The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has described the suit
challenging the Arabic inscription on the Nigerian currency (naira) as
‘acrobatic religiousity.’
MURIC noted that it was not Nigerian Muslim leaders who
brought the idea of Arabic in the Nigerian currency in post-independence
Nigeria, adding that the man who initiated it was a Christian, an Urhobo
officer by name General David Akpode Ejoor.
The group tackled Nigerian Christians and former President
Goodluck Jonathan, accusing him of becoming an instrument of division by
removing Arabic from the naira during his administration.
MURIC made the assertion in a statement signed by its
Director and founder, Ishaq Akintola and made available on Monday.
The group was responding to a suit filed by a Lagos-based
lawyer, Malcolm Omirhobo arguing that the Arabic inscription on naira notes
portrays Nigeria as an Islamic state contrary to the country’s constitutional
status of a secular state.
The lawyer also filed a similar suit against the Nigerian
Army seeking the removal of Arabic inscriptions from its logo. The cases are
being heard before Justice Mohammed Liman at the Lagos High Court.
But according to MURIC, “Omirhobo’s approach is not only
naïve, it is pedestrian and kindergarten. This suit against Arabic on naira
manifests acute desertification of religious tolerance, exhibition of undiluted
acrobatic religiousity, NAFDAC-registered gymnastic spirituality and Oxford cum
Harvard-certificated ignorance.
“How many times do we need to tell our Christian neighbours
that Nigeria is not a secular but a multi-religious state. A secular state is
one that does not recognize religion as in communist states. But Nigeria
recognizes all the religions in the country and the Constitution also begins
with the words ‘under God’. Secular states do not recognize the existence of
God.
“The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999
says inter alia at its very beginning, ‘We the people of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria: having firmly and solemnly resolved : to live in unity and harmony
as one indivisible and indissoluble sovereign Nation under God…’
“So how can Nigeria be a secular state when we are ‘under
God’? In addition, nowhere in the whole constitution was the word ‘secular’
ever used and we challenge anyone who can find that word from the constitution
to mention the chapter, section and sub-section.
“Seeking to remove Arabic from the naira is the height of
ignorance because Arabic is just a language like English or French, not a
religion. By the way, what is on the naira is not even Arabic. It is ‘Ajami’
using Arabic letters as a form of transliteration.
“Even if Omirhobo single-handedly succeeds in removing
Arabic from the naira, is he going to remove the numerals 5, 10, 100, 1000
indicating the denominations as well? If he cannot, then he still has a long
way to go because even those numbers are Arabic.
“The numerical system (1, 2, 3, 4, etc) were invented by a
Muslim mathematician by name Alkhawarizmi (died 850) in the 9th century. Nay
and more than that. Whereas ancient Greeks had men like Plato, Aristotle,
Euclide, Thales, Theodocius, etc whose scientific theories only managed to
survive their times and Europe boasts today of scholars like Nicholas
Copernicus, Francis Bacon, Galileo Galilei, Rene Descartes and Isaac Newton
with their moribund and Godless postulates, the list of renowned Muslim
scientists is endless.
“The truth is that religious fanatics have grown paranoia
about Islam and they arrogate the Arabic language to the religion alone whereas
this is not true. Their hatred for Islam and the Muslims is transferred to the
Arabic language. This transferred aggression beclouded their perspicacity to
the extent that they fail to realize that Islam is not synonymous with Arabic
language.
“For instance, Israel’s currency has Arabic inscription on
it. Nigerian Christians who go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem every year spend
Israel’s money and see Arabic on it. Did they tear it into pieces in anger?
They did not ask the Israeli authorities to remove the Arabic on their currency
but when they return to Nigeria they maintain their hardline opposition to
Arabic on naira. Where is objectivity? Is this not articulated religiousity?
“Again, hardly would any imported electronic gadget enter
Nigeria without its manual containing an Arabic section. That is business
sense, not religion. But Muslim-haters are swayed by emotion and they cannot
separate the wheat from the chaff. Common sense is not so common. Of course
there are still Christians who are moderate, liberal and realistic. They are
the few exceptions who will not allow themselves to be led by the nose.
“One major argument against the removal of Arabic from the
naira is that a large percentage of the Nigerian population will be cut off
from our monetary system if Arabic is removed from the naira because Arabic is
one of the local languages in Nigeria. It is used by the Shuwa Arabs in Borno
State. Therefore Arabic cannot be a foreign language.
“Furthermore, the
Bible used by Christians in Israel, Egypt, Palestine, Libya, Syria and other
Arab countries are printed in Arabic language only because that is the only
language they understand. Does that make the Bible an Islamic Bible? Their
church services are conducted in Arabic. Have those churches become mosques?
“Interestingly enough, God is called Allah in the Arabic
Bible. If Arab Christians want to say ‘God is great’, they also say ‘Allahu
Akbar’. To thank God they say ‘alhamdulilah’ just like Muslims. The population
of Palestine is 12 million and 7% (about 840,000) of this number are
Christians. Yet the language of this 7% is Arabic. Perhaps Omirhobo will like
to apply to the International Court at the Hagues to reject them as Christians
because they speak Arabic?
“Omirhobo’s argument that Arabic on naira notes portrays
Nigeria as an Islamic state holds no water because if Arabic is Islam, then
English is Christianity. Hence if Arabic on the naira note is Islamisation,
non-Arabic letters on the same naira is Christianisation. By extension, if the
use of Arabic is Islamisation, the use of English language in Nigeria,
particularly as a lingua franca, is the mother of all christianisation.
“For equity, therefore, Nigeria should have two official
languages: Arabic and English with priority and emphasis in that alphabetical
order. But in their magnanimity, tolerance and wisdom, Nigerian Muslims have
not come forward to demand that Arabic should be Nigeria’s second official
language. For that reason alone, the plaintiff’s request for the removal of
Arabic from the naira is frivolous, petty, selfish, myopic and parochial.
“Perhaps the plaintiff thinks Nigerian Muslims were the ones
who initiated the inscription of Arabic on both the army badge and the naira
notes. Omirhobo needs to be told that even the colonial masters inscribed
Arabic on the currency printed by Britain and used in Nigeria. The words:
‘pound daya’, i.e. one pound was inscribed on colonial currency. Omirhobo may
therefore need to sue the Queen of England.
“To continue along the lanes of history, it was not even
Nigerian Muslim leaders who brought the idea of Arabic in the Nigerian currency
in post-independence Nigeria. The man who initiated it was a Christian, a
Urhobo officer by name General David Akpode Ejoor (rtd).
“He was the one who introduced the Arabic inscription and
the Star emblem into the Nigeria Army crest. He was given the assignment and
research led him to pick the Arabic words ‘nasrun minallahi’ (meaning ‘victory
is from God’) and a committee made up of three ministers of the First Republic
: Muhammadu Ribadu (Defence), Festus Okotie-Eboh (Finance) and Yar’adua (Works
and Housing) approved his choice. Ejoor confirmed this in his book
‘Reminiscences’ (page 16).
“The Christian who took the Central Bank of Nigeria to court
claiming the country has been Islamized because of the Arabic inscription on
the naira note failed to see how heavily Nigeria has been Christianized by
observing Saturday as a public holiday because of the Seventh Day Adventists
and Sunday because of other Christians. But the Muslims are not given any day
at all.
“MURIC appeals to Nigerians not to allow the fear mongers
and merchants of hate continue to spread fear and sow discord among us. Many of
those saddled with the task of uniting us have become instruments of division.
Ex-President Jonathan is an example. He removed Arabic from the naira because
he listened to hate preachers whom he took along on his futile but numerous
trips to Jerusalem.
“They indoctrinated him into believing that Arabic on the
naira implies Islamisation. Although he saw Arabic on Israeli currency on his
trips to Jerusalem, yet he swallowed the lie hook, line and sinker. Of course
it cost him his much-coveted second term because his action had been rightly
interpreted as anti-Muslim.
“We charge Nigerians to open up their minds in order to
avoid becoming victims of accidental civilisation or, worse still, educated
illiterates. Arabic is not Islam and Islam is not Arabic. One is a language,
the other is a religion. Let us learn to understand, to tolerate, to give, to
forgive and to love.”
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