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MURIC chided for seeking exclusion of Christian southerners from 2023 Presidential race

By Ben Ogbemudia, Abuja
A group, the Democratic Reformers, has rebuked a self-professed Muslim Rights Concern association, MURIC, over its alleged incautious exploitation of religion to achieve a partisan objective.

The group was responding to a statement credited to MURIC’s Chairman, Professor Ishaq Akintola, claiming that the Vice President and other Christian southern political figures be ruled out of consideration in the 2023 Presidential contest on the basis of their shared faith with other Presidents that previously emerged from the region.

MURIC said: “We will like the Vice President to know that it is not his turn yet. Neither is it the turn of any other Christian from the South West. This is because three Yoruba Christians (Obasanjo, Shonekan, and Osinbajo himself) have occupied the Presidency whereas no single Yoruba Muslim has been either military head of state, President, or Vice President of Nigeria.”

Frowning at such ‘divisive exploitation of a sensitive matter’, the Democratic Reformers in a statement signed by its South West Coordinator, Mr. Mukaila Olalekan accused MURIC of putting Nigeria’s stability and harmony in peril with inflammatory comments and tenuous arguments that seek to drive a wedge between a group of people who otherwise consider and relate with one another as a collective, united by common ancestry and other deep familial ties.

The group said: “It is neither surprising nor unexpected that as 2023 draws nearer, we will witness the implementation of desperate measures designed to politically engineer social divisions amongst our people by those who believe that such divisive tactics would serve their interests.

“We are however disappointed that MURIC has joined this cohort with an incautious exploitation of religion, as displayed in its recent statement demanding the exclusion of Christian southerners from the 2023 Presidential race.”

“MURIC in the statement corroborated Prof. Yemi Osinbajo’s commendable religious tolerance and bold pursuit of inclusion. It highlighted his unflinching loyalty to President Muhammadu Buhari, particularly in moments of political vulnerability when an otherwise power-hungry and scheming deputy would have staged a mutiny.”

“However, in spite of these leadership traits affirmed by MURIC itself, the association still went on to submit that he, and other Christians from the South, be denied a chance to lead the country. Its reason for this was based on a half-baked analogy that the Presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo and the brief leadership of the recently deceased Ernest Shonekan had somehow conferred certain benefits on all Yoruba Christians that must now be equalized.”

“Even with the greatest of sympathy for MURIC’s confusing grievance, it is hard to see the logic of such a position. It amounts to an oversimplification, if not downright nonsensical, to suggest that the private faith of an occupant of a public office – in a country like Nigeria with deliberate constitutional protections for beliefs and conscience – awards disproportionate advantage to all citizens who profess similar faith.”

“Besides, the position pokes a gaping hole in MURIC’s other rash assertion that Muslims in the South West are subjected to an unfair treatment similar to the oppressed Blacks during South Africa’s brutal apartheid regime. How could this be so when all South Western states since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999 have all been governed by very public Muslims on multiple occasions?

“For instance, a state like Lagos, which MURIC in other careless statements had described as an oppression theatre for Muslims, has been governed by Muslims for 16 years out of the 23 years since the return to democracy.”

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“None of this provides evidence for MURIC’s assertions. In fact, if we are to follow its argument that the faith of elected official invariably gives members of the same faith special advantages, then perhaps Christians in states like Lagos could also claim marginalization. The Nigerian people could also insist that following President Buhari’s eight-year tenure as a Muslim, then the country must be led by a Christian for balance.”

“But we are not going to tow this path, lest we fall into MURIC’s divisive pit. Its insistence on sorting the Yoruba people into two warring religious groups is an unfortunate distortion that bears no semblance with reality, and a dangerous partisan tactic.”

The Democratic Reformers said further that: “With respect, MURIC’s statement was full of illogic that clearly cannot withstand scrutiny. The reality of the matter is the Prof. Yemi Osinbajo is a leader committed to ensuring that Nigeria lives up to its vision of a diverse, inclusive and fair state in which members of all faiths and religions can co-exist in peace and fulfill their God-given potentials.”

“He has demonstrated this with his careful selection of a team as the Vice President. Not only has his office excelled in the inclusion of women, a demonstrably excluded group, it also has members from Nigeria’s diverse ethnicities and religions, including Muslims from the South and the North.”

“These are the relevant actions that matter and worthy of discuss. Not inflammatory and reckless charge that could imperil Nigeria’s fragile peace and harmony. MURIC should learn to play to its part as a responsible Nigerian entity by lending its voices to causes and movements that unite not brew confusion and facilitate in-group hatred and division.”

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