The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has accused a group of Yoruba leaders of planning to sideline Muslims in the selection and participation of Yoruba people in the scheduled National Conference to hold soon in the country.
A group of leaders from the south-west zone had met days ago at Isara-Remo, Ogun State home, home of elder statesman, Sir Olaniwun Ajayi to strategise on the selection of delegates for the south-west geopolitical zone ahead of the National Conference.
Some of the prominent Yoruba leaders at the meeting were Sir Olaniwun Ajayi (host); Chief Olu Falae; Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State; Gen. Alani Akinrinade (rtd.); Afenifere leader, Chief Reuben Fasoranti; former presidential candidate, Dr. Tunji Braithwaite; Afenifere leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo; Pastor Tunde Bakare; Bishop Bolanle Gbonigi (rtd.) and Archbishop Ayo Ladigbolu.
Some other Yoruba leaders, including leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, claimed that they were not invited to the meeting.
In a statement on Monday, Professor Ishaq Akintola, director of MURIC said his organisation was raising concern because there no single Muslim from the zone was invited to attend the meeting.
“It gives room for suspicion. Such a gathering lacks balance. It is not only parochial but also myopic. They should be able to look ahead. Are they saying there are no Muslims in Yorubaland?” he queried.
“Governor Mimiko (Ondo) was there. He is Christian. What of Governors Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Isiaka Ajimobi (Oyo), Iklil Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun) and Raji Fashola (Lagos), who are all Muslims? Why were they not invited? Is it because they are Muslims?
“Why was the attendance heavily tainted with Christian clerics? A prominent pastor (Tunde Bakare) was there with a bishop and an archbishop, whereas there was no single Imam. Where are the Imams and Sheikhs of Yorubaland?
“The Yoruba Committee on National Conference has started on a wrong footing. They should realise that the world is changing and they should allow that change to reflect. Gone are those days when decisions are taken without consulting Muslims. Muslim docility has become history. Nigerian Muslims have donned the garb of proactiveness”.
MURIC said the committee is on its own, adding: “We reject its deliberations and whatever the outcome may have been. For it to be credible and relevant, it must convene another meeting where Muslims would be well represented.
“At least the likes of Professor Daud Noibi, executive secretary of the Muslim Ummah of South-West Nigeria (MUSWEN); Shaykh Zughlool, founder and proprietor of Daar ad-Da’wah, Isolo, Lagos and Shaykh Habeebullahi Al-Ilori of Markaz, Agege should be there. These three alone are renowned Islamic clerics and they would have balanced the list and made it acceptable.
“Alhaji Abdul Azeez Arisekola Alao, the Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland and Vice President-General of the whole South West of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, is the undisputable leader of Muslims in Yorubaland. Any meeting of Yoruba leaders without his presence is a charade. Others are former Minister of Works and President of the Ansarud-Deen Society of Nigeria, Alhaji Femi Okunnu; foremost industrialist, Chief S. O. Babalola and Chief Bola Babalakin. Anyone who claims that he does not know these Muslim leaders is being economical with reality but extravagant in imagination”.
The organisation argued that the notion of a Christian South is misleading, as Islam has been in Yorubaland more than 100 years before the British bombarded Lagos in 1851.
“Today, Muslims form a large majority in Yorubaland. Any attempt, therefore, to take a stand among the Yoruba on the proposed National Conference without due recognition for and consultation of prominent Yoruba Muslim leaders and scholars is not only an exercise in futility but also autocratic and therefore unacceptable”. MURIC concluded.
