19th
August, 2019
PRESS
RELEASE:
MURIC LAUDS NDLEA FOR SHIFTING EXAM FOR JUMUAH
The Muslim Rights Concern
(MURIC) has hailed the management of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency
(NDLEA) for shifting the examination slated for the Jumu’ah period last Friday,
16th August, 2019, in order to allow Muslim candidates to attend the
mosque.
NDLEA had fixed DDR
examination for 1130 to 1330 hours (i.e. 11.30 am to 1.30 pm) on that Friday. However,
MURIC in a followup statement dated 15th August, 2019, appealed to
the drug enforcement agency to consider the plight of Muslim candidates who
should be in the mosque at that period.
In a dramatic twist last
Friday, NDLEA announced a shift in the timing of the examination which eventually
began by 3 pm on that day after the Muslim candidates had returned from the
mosques. The shift was effective in all NDLEA’s examination centres throughout
Nigeria.
In a statement signed by
its Director and Founder, Professor Ishaq Akintola, on Monday, 19th
August, 2019, MURIC expressed its delight with the NDLEA authorities for
shifting the examination.
“We commend NDLEA authorities
for shifting the examination billed for the Jumu‘ah period. This agency has
exhibited administrative competence, maturity in industrial relations and
religious tolerance. This is the kind of attitude we need in Nigeria to foster
peace and tranquility. We salute NDLEA.
The human rights organization
seized the opportunity to disabuse the minds of Nigerians about its methods of
operation.
“Permit us to seize this opportunity to
disabuse the minds of Nigerians concerning our modus operandis. Those
who regard MURIC as an extremist group have missed the point. Of course we are
aware that many Nigerians know the truth about us. But some just want to give a
dog a bad name in order to hang it. This NDLEA affair has shown the whole world
that we do not mind going the extra mile to make our stand known through
dialogue. We kept making appeals to the NDLEA management until they became
convinced that we have good intention. We made no threats. We flexed no
muscles. It is not in our character.
“We just continued to explain the plight
of those Muslim candidates to the NDLEA authorities until they understood our
point of view. This indicates that those who oppress Muslims sometimes do so
due to lack of understanding of the Muslim viewpoint or due to communication
gap. It is this gap that MURIC seeks to fill from time to time in order to
douse tension and to create an atmosphere which is conducive to peaceful
coexistence.
We therefore urge Nigerians to see MURIC in its true
character: a pacific organization, peace-loving, law-abiding and
dialogue-prone. We detest violence and this is why our motto is: ‘Dialogue, Not
Violence’. As a major mechanism in our operations, we open dialogue with
institutions, employers and agencies in order to intervene on behalf of
aggrieved Muslims. We believe that this is better than resorting to spontaneous
violence. Ours is therefore a re-engineering effort.
We are
middle-roaders and socio-intellectual jihadists seeking freedom for the
oppressed, food for hungry Nigerians, healing for the sick, clothing apparels
for the naked and shelter for the homeless. We are non-violent
jihadists fighting corruption and extravagance, seeking freedom of worship for
all and justice for the persecuted.”
“MURIC’s vision of
Nigeria is that of a nation where people live together in peace and harmony, a
nation in which no one is oppressed, a nation where merit takes priority, a
nation where people of all faiths and ethnicities peacefully coexist, a nation where
every citizen enjoys Allah-given fundamental human rights regardless of class,
creed, or ethnicity.
“We invite Nigerian Muslims
to this paradigm shift. Nigeria has witnessed too many religious crises. It is
time to build a strong bridge across the cultures. We should approach the
authorities to table our grudges whenever there are issues. Our evidence of
dialogue or attempted dialogue will become a powerful weapon against the
oppressor when the chips are down.
This is what Muslims do in civilized
communities like Britain, Germany, the United States, etc and the authorities
listen to them. Muslims must make superior arguments their most potent weapon,
not spontaneous violence. It is time to build Nigeria.
Professor Ishaq
Akintola,
Director,
Muslim
Rights Concern (MURIC)
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