5 BILLION NAIRA FOR INAUGURATION?

PRESS RELEASE: BILLIONS FOR INAUGURATION? A FATHER CHRISTMAS SYNDROME    The Federal Government of Nigeria is reportedly planning to spend billions of naira on the inauguration ceremonies of the new administration billed to take place this weekend. According to the Sahara Reporters website, about five billion naira has already been set aside for this exercise. Another source alleges only one billion naira would be spent.   The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) strongly condemns this spendthrift propensity. It is outright thoughtlessness and inexplicable insensitivity on the part of the Federal Government to allocate such a huge amount to the inauguration of a new administration. One billion naira sounds too extravagant when less than a quarter of a billion naira would have achieved more positive results. Five billion naira is an expensive joke. Nigeria is being taken to the cleaners right from the start!   The Jonathan regime appears to be sending the wrong signal to the suffering jamaheer (poor masses) that it is here to set off an era of waste. This is a dangerous precedent as ministries and parastatals are likely to emulate this Father Christmas mentality.   Have Nigerian workers started receiving the N18,000.00 minimum wage which was approved more than a year ago? No state government has paid that amount up till now. Even the N18,000.00 as a take-home pay cannot take them home. Neither can it ensure three square meals for them and their families. Paying the school fees of their children and wards is out of the question. House rents have already eaten up workers' pay. Inflation bites hard on a daily basis. Policies such as this widens the gap between the government and the governed, between the employers and the proletariat, between the 'haves-and-the-have-nots'.   The contracts for the inauguration which will gulp billions are going to cronies, court jesters and bootlickers. These are the oppressors of our society. They are the people who can afford to pay one million naira per term for their children's school fees in primary and secondary schools. It creates a situation where too few people have too much while too many have nothing. A super-elitist society has already emerged and this clique, this 'tiny cabal', is being nurtured by Jonathan's administration. It is too early for us to start getting this negative signal. Nigerians don't really deserve this kind of treatment.     How does President Goodluck Jonathan expect workers to receive the news of the huge sum of money billed for his inauguration? The poor workers whose sweat produced the wealth of the nation cannot even smell the aroma of those delicious but wasteful dishes at the state dinners being planned. Neither would they attend the expensive mundane and religious inauguration programmes.   MURIC cautions the Federal Government against extravagance. What Nigerians need is food on their tables, stable electricity, good roads, effective public transport system, qualitative education, an enduring public health scheme and a dependable security system, not extravagance, not waste, not pomp and pageantry.   Is-haq Akintola (Ph.D), Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), 234-818-211-9714 E-mail: muslimrightsconcern@yahoo.co.uk              muslimrights@gmail.com Website: www.muric.net Yahoo Group: groups.yahoo.com/group/muslimrights Blog:       muslimrightsmuric.blogspot.com Twitter:   twitter.com/muslimconcern           Be just Justice is the soul of peace No one can deny one and have the other Neither can violence or naked force bring lasting peace

INVITATION TO JOIN MURIC

Friends, well-wishers, join me in promoting the rights of Muslims everywhere in the world. The world will know peace if there is justice in the land. The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) is committed to achieving global peace through dialogue. Our avowed motto is 'DIALOGUE, NOT VIOLENCE'. We already have members from all parts of the world. Join our Yahoo Group today by sending your name, telephone number and email address to my Facebook. This invitation is open to all your Muslim friends too. Please invite them. Salaam. Is-haq Akintola (Ph.D), Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), 234-818-211-9714 E-mail: muslimrightsconcern@yahoo.co.uk              muslimrights@gmail.com Website: www.muric.net Yahoo Group: groups.yahoo.com/group/muslimrights Blog:       muslimrightsmuric.blogspot.com Twitter:   twitter.com/muslimconcern           Be just Justice is the soul of peace No one can deny one and have the other Neither can violence or naked force bring lasting peace

NATO ATTACKS ON LIBYA

NATO ATTACKS ON LIBYAN SHIPS   NATO war planes struck Libyan warships Friday 20 April. Libya insisted that its ships had never been involved in the conflict. We note with great interest the fact that those ships were stationary before they were struck. It is equally interesting that America and NATO in a trans-Atlantic conspiracy has systematically debilitated Libya's military capacity.   Both the US and NATO pretend to be engaged in a chivalrous military campaign in support of the rebels whereas the control of Libyan oil is the hidden agenda. America in particular is in Libya for its 'unfinished business'. We must recall that America under Ronald Reagan bombed Libya in 1986 in a futile attempt to kill Ghaddafi but ended up killing his grandson instead.   How much of Muslim blood is now in the hands of the West? Why are they always in a hurry to strike Muslim nations? We note also that the West is very keen on attacking Ghaddafi because he is the only Arab leader who has refused to serve as a crony to the West. He has been highly critical of Western neo-colonial manouvers and has always publicly challenged the West's positions on international issues.   The African Union has condemned NATO's strikes and urged it to halt them. But the appeal has fallen on deaf ears. America and NATO are definitely abusing their military might. It is aggression of the mighty and powerful over the weak. It is the manifestation of the five evils of which Chamberlain had spoken: brute force, bad faith, injustice, oppression and persecution. Is-haq Akintola (Ph.D), Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), 234-818-211-9714 E-mail: muslimrightsconcern@yahoo.co.uk              muslimrights@gmail.com Website: www.muric.net Yahoo Group: groups.yahoo.com/group/muslimrights Blog:       muslimrightsmuric.blogspot.com Twitter:   twitter.com/muslimconcern           Be just Justice is the soul of peace No one can deny one and have the other Neither can violence or naked force bring lasting peace

OBAMA KNOWS WHAT TO DO WITH ISRAEL

OBAMA KNOWS WHAT TO DO WITH ISRAEL   American President Barrack Obama proposed on Thursday that Israel should go back to its pre-1967 boarders. Of course visiting Isreali president has rejected Obama's idea as "indefensible". This is coming after years of fruitless negotiations initiated by the Obama administration.   We of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) are not deceived. Obama knows how defiant Israel can be. Yet he knows what the US did in Iraq. He knows what America has been doing in Afghanistan for the past eight years to date. Everyone knows what America and NATO are doing presently in Libya. The whole world knows what is done to nations that defy world opinion. The truth is that Israel is sacrosanct, untouchable!   Israel has defied hundreds of UN resolutions without facing a single sanction. Almost all Arab countries promoting the cause of Islam are facing sanctions from America and the UN. Where then is the 'change' promised by Obama? The US is known for its jet-speed sanctions on Muslim nations. Yet no single sanction has been pronounced on Israel. Even ordinary UN condemnation of Israeli criminal action against civilian population is always vetoed by the US. Is this Western sense of justice? And, by extension, is this your democracy?   Obama's Thursday pronouncement is therefore calculated to placate Arabs and Muslims... a barren political statement. Obama knows how to add meaning to his statements. If Obama is serious about peace in the Middle East, then the US should sponsor a new UN resolution recognizing the pre-1967 boarders for Israel, create a buffer zone in the region and get NATO troops to maintain the buffer.   We have never heard of threats of sanctions against Israel for defying world opinion. Obama should not only threaten Israel with sanctions but he should actually impose it on that country as he has done with Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, etc. Why is it that only Arab and Muslim nations face Western sanctions?   On the other hand, MURIC finds the actions of Arab leaders ridiculous. They cannot even tell America exactly what they want. What a pity! Imagine how they divide themselves and allow the West to descend heavily on one Arab or Muslim country after another. It was Afghanistan day before yesterday. Yesterday it was Iraq. Today it is Libya. Tomorrow it is going to be Iran. After tomorrow.....? It is aggression ad infinitum!   We are waiting for the BIG ONE: the bombing of Makkah and Madina from the air and subsequent invasion of its territories (perhaps Britain or France will wake up one day and accuse Saudi Arabia of violating the rights of its own citizens, amassing WMD, torturing opposition elements, etc). They always have 'evidence'.   We have no iota of doubt that this has become a systematic, highly sophisticated 21st century crusade. The only way for Obama and other Western leaders to prove to us that this is not so is to treat Arab and Muslim nations with respect. As for now, we expect the worst from the West. Justice from that block will be a shocker.   MURIC says to Obama, "Mr. President, if you know what to do with Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Libya, etc, you surely know what to do with Israel". Is-haq Akintola (Ph.D), Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), 234-818-211-9714 E-mail: muslimrightsconcern@yahoo.co.uk              muslimrights@gmail.com Website: www.muric.net Yahoo Group: groups.yahoo.com/group/muslimrights Blog:       muslimrightsmuric.blogspot.com Twitter:   twitter.com/muslimconcern           Be just Justice is the soul of peace No one can deny one and have the other Neither can violence or naked force bring lasting peace

OBAMA KNOWS WHAT TO DO WITH ISRAEL

OBAMA KNOWS WHAT TO DO WITH ISRAEL   American President Barrack Obama proposed on Thursday that Israel should go back to its pre-1967 boarders. Of course visiting Isreali president has rejected Obama's idea as "indefensible". This is coming after years of fruitless negotiations initiated by the Obama administration.   We of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) are not deceived. Obama knows how defiant Israel can be. Yet he knows what the US did in Iraq. He knows what America has been doing in Afghanistan for the past eight years to date. Everyone knows what America and NATO are doing presently in Libya. The whole world knows what is done to nations that defy world opinion. The truth is that Israel is sacrosanct, untouchable!   Israel has defied hundreds of UN resolutions without facing a single sanction. Almost all Arab countries promoting the cause of Islam are facing sanctions from America and the UN. Where then is the 'change' promised by Obama? The US is known for its jet-speed sanctions on Muslim nations. Yet no single sanction has been pronounced on Israel. Even ordinary UN condemnation of Israeli criminal action against civilian population is always vetoed by the US. Is this Western sense of justice? And, by extension, is this your democracy?   Obama's Thursday pronouncement is therefore calculated to placate Arabs and Muslims... a barren political statement. Obama knows how to add meaning to his statements. If Obama is serious about peace in the Middle East, then the US should sponsor a new UN resolution recognizing the pre-1967 boarders for Israel, create a buffer zone in the region and get NATO troops to maintain the buffer.   We have never heard of threats of sanctions against Israel for defying world opinion. Obama should not only threaten Israel with sanctions but he should actually impose it on that country as he has done with Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, etc. Why is it that only Arab and Muslim nations face Western sanctions?   On the other hand, MURIC finds the actions of Arab leaders ridiculous. They cannot even tell America exactly what they want. What a pity! Imagine how they divide themselves and allow the West to descend heavily on one Arab or Muslim country after another. It was Afghanistan day before yesterday. Yesterday it was Iraq. Today it is Libya. Tomorrow it is going to be Iran. After tomorrow.....? It is aggression ad infinitum!   We are waiting for the BIG ONE: the bombing of Makkah and Madina from the air and subsequent invasion of its territories (perhaps Britain or France will wake up one day and accuse Saudi Arabia of violating the rights of its own citizens, amassing WMD, torturing opposition elements, etc). They always have 'evidence'.   We have no iota of doubt that this has become a systematic, highly sophisticated 21st century crusade. The only way for Obama and other Western leaders to prove to us that this is not so is to treat Arab and Muslim nations with respect. As for now, we expect the worst from the West. Justice from that block will be a shocker.   Is-haq Akintola (Ph.D), Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), 234-818-211-9714 E-mail: muslimrightsconcern@yahoo.co.uk              muslimrights@gmail.com Website: www.muric.net Yahoo Group: groups.yahoo.com/group/muslimrights Blog:       muslimrightsmuric.blogspot.com Twitter:   twitter.com/muslimconcern           Be just Justice is the soul of peace No one can deny one and have the other Neither can violence or naked force bring lasting peace

SHAYKH LEMU OR NO PROBE PANEL

19th May, 2011 PRESS RELEASE: SHAYKH LEMU OR NO PROBE PANEL     The northern chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has rejected the appointment of Shaykh Ahmad Lemu as the chairman of the probe panel on the post-election violence which broke out in some states of Northern Nigeria after the presidential election held in April 2011. The probe panel was set up by the Federal Government to find out the remote and immediate causes of the violence.   We consider northern CAN's rejection of Lemu's headship of the panel a dangerous dimension. CAN hinged its rejection on the fact that Shaykh Lemu was one of the Muslim leaders who were behind the introduction of Shari'ah into the northern states of Nigeria. This position exposes CAN as intolerant, extremist, impatient and unforgiving.     We of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) take CAN's position with a pinch of salt. By using this parochial barometer, CAN has introduced sentiment, religious bigotry and outright blackmail into the controversy surrounding the probe panel. Every single Nigerian belongs to one religion or another. In most cases it is either a Christian or a Muslim that is appointed to posts.   Does it mean that all the noise about the need for us to avoid using religion as a parameter is all balderdash? Was the whole exercise a CAN agenda ab initio and the rest of us were just fooled into believing that religious politics must be avoided at all cost? What was the crime committed by Shaykh Lemu that he should be disqualified from heading a probe panel? Now we know that CAN is neither tolerant, nor is it willing to learn to live with its Muslim neighbours.   CAN's argument that it was not consulted before the panel was constituted holds no water. It merely exposes its hidden agenda, namely, to constitute the remote control room on government's decisions. The post-election probe panel is not a Christian-Muslim affair. Was the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs consulted? Shaykh Lemu was picked on merit. Why is CAN turning it into a religious controversy? Obasanjo's government did not consult the Sultan when he removed Arabic from the naira and heaven did not fall.   MURIC will not allow any group, no matter how elitist, to strangulate the polity. We totally reject CAN's dictatorial mien. We assert clearly, categorically and unambiguously that Shaykh Lemu, like any other qualified Nigerian, has the Allah-given and fundamental right to serve his country in his area of competence.   We therefore call on the Federal Government to ignore the rantings of CAN and to go ahead with the appointment of Shaykh Lemu as the Chairman of the probe panel. We warn that CAN has stirred the hornet's nest and any attempt by the Government to bend to CAN's wish will show Nigerians where the pendulum of this government is swinging. Nigerian Muslims will not be satisfied with the replacement of Shaykh Lemu with another Muslim. It is therefore Shaykh Lemu or no probe panel.   Even the rationale for the probe panel is clouded in controversy. We nurse fears about the futility of probe panels given the history of such exercises in the past. The reports of many probes end up in the dustbin after the initial hue and cry. Secondly, we share the fear of a large section of the Nigerian populace that the present Federal Government as constituted lacks the moral right to set up such a probe panel because the government itself is deeply involved.   The violence was an expression of anger against the ruling party and the same party lacks the moral locus standi to sit in judgment or to set up a panel to investigate a case in which it has vested interest. How fair can a ruling party's probe panel be when the crux of the probe is violence which erupted in protest against its victory? Already, the opposition is alleging victimization.   To our mind, therefore, only a neutral and international body like the United Nations or the African Union can constitute a credible probe panel into the post-election violence of April 2011. Is-haq Akintola (Ph.D), Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), 234-818-211-9714 E-mail: muslimrightsconcern@yahoo.co.uk              muslimrights@gmail.com Website: www.muric.net Yahoo Group: groups.yahoo.com/group/muslimrights Blog:       muslimrightsmuric.blogspot.com Twitter:   twitter.com/muslimconcern           Be just Justice is the soul of peace No one can deny one and have the other Neither can violence or naked force bring lasting peace

SHAYKH LEMU OR NO PROBE PANEL

19th May, 2011 PRESS RELEASE: SHAYKH LEMU OR NO PROBE PANEL     The northern chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has rejected the appointment of Shaykh Ahmad Lemu as the chairman of the probe panel on the post-election violence which broke out in some states of Northern Nigeria after the presidential election held in April 2011. The probe panel was set up by the Federal Government to find out the remote and immediate causes of the violence.   We consider northern CAN's rejection of Lemu's headship of the panel a dangerous dimension. CAN hinged its rejection on the fact that Shaykh Lemu was one of the Muslim leaders who were behind the introduction of Shari'ah into the northern states of Nigeria. This position exposes CAN as intolerant, extremist, impatient and unforgiving.     We of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) take CAN's position with a pinch of salt. By using this parochial barometer, CAN has introduced sentiment, religious bigotry and outright blackmail into the controversy surrounding the probe panel. Every single Nigerian belongs to one religion or another. In most cases it is either a Christian or a Muslim that is appointed to posts.   Does it mean that all the noise about the need for us to avoid using religion as a parameter is all balderdash? Was the whole exercise a CAN agenda ab initio and the rest of us were just fooled into believing that religious politics must be avoided at all cost? What was the crime committed by Shaykh Lemu that he should be disqualified from heading a probe panel? Now we know that CAN is neither tolerant, nor is it willing to learn to live with its Muslim neighbours.   CAN's argument that it was not consulted before the panel was constituted holds no water. It merely exposes its hidden agenda, namely, to constitute the remote control room on government's decisions. The post-election probe panel is not a Christian-Muslim affair. Was the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs consulted? Shaykh Lemu was picked on merit. Why is CAN turning it into a religious controversy? Obasanjo's government did not consult the Sultan when he removed Arabic from the naira and heaven did not fall.   MURIC will not allow any group, no matter how elitist, to strangulate the polity. We totally reject CAN's dictatorial mien. We assert clearly, categorically and unambiguously that Shaykh Lemu, like any other qualified Nigerian, has the Allah-given and fundamental right to serve his country in his area of competence.   We therefore call on the Federal Government to ignore the rantings of CAN and to go ahead with the appointment of Shaykh Lemu as the Chairman of the probe panel. We warn that CAN has stirred the hornet's nest and any attempt by the Government to bend to CAN's wish will show Nigerians where the pendulum of this government is swinging. Nigerian Muslims will not be satisfied with the replacement of Shaykh Lemu with another Muslim. It is therefore Shaykh Lemu or no probe panel.   Even the rationale for the probe panel is clouded in controversy. We nurse fears about the futility of probe panels given the history of such exercises in the past. The reports of many probes end up in the dustbin after the initial hue and cry. Secondly, we share the fear of a large section of the Nigerian populace that the present Federal Government as constituted lacks the moral right to set up such a probe panel because the government itself is deeply involved.   The violence was an expression of anger against the ruling party and the same party lacks the moral locus standi to sit in judgment or to set up a panel to investigate a case in which it has vested interest. How fair can a ruling party's probe panel be when the crux of the probe is violence which erupted in protest against its victory? Already, the opposition is alleging victimization.   To our mind, therefore, only a neutral and international body like the United Nations or the African Union can constitute a credible probe panel into the post-election violence of April 2011. Is-haq Akintola (Ph.D), Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), 234-818-211-9714 E-mail: muslimrightsconcern@yahoo.co.uk              muslimrights@gmail.com Website: www.muric.net Yahoo Group: groups.yahoo.com/group/muslimrights Blog:       muslimrightsmuric.blogspot.com Twitter:   twitter.com/muslimconcern           Be just Justice is the soul of peace No one can deny one and have the other Neither can violence or naked force bring lasting peace