MUSLIM RIGHTS CONCERN (MURIC)
هيئة حقوق المسلمين
Motto: Dialogue, Not Violence
11th December, 2025
PRESS RELEASE:
MURIC HAILS SULTAN FOR BOLD STAND ON
NIREC
The Second Tri-Annual Meeting of the
Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC), was held in Abuja yesterday, Wednesday
10th December, 2025.
At the meeting, the Sultan of Sokoto and
Co-Chair of the Council, His Eminence, Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar III, warned that
NIREC risks losing its relevance unless faith leaders embrace sincerity,
accountability, and genuine dialogue.
Reacting to the Sultan's warning, a
faith-based civil liberties organization, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC),
commended the Sultan for his frank, truthful and bold declaration. The group
added that NIREC has become a mere talk shop, an elephant in the room and a
gangrene polluting the religious anatomy of the nation.
This was contained in a statement issued
on Thursday, 11th December, 2025 by the Executive Director of the
human rights body.
The statement continues:
"The President General of the
Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs NSCIA) and Sultan of Sokoto who
also doubles as the Co-Chair of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC),
His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar III, warned yesterday, Wednesday,
10th December, 2025 that NIREC risks losing its relevance unless
faith leaders embrace sincerity, accountability, and genuine dialogue (https://www.vanguardngr.com/2025/12/insecurity-were-not-honest-with-nigerians-sultan-slams-faith-leaders/).
"Quoted verbatim, the Sultan said inter
alia, 'We sit down and say so many good things to one another, knowing God
owns everything. Yet, when we go out, away from our comfort zone, we begin to
say negative things about one another. Are we really honest with ourselves?” he
queried.'
"MURIC commends the Sultan for
this frank, truthful and bold declaration. In our humble opinion, NIREC has
become a mere talk shop, an elephant in the room and a gangrene polluting the
religious anatomy of the nation.
"Coming from a leader who has
always restrained his Muslim followers from reacting spontaneously to
provocative utterances and actions from Christian leaders, a leader who has
always counseled Muslims on the need for patience, tolerance and peaceful
coexistence, there is no scintilla of ambiguity that the Christian membership
of the Council has pushed the Sultan to the wall with their insatiable desire
for domination in all matters.
"We are also certain that the
last nail in the coffin of cordiality among members of NIREC was driven in by
ongoing maliciously fabricated allegation of Christian genocide which is an
indubitable evidence of long-standing malice being nursed by Christians within
the Council.
"If the Christian members in the
Council possess goodwill and genuinely manifest same towards their Muslim
members, the reports on the fictitious genocide sent by Nigerian Christians to
America could have been tabled first at a NIREC meeting.
"For Christian members of NIREC to
have authored or supported reports lodged outside the shores of Nigeria
particularly to a country that has the capacity to strike with deadly
missiles from far away or invade our country and forcefully take our president
and his vice to Guantanamo Bay is the highest degree of bad faith, ill will and
betrayal.
"We doff our hat for the Sultan for
having the golden heart to sit at the same table with his Christian colleagues
after this humongous treachery. Other leaders would have boycotted the Council
meeting.
"It beats us hollow that anyone would
associate our leader with terrorism. Yet some of the Christian soulless
petitions mentioned his name. This Sultan preaches peaceful coexistence 24
hours of the day. He spends a large chunk of his time with Christians within
and outside his palace. So, where, when and how did he promote terrorism?
"We are shocked to our narrows
that while our leader keeps us busy in the day with peace talks and we go to
bed at night believing that all was well, our Christian neighbours spent the
night holding nocturnal meetings on how to maneuver the media to spread
anti-Muslim sentiments and how to engineer the invasion of Nigeria by America.
Saul, Saul, why doth thou persecuteth me? (Acts 9:4).
"To be or not to be? That is the
question. Whether to say to our neighbours, 'To your camps oh Israel', or
whether to sit down for a heart to heart talk on the way towards amicable
settlement of issues within the Council. To agree to disagree, again to
disagree to agree, that Nigeria may have peace, that Nigeria may have progress,
that Nigeria may have both motion and movement, not motion devoid of
movement."
#NIREC
#SultanOfSokoto
#ToBeOrNotToBe
Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Founder/Executive Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC).
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