwa Republic. We affirm clearly, unambiguously and unequivocally, that Muslim leaders in Yorubaland were not carried along before those demands were tabled. Nonetheless, just as some ethnic groups have complained of disaffections, we contend that Nigerian Muslims also nurse serious grudges bordering on marginalization against the Nigerian state.

 

 

“We must start from the lanes of history because today was born from the wombs of yesterday. Islam has been in Nigeria since the 11^th century and the British met Islam on ground when they arrived in the 19^th century (800 years later). The British did not deem it fit to observe the rules of natural justice when they colonized the country as all Islamic landmarks were eliminated and supplanted with a wholly Christian system.

 

 

“This injustice may have been at the root of frequent religious crisis in Nigeria because successive governments after independence refused to listen to the agitations of Muslims for a review of the status quo. The issues being raised by Muslims are listed in the following paragraphs so that the authorities may address them when restructuring eventually begins.

 

 

“One: Nigerians enjoy a total of eight (8) public holidays in a year. These are Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Id al-Kabir, Id al-Fitr and Maulud an-Nabiyy. Five (5) of the eight holidays belong to Christians (Christmas Day, Boxing Day, 1^st January, i.e, New Year Day, Good Friday and Easter Monday). Only three (3) holidays belong to Muslims, viz, Id al-Kabir, Id al-Fitr and Maulud an-Nabiyy.

 

“Restructuring should give Muslims 1^st Muharram. This will bring the total number of Muslim holidays to four while Christian holidays remain five.

 

“Two: Christian marriages contracted inside churches or registries are held sacrosanct everywhere in Nigeria whereas Muslim marriages (nikah) are not recognized for any official purpose. Muslim couples find themselves in a cul de sac each time they presented their Islamic marriage certificates for official purposes. It is paradoxical that in a democracy, one marriage conducted by a religious group is acceptable while the other is not. What kind of constitution is Nigeria using?

 

“Islamic marriages should be recognized in all official circles where Christian marriages are recognized. The Nigerian Marriage Act (1990) should therefore be revisited.

 

“Three: Nigeria has a two-day weekend, viz, Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was a half day during the colonial era and Sunday was the only full day at the weekend. However, Saturday was made a full day to favour the Seventh Day Adventists, a Christian denomination during the regime of General Yakubu Gowon, a Christian military ruler. It is very clear, therefore, that the two weekend days recognized in Nigeria belong to Christians while Muslims have none since Friday, the Muslim day of worship, remains a working day.

 

“It is pertinent to note that Friday was a work-free day until the British brought Christianity and stopped Muslims from enjoying their Allah-given fundamental human right. The relief we are seeking through restructuring is that Friday should be declared free to assume parity with the Christians’ Sunday. While we are not seeking anarchy, we are confident that the Federal Government (FG) has all the paraphernalia of administration to work out the modalities.

 

“Four: Immigration officials engage in regular stereotyping of Muslims who apply for international passports. They intimidate Muslims particularly at the point of taking pictures. Muslim males are ordered to remove their caps; Imams are coerced into removing their turbans; bearded Muslims are compelled to shave or trim their beards; hijab-wearing Muslim women are made to remove their hijabs or ordered to draw their hijab backwards to reveal their ears. The same scenario plays itself out in driving licence, national identity card offices and during registration for elections.

 

“In the process, thousands of Muslims have been denied international passports, driving licences and  national identity cards while millions have been disenfranchised during elections. The authorities must find a way of stopping the persecution and profiling of Muslims.

 

“Five: Uniformed groups in Nigeria, including the army, police, uniformed voluntary groups, nurses, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), students of primary and secondary schools, etc, use uniforms designed by the Christian colonialists. These uniforms should have been reviewed after independence because they only suit the Christians. Some of them constitute breaches to Islamic dress code and offend the sensibility of Muslims who are compelled to wear the uniforms regardless of their inner feeling of resentment.

 

“In view of the fact that Western countries like Britain, Canada and the United States have designed uniforms with hijab for their female Muslim police, soldiers, students, etc, Nigeria’s restructuring authorities should borrow a leaf from those countries.

 

“Six: There is no single Shari’ah court in South Western Nigeria where Muslims constitute the majority. This is contrary to what obtained in Yorubaland before the advent of the British. There were Shariah courts in Ede, Iwo, Ikirun, Ibadan, etc. Yoruba Muslims are now compelled to take their civil matters like inheritance, marriage, etc to Christo-Western courts. This is preposterous and unacceptable.

 

“We demand the establishment of Shariah courts in all South Western states including Edo State where there is a significant percentage of Muslims.

 

“We call the attention of FG and the restructuring committee of the APC to the above six reliefs. Muslims are in bondage in this country and we believe that restructuring should emancipate people in captivity. APC promised change. This change can only be meaningful to us if it breaks the shackles around our necks. We have begged enough for the restoration of our Allah-given and fundamental human rights. We are tired of begging. Restructuring is about reapportioning the dividends of democracy such that it goes round and it is not restricted to one section.

 

 

“Colonial administration was grossly unfair to Muslims. Nigeria was Christianised by Britain and Muslims bore the brunt. We suffered forceful conversion, denial of rightful employment and even worse forms of persecution. But what is most disappointing is the policy of exclusion adopted by post-independence governments.

 

 

“On a final note, we demand full integration and full recognition as bona fide citizens of Nigeria, not second or third class citizens. We are the aggrieved party. The British most brutally and most unjustly took all we had from us, giving us nothing in return and offering no relief. It has continued to give us a feeling of rejection, marginalization, denial of the dividends of democracy and lack of a sense of belonging. The time for redress is now and our six-point relief is here for all to digest.

 

 

Professor Ishaq Akintola,
President, 
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)