Why is it that whenever a Christian is president, CAN keeps quiet? - Dr Abubakar

macfranc007 November 10, 2017 Nigeria News today & Breaking news ▷ Read Nigerian newspapers 24/7 Omotayo Yusuf

- Dr Khalid Aliyu Abubakar urged the government to make lives of citizens better

- The religious cleric condemned the claim of Islamisation in Nigeria

- He said Muslims should be the ones complaining

Dr Khalid Aliyu Abubakar who is the general secretary of Jama’atu Nasril Islam has spoken about the problems affecting Nigeria saying the country must make lives of citizens better.

In an interview with Tribune, Dr Abubakar also reacted to the alleged Islamisation of the country by the Christian Association of Nigeria saying this wasn’t true.

He said: “If the government wants to get it right, it has to look at the possibility of restoring peace and security in the society. Government should analyse its economic policies because when you have security, you have economy.

“For a society to be able to stand on its feet, its people should be able to feed themselves. They should be able to pay rent, pay school fees and do a lot of things. These are basic things that we ought to be able to do as human beings. To this end, the government should have a formidable vision. Yes, we must have solid and cogent vision. Then, we look at the state of our education from the primary level up to the tertiary level. It is in shambles. And the education sector is very important for the economic development of any country.

“We must put it back in proper shape. The issue of unemployment, too, we have millions of energetic graduates roaming the streets on a daily basis. We must think on how we will provide jobs for them. If we do that, we will be able to put our economy on a sound footing. How are countries like India and China who are bigger than us able to manage their populations and you do not hear of issues like unemployment? All these cannot be achieved without good governance, an acute deficiency of which we suffer in this country.

“Bad governance is synonymous with corruption, incompetence and political maladministration. Nigeria is endowed with human and natural resources, but because of the absence of good governance, we are at a standstill.”

On the issue of the alleged islamisation, the religious cleric said Muslims should actually be the ones complaining and not the other way round.

He said: “It might interest CAN to also know that the first state to submit an application for loan at the Islamic Development Bank is a Christian-dominated state in the South East. They forget that Muslims have tolerated their different practices that are essentially Christian in nature. For instance, Sunday has been imposed on us as a work-free day. We have the cross as the symbol in our health institutions. We tolerate titles that are alien to us. In spite of this, over the years, CAN appears to have become increasingly Islamophobic; It has been heating up the polity.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Islam had made in-road into Northern Nigeria since 11th Century before the jihad of [Usman] Danfodio in 1804. At that time, Southern Nigeria was an animist society. Even when the British left, we condoned some things like working on Friday, which is supposed to be a free day for the Muslims, while Sunday is a free day for the Christians. But what do we have? While Muslims still go back to work after Friday prayers, for the Christians, Sunday is a work-free day just as it is in the United Kingdom and most other parts of Europe. Conversely, Friday is a work-free day in most Arab countries, dominated by Muslims. Again, when Arabic was introduced in secondary schools, many Christian leaders objected to it because the language was Islamic. We don’t have time for trivial issues, we will engage issues brain for brain, pen for pen and word for word. But we equally want the peace of this country. I think the elites are the ones over-heating the polity for political gains only.

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“Why is it that whenever a Christian head of state is in power, CAN keeps quiet – no criticism even when there clearly are bad governance, maladministration and monumental corruption? But when a Muslim leader emerges, media war will start until the end of his tenure. I think we should look inwards. It is not good to be hypocritical. The truth chases the consciousness of someone who is double-faced.

“So, good governance and justice have no colour, no tribe. They are for all. Let us have good expectations and mutual respect for one another. Let us talk to ourselves and appeal to our consciousness by coming closer to one another. It always beats my imagination when I see people who have a greater advantage over others still crying foul. What do they really want?”

Meanwhile, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) hit hard at CAN for reportedly asking the National Assembly to compile a list of all organisations that Nigeria belongs to as well as the treaties signed with a view to dropping the religious ones.

MURIC, through its head, Professor Ishaq Akintola, said the leadership of CAN is only hallucinating.

“The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) is not a little amused by CAN’s latest demands. CAN is hallucinating.

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