administration to secure their members support the re-election of ex-
President Goodluck Jonathan, an official has said.
Abdullahi Shuaib, the Coordinator of the Conference of Islamic
Organisations, CIO, stated this on Saturday at the 22nd National
Islamic Training Programme NITP, held at Odosengolu near Ijebu-Ode,
Ogun State.
Mr. Shuaib said the CIO and The Muslim Congress, TMC, rejected the
money after they were offered under the label of “religious fund.”
“It is not a secret, they came, offering us over $3 million,” he said.
“We said no….It came through their proxies to us and we said no. And
today we have been vindicated.”
Mr. Shuaib, who is also the Executive Director/CEO, Zakat and Sadaqat
foundation, an arm of TMC, added that “it is not even part of our own
culture to take bribe. We prefer to go hungry than to collect a bribe
from somebody and then eat what is unlawful”.
Expatiating on why the money was rejected, the official added that
“because we know very well that it was bait; it was a poison and you
cannot eat and dine with the devil and think the devil will not come
after you.
“We said clearly no. It is completely un-Islamic. All those
organisations that actually took and swallowed the bait, today, they all
know what it means for them to have allowed the devil and
themselves to eat and dine with the devil.
Nigeria’s former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, who is
currently being prosecuted for mismanagement of about $2.1 billion
security funds allegedly gave over N4 billion of the money to ex-
governor of Sokoto State, Attahiru Bafarawa, to distribute to Islamic
organisations.
Apart from Messrs. Dasuki and Bafarawa, others being prosecuted in
the scandal include ex-PDP Chairman, Haliru Mohammed, and
Raymond Dokpesi, the owner of Daar Communications.
Mr. Shuaib condemned all those who collected the funds from the ex-
NSA.
“It is morally wrong, it is unethical for any organisation, either Muslim
or Christian or traditionalist to have indulged in that reckless looting
of treasury, the common wealth and there is no way they can
exonerate themselves because they have desecrated the house of God
because they symbolise the House of God and they have desecrated it
and it is a sacrilege and it is wrong.
“Ethically it is wrong, morally it is wrong, socially, it is wrong,
economically it is wrong, legally it is wrong. And I think, we should
allow the long arm of the law to catch up with them and let the law
take it cause over them.”
Reject Corruption
At the formal opening of the programme on Saturday, the President of
TMC, Luqman AbdurRaheem, listed bad governance, corruption, and
godlessness as some of the factors responsible for the challenges
facing Nigeria.
He said the problem will remain until Nigerians imbibe positive
attitudinal change in their activities.
“Our change is different from the APC’s change and PDP’s
transformation agenda. Rather it is more all-embracing because
change in Islam is rooted in morality, piety and goodness.
“‘We need Muslims with a clear change vision, a comprehensive
Da’wah programme, having fixed priorities and well defined
strategies to change Nigeria for the best,’’ AbdurRaheem said.
On Boko Haram, Mr. AbdurRaheem said the TMC and other Islamic
organisations in Southern Nigeria have used education to defeat
extremism.
“If you look at The Muslim Congress and other responsible Islamic
organizations in the South West, you see that we have been able to
give our youth proper education,” he said. “So, it is very difficult to
lure Muslims in South West to some of these criminal activities
because all our organizations are registered by government.”
“There is need for collaboration and idea sharing, that is why we are
not limiting our activities to South West. As we speak, we have
established a branch in Abuja, a branch in Niger and within the last
week we are also working with our brothers in Yobe State who have
seen the need to associate with the responsible Islamic organization.”
The cleric also made reference to the clash between the Nigerian
Army and the Shiites community in Kaduna in which scores of the
group’s members were killed.
“We are not anti-state. Any organization that is anti-state, it means
building a state within a state, and that is terrorism. We should
respect military; we should respect the police, because they are there
to protect lives and property.
“Once you said you don’t recognize them, then you have problem.
That is what happened to Shiites in Nigeria. So, you don’t indoctrinate
your people.
“Let them be informed, let them be educated. So that where you and
government clash on ideological ground, you go to court.”
“For instance, if you look at the issue of Hijab, we are court, with
some other organization. But in some part of the world, they will start
demonstrating, killing, causing commotion, that is terrorism. We don’t
allow that in our own organization.”
In his lecture on the theme of the camping programme -‘Change: The
Islamic Approach’, the guest speaker, Abdulateef Sulaiman, asked
Nigerians to be patient and ready to bear the consequences, pains and
sacrifices resulting from positive change.
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