The Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, has once again reaffirmed
its support for the use of the presidential jet by Hanan Buhari, one of the
daughters of President Muhammadu Buhari.
In a statement made available by the director
of the organization, Professor Ishaq Akintola, on Thursday, MURIC re-echoed its
position on the matter.
The use of the presidential jet by members of Buhari’s
family has met a lot criticisms.
MURIC wonders why Nigerians failed to appreciate the fact
that the father of a Northern girl-child had not given her out in early
marriage contrary to the common practice in the region but has been encouraged
to pursue Western education.
The statement added, “A Tsunami of criticisms trailed our
statement of Monday, 13th January, 2019 in which we expressed solidarity with
Hanan Buhari, one of the daughters of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Though mainly motivated by political prejudice, the
criticism cut across religions. Our organisation was taken to the cleaners
simply because we refused to wailers in bashing a honest man.
“But the point is that there is always two sides to a coin.
Unfortunately wailers will not bother to look at the other side. Why must we
all reason along one direction? We can take the bashing. We don’t mind so long
as we are convinced that we are on the right path. Truth is constant.
“One particular aspect has jogged our mind again: the fact
that Hanan Buhari is from a region which is considered to be conservative and
educationally backward.
“This is a region where millions of male children roam the
streets in almajiri fashion while parents keep the girl-child at home, marry
them off at tender age and declare Western education as taboo.
“Those who are crying foul today are part of those shedding
crocodile tears over the neglect of the girl-child. Well, something phenomenal
happened in the Hanan Buhari narrative.
“A girl-child from this same conservative, education-shy
region bagged a first class in a London university where education has genuine
quality and first class actually means first class. Isn’t that alone worth
celebrating? Isn’t that alone capable of inspiring other girls in the region?
“This was exactly what MURIC referred to when it said in its
first statement that Hanan Buhari was an inspiration. We repeat it once again
without any fear of contradiction that she is, indeed, an inspiration and a
model.
“Nigerians from a section of the country have for long been
lampooning Northerners for giving out their daughters in marriage at tender
age. We now have a father who did not do that but took his time to allow his
daughter to get the best education available.
“Lo and behold! Nigerians went for his jugular. Who did this
to Nigeria? It is now clear that those making noise over early marriage and
neglect of Western education in the North had never been sincere. They were
more interested in deriding a whole region and reviling others in
self-righteousness.
“Mischief led a section of the media to twist our statement
by giving it a wrong caption in order to mislead the general public and also to
cast aspersion on MURIC.
The mischievous caption read, ‘MURIC Says Hanan Buhari is an
Inspiration While Flying in Presidential Jet.’
“Of course that was far from our intention. We were called
all sorts of unprintable names. That should not worry us anyway. Any
organization or individual who wants to change society must be prepared to
stomach criticism, both fair and unfair.
“We made it clear in our statement that the issue of the
presidential jet was not major. We insisted that the lessons inherent in a
president’s daughter studying photography and working so hard at her studies as
to bag a first class degree was more important to us. We said it was capable of
inspiring the youth, particularly girls in the region, to imbibe hard work.
“She was likely to create an indelible impression on the
Northern girl-child. We said we were proud of Hanan. We still are till
tomorrow. We stand by this statement. We have no apologies for that. No
retreat, no surrender.
“Some even alleged that our statement was too pro-North and
that our stand was capable of hurting the Yoruba agenda. We consider this as a
gross misunderstanding of MURIC’s mission. The fact that our headquarters is in
Lagos does not make us a Yoruba group. Far from that.
“We are a completely detribalised group. Our membership
spreads to all tribes, including the South-East and the South-South. Our
mission is to unite Nigeria. This is why we have consistently stood by the
truth and the truth alone no matter whose ox is gored. We will not promote any
sectional agenda.
“What manner of people are we in this country? We hail
loafers and loath workers. We idolize thieves and demonise honest people. What
crime has the president’s daughter committed? A young lady went for studies as
the daughter of the Number One citizen in our land.
“She had all the reason in the world to indulge in
self-glorification but she elected to work hard and she excelled. She came back
with the highest laurel from a British university where you cannot buy grades
with either your look or your cash.
“She came back home believing that she has neither
disappointed her parents nor her compatriots. But we chose to pour invectives
on her instead of encomiums. Who cursed Nigeria?
“Our message to Hanan is very simple: ignore the wailers.
They are in the ‘bad belle’ camp. But they cannot undo what Allah has done.
Continue to do your parents proud and stay focused.
“You are not alone. Millions of Nigerians North and South of
the Niger are with you. Honest and hardworking Nigerians appreciate you. It is
your moment of glory. Savour it. Glow and shine in its euphoria.
“We laid little emphasis on the presidential jet. People
will continue to play politics with it and that is what has happened. What has
Hanan’s father done wrong?
“Why wouldn’t the father be happy with a daughter who did
him proud in a foreign land? We do not see why a biological daughter of the
Nigerian president cannot, once in a while, have access to it for an important
purpose like Hanan has done.
“The United States is a great democracy. Yet we have seen
pictures of President Trump’s daughter, her husband and their little son as
they boarded Air Force One for a trip. It is a pity that Nigeria’s democracy
leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.
“We need to grow up. From the daughters of George Bush to
those of Lincoln and Obama, White House kids had broken the rules. Ex-President
Obama’s daughter, Malia, was filmed smoking pot.
“The Bush twins, Jenna and Barbara were drunkards. They were
also caught using fake identity cards in 2001. Patty Davis was notorious for
sexual recklessness bothering on nymphomania. Luci Johnson almost burnt down
the White House.
“Compared to the White House daughters, Hanan is a pleasure
to behold and a treasure to possess. Unfortunately Nigerians will not
appreciate what they have in the daughter, just as they do not cherish the
father who sits on their wealth and has refused to steal one kobo. When will
Nigerians know the difference between pure gold and ordinary sand?
“To cap the edifice, we wish to correct the wrong impression
created that we said Hanan flying in the presidential jet was an inspiration.
What we actually said was that Hanan’s educational feat was an inspiration to
the Northern girl-child and that there was nothing wrong with her using the jet
for that particular assignment which we, in good conscience, cannot consider as
private.
“We reaffirm our pride in Hanan and we concretise our faith
and vote of confidence in President Muhammadu Buhari as an exemplary father and
president of our great country, Nigeria.”
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