Even outside the massive air conditioned hall where its session take place, the National Conference keeps living up to its billing as a contentious enterprises.
The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Saad Abubakar III, led some Muslim leaders to President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday at the Presidential Villa to protest the conference’s composition.
The Sultan declined to speak to reporters at the end of the closed door meeting with the President, the Secretary General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, said the President assured them that there was no deliberate move to marginalise Muslims.
Speaking with State House correspondents, Oloyede said: “We are happy we consulted with him, and he has given us reasons to re-assure the Muslims that Muslims in Nigeria are not deliberately marginalised and he has asked us to convey the feelings of the government, the genuineness of the government, the fairness of the government to the entire populace.”
“That if there are issues that are not as they ought to be, they were not definitely deliberate and we want to believe that Mr. President told us his mind, but we also want to believe that it is proper to protest; it is also proper to assume that a leader will always be just, even if there are mistakes thereafter.”
He went on: “We just felt that we must convey the feelings of the Muslims in Nigeria to Mr. President and he has given us his word to re-assure the Muslims community that he is a genuine and committed Christian who will not be unjust to others even …”
Oloyede, however, declined to give details about the feelings of the Muslims the group conveyed to the President.
“Those feelings; may be because you are not a Muslim. If you are a Muslim, you will know the feelings of the Muslims presently about the composition of the National Conference,” he said.
With the Sultan were Shehu of Borno, Abubakar Ibn Garbai, former Head of Service of the Federation, Yayale Ahmed and former Chief Justice of Nigeria Mohammad Uwais.
The Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) has opposed the composition of the National Conference, claiming that Muslims are being marginalised as the number of Christians at the conference is more than the number of Muslims.
Stressing that the selection of delegates to the national conference was not handled in a free and fair manner, Secretary General Dr. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu said at a news conference in Kaduna that Muslim were cheated in spite of “having the largest population”.
He said: “Although democracy is a game of numbers, this has not been respected. For instance, while Muslims constitute the majority in the country, Christians, who by all acceptable records, are not more than 40 per cent of the country’s population, ironically constitute 62 per cent of the total delegates.”
“We find it as 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 delegates from 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, one out of six retired security and NIA officers, and two out of delegates of the Association of Retired Police Officers. This means, of the 18 security experts belonging to these three groups, only four (22.2 per cent) are Muslims. The question is, why is this serious short-changing of Muslims in these very sensitive groups?” Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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Why must we bring religion to every issue? And so what? sultan what have you done to pacify your deranged Jihadist in North East? It is a pity that bigotry has blinded us so much. GEJ pls balance the figures so that our muslim brothers will have a fair representation.
ReplyDeletepoint of correction! GEJ is not their brother and can never be. GEJ is a redefined Christian and that's why some scrupulous elements are making the country ungovernable for him, but he will conquer in Jesus name!
Deletedat is 2 show how dis govnment wl continue killin us all bcos we ar much than dem,stupid idiot callin him self president.
ReplyDeleteYou are a bastard from your prostitute mother's rotten womb! you moslems are too full of problems, why don't actually start thinking of forming your own country haba! rubbish stupid set of maggots! one Nigeria my black assss, we shall just keep deceiving ourselves, there's nothing like one Nigeria. we all just being forced by the lootocracies to live in same country! let the country split!
DeleteYou can see what am always talked about(politics +religious =violent /crisis/death)
ReplyDeleteWe are talking about the betterment of this country, someone (educated illiterat) was trying to drag us backward, or a Muslim/christian must be appointed based not on merit/antecedents but based on religion affiliation?
China, Switzerland even "common" Ghana (apology) did not put their "faith" in religion, it's COUNTRY FIRST !!!
Lest nobody deceived us, how can you practices your faith (well) when your country is in turmoil, under developed? (can't you see what's going on around you, in the so called house of businss )
So please Nigerians, lets get our act together and think about the country first.
Who dey hungry no dey hear preaching well ooo.
These guys should find their level and let Nigerians' have their peace once and for all.
ReplyDeleteMy dear I am so tired of these sets of animals, where did they originate from? kai Nigeria is in big problem sharing one country with these sets of things!
DeleteI DON'T THINK THERE IS NOTHING WRONG IN ASKING THE PRESIDENT TO BALANCE THE COMPOSITION OF THE DELEGATE.AFTER ALL DEMOCRACY IS ALL REPRESENTATION. EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT THE MUSLIMS CONSTITUTE 60% OF OUR POPULATION SO WHY IS GEJ MARGINALISING THE MUSLIMS. AND SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE WILL START INSULTING PEOPLE SIMPLY BECAUSE HIS ANCESTORS WERE SLAVES TO THIS MUSLIMS.
ReplyDeleteHow do you know that the Muslims has got got 60% of the population? Has their been any census based on religion in this country? I can wake up tomorrow and tell you that the Christians constitute 68% of the population in Nigeria! How about that! Do remember that their are a very good number of Christians in Kaduna, Bauchi, Adamawa, Nasarawa, Jigawa, Taraba and Niger state. Meanwhile their are absolute negligible Muslims in all of South-South and South-East. So where is your statistics of 60% coming from?? You guys are always having inferiority complex problem! Why don't you just leave the country? I believe u may fair better!
DeleteI totally agree with u! I believe the moslems will fair better if they will just leave and form their own country. good riddance to bad rubbish! but will they leave? for where? when oil still dey for south south? they must suck am finish before them go remember say them wan leave. Niger Delta shine una eyes, by the time everybody suck una little resources finish, then they will realize they want to leave and by then the niger delta is already naked!
DeleteSince people are selected as confab members fairness dictates that it should be based on balanced quota system that will cut across religious, ethnic and geopolitical zones. Therefore the demand of the Muslims is in order. Stop the hate and discrimination against people based on their difference.
ReplyDeleteHw are u sure is nt telline lie u people gave him power to rule so let him rule and take the responsibility on every thing that is happening 2 day and pray 4 God help us
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly why we keep having problems in this country. Is it that there are no muslims there at all? I thought the whole idea was to make things better in Nigeria.
ReplyDeleteI'm a muslim and choose to dissociate my self with this 'grudge' they went to the president with.
The whole confab thing is already even so annoying. There has been one problem AND the other since it's commencement. Smh!
God help us!
I believe the 60% of Muslims including almajiris cow ram cameronian chad Nigea etc They have always manipulated this country and are still buzy marrying four wives and producing GH children .one of Nig biggest prob is not curruption it is over population caused by the North and Muslims
ReplyDeleteNo education .No good job and they are into illrgal import through the porous border in the North .there is no way this country can forge ahead with people of defferent ideology so the best if ee must stay together is confederacy .let every region develop at its own pace .this is what I expect from confab .six regions with six vice presidents and regional autonomy.If our yorubas had supported Ojukwu Nigeria would have been better of today
Equal representation is required especially for that purpose.
ReplyDeleteFair representation? why is nobody talking about youth not be represented at the confab? How can people in the past discuss our future. Has anybody check the list of the delegates? How may of them is below age of 50years? Niger area indeed.
ReplyDeletemoslems this is your hour, endeavor to discuss disintegration so that you can form your own region and rule yourselves! good riddance to bad rubbish! I seriously believe you moslems will fare better on your own! but will you guys agree to leave, capital NO! as far as there's still oil in the south south! Just imagine that this oil feeding the whole Nigeria is in the North? I leave you to your thought!
ReplyDeleteAbsolute nonsense! Because you muslims get married to dozens of women and have uncountable kids everywhere is not an excuse to recognised. After all a good number of this your "plenty" population are just a bunch of idiots, creeples, beggers, terrorists etc. I have one message for you guys- Muslims live in Nigeria in peace with us or leave us alone period!!! Split and form your own country. Fools.
ReplyDelete