The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has tackled Vice President
Yemi Osinbajo over his alleged presidential ambition.
Reports had it that Osinbajo would declare his intentions to
run for the Presidency after the All Progressives Congress, APC, National Convention.
But, the Vice President, through his Media Aide, Laolu
Akande, denied such claims.
Reacting, MURIC informed Osinbajo that it was the turn of
Muslims in the South West to rule Nigeria and not Christians.
MURIC’s Director, Ishaq Akintola, explained that three
Yoruba Christians have occupied the presidency, but no single Yoruba Muslim has
been either military Head of State, President or Vice President.
In a statement he signed and forwarded, Akintola noted that
this factor has given Yoruba Christians both political and economic edges and
subjected Yoruba Muslims to political marginalisation, social segregation and
gross economic disadvantage leading to abject penury among Muslims in the
sub-region.
The statement reads: “The Nigerian Vice President, Professor
Yemi Osinbajo, has denied planning to declare his presidential ambition. The
Vice President spoke through his spokesman, Laolu Akande today, Monday, 7th
February, 2022.
“Nonetheless (the denial notwithstanding), we will like the
Vice President to know that it is not his turn yet. Neither is it the turn of
any other Christian from the South West. This is because three Yoruba
Christians (Obasanjo, Shonekan and Osinbajo himself) have occupied the presidency
whereas no single Yoruba Muslim has been either military head of state,
president or vice president of Nigeria.
“This factor has given Yoruba Christians both political and
economic edges and subjected Yoruba Muslims to political marginalisation, social
segregation and gross economic disadvantage leading to abject penury among
Muslims in the sub-region.
“Muslims in the South West will no longer remain onlookers
in matters affecting our welfare and our collective destiny. Any Yoruba
Christian or Muslim candidate seeking office will have to consult the Muslim
community. Nobody will be allowed to take Muslims for a ride and get elected on
a platter of gold.
“All other things being equal, we would not have worried at
all and we would not have brought the religious factor to the fore in Nigeria’s
march towards 2023. But the brazen effrontery and undisguised persecution of
Yoruba Muslims coupled with the criminal silence from those that matter among
Christian leaders, civil society and Yoruba socio-cultural groups have made our
stand necessary. Our stand is informed by an urgent need to liberate Yoruba
Muslims from the shackles of religious persecution.
“The last time we checked, the Vice President has not deemed
it necessary to check the excesses of his fellow Yoruba Christians who are
oppressing Yoruba Muslim women in government offices and persecuting female
Muslim students in South West schools. Neither has he uttered a single word of
condemnation or sympathy on the matter. What then will be the fate of Yoruba
Muslims when Osinbajo becomes the president of Nigeria. Christians in the South
West will garner more courage. They will out-herod Herod and for Muslims, it
will be from the frying pan into the fire.
“Even Profesor Oluyemi Oluleke Osinbajo cannot claim that he
is unaware of the sufferings of Muslim women and female Muslim students in the
South West whose conditions can be compared to that of blacks in apartheid
South Africa. Perhaps his silence can be due to his position as a pastor of the
Redeemed Church whose declared objective is to plant churches within a few
meters of each other throughout Nigeria. The starting point may be the forced
conversion of Muslim students in Yorubaland. This of course will not be a new
development in the sub-region. It happened to our parents and grandparents.
“We urge the Vice President to come out openly and put an
end to the state of confusion. For the avoidance of doubts, we have nothing
personal against Vice President Osinbajo. In actual fact, we are among his secret
admirers and this can be traced to his loyalty to the President Muhammadu
Buhari particularly because of the way he stood by the latter in his trying
times.
“It would have been a horse of another colour if no Yoruba Muslim has shown any interest in the presidency come 2023. But fortunately the crème de la crème among Yoruba Muslim politicians have indicated interest. Vice President Osinbajo is, therefore, advised to allow sleeping dogs to lie.”
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