The apex body for Islamic organisations
in the North, the Jama’atul Nasril Islam, has accused President Goodluck
Jonathan of having a hidden agenda with the convocation of the National
Conference.
The JNI, led by the Sultan of Sokoto,
Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, said despite the concerns expressed by
well-meaning Nigerians, the President had gone ahead to inaugurate the
conference, in Abuja on Monday.
It also said that Moslems were short-changed in the selection of delegates to the conference.
The JNI’s Secretary-General, Dr. Khalid
Aliyu, at a news conference on Wednesday in Kaduna, said no amount of
conferences would solve the myriad of problems confronting Nigeria,
except “when our leaders lead with justice and equity in the country.”
He said the process of selecting
delegates to the conference negated the spirit of democracy as majority
of delegates to the conference were Christians.
According to him, 62 per cent of the
delegates to the conference are Christians while the remaining
percentage is shared by Muslims and other religions in the land.
The Secretary-General said that of
specific concern to the JNI was the representation of the security
exports in the conference, noting that out of the 18 security exports at
the conference, only 22.2 per cent were Muslims.
He said, “What is most disturbing is
that the Muslim leadership and Islamic groups have called the attention
of the President to this matter but he has paid no attention to the
concern of the Muslims
“Let me comment on the conference, which
the Federal Government has convened. It is on record that many
Nigerians, including the leadership of the Muslim community in the
country, have expressed various concerns regarding the confab.
Nigerians have warned that the confab is ill-timed given that
electioneering is about to begin. Even with all these cries, the
conveners have gone ahead to host the conference.
“We are however worried that the process
of selecting participants to the conference has been observed to have
thrown away all known dictates of fair representation in a democracy,
which will no doubt affect the credibility of the outcome of the
conference. Although, democracy is a game of number, this has not been
respected.
“We find it a great disregard and
disrespect to the conscience of the Muslims that of the 20 delegates of
the Federal Government, only six are Muslims. No Muslim is deemed fit
to make the list of the Nigerian Economic Summit
“In fact, in the representation of the
security agencies, Muslims have been so unimaginably short-changed with
only one Muslim out of the six retired military and security
personnel.”
The JNI boss also touched on the
increasing number of attacks in the north, noting that the region was
drifting into destruction.
He said, “One needs not to be told that almost the whole north is on fire.
“In the north today, police stations and
military barracks, which are supposed to be the most secure have become
the most vulnerable to attacks.”
He then appealed to all Nigerians,
irrespective of their religious and ethnic affinity to come together to
address the problem of insecurity in the country in order to safeguard
the future of the nation.
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