As some Nigerians prepare for the proposed protest against economic hardship on 1st October, 2024, a faith-based human rights organization, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has appealed for the cancellation of the protest. The group argued, among other reasons, that it is sacriledgeous for any group to pick Nigeria’s independence day for a protest.
MURIC spoke on Saturday, 28th September, 2024, through its Founder and Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola.He also gave other reasons.
The statement partly read;
“We are surprised that some Nigerians are planning to hold protests on our 64th independence anniversary. Protest on October 1 of any year in Nigeria amounts to a desecration of our value for freedom. It is tantamount to an assault on all the struggles of our founding fathers who fought tooth and nail to drive away the colonial master and usher in a much desired independence.
“It is not enough to contend that people in those advanced countries manifest patriotism because their leaders serve them loyally. Unlike us in Nigeria, their citizens gave everything to their countries. We must ask ourselves what we as citizens have done for our country. If we think our leaders are bad, have we looked at the citizens too? Objectivity demands that if we complain about bad leaders, we must also ponder over the bad citizens.
“What we need in this country is a sincere national dialogue between the rulers and the ruled. This culture of self-righteousness that has permeated the entire citizenry must be critically and objectively examined. We must not always blame the leaders or the police alone. We are all corrupt except for an infinitesimal few.
“MURIC admits that there is severe hunger in the land but Nigeria is not aloof in this category. We are not an island. Neither did our hunger start yesterday. We are also angry due to the pangs of hunger and starvation. But the solution to our problem cannot be found in the expression of our anger.
“Prophet Muhammad (SAW) warned that ‘anger at the beginning is like madness while its end is regret.’
“Going on protest in a state of anger can lead to unpleasant incidents. We can do better by accepting the dialogue option which both the government and voluntary groups have offered. Jaw-jaw is always better than war-war. Even combatants always return to the round table after the war.
“Another reason for our appeal for calm is that the scars of the last #EndBadGovernance protest are still evident all around us. Puffs of smoke from burnt buildings and vehicles still rise in the Nigerian horizon. It is not so long ago: just a matter of weeks. A developing nation like ours cannot afford to engage in weekly self-destruction.
“Furthermore, can any of the planners of this October 1 protest guarantee that rabble-rousing elements will not hijack the protest? If it happened in the July 2024 protest despite promises to the contrary, how are we sure it would not happen in the October 1 protest?
“By the way, how are we certain that those who have tasted the deceitful wine of Leninist communism have not started sharing out Russian flags among misguided Nigerians just as it happened in the July protest? What of the luciferous invitation to the army to take over power during the last protest? Blinded by anger, protesters during the last outing failed to see the fifth columnists and bad losers egging them onto perfidy.
“Yet we recognize the right to hold protests. We cannot do otherwise as a human rights group. The right to protest is sacrosanct and inalienable but that right must not be abused. The right of a protester stops where that of a non-protester begins.
“For example, people who wish to celebrate independence on October 1 have the right to go to places to enjoy themselves. Protesters also have the right protest but they have no right to conduct themselves in such manners as to make it impossible for those who wish to do other things to go about their lawful businesses. That is the naked truth.
“MURIC asserts clearly, categorically and emphatically that the hunger ravaging the country is real. We therefore advise the Federal Government (FG) to show more commitment to the amelioration of the ongoing suffering among Nigerians. FG should also organize sincere national open dialogue and forgiveness sessions between the rulers and the ruled.
“Government officials should also avoid flamboyant living. We want to see genuine commitment to frugality in government’s activities. The cost of governance in Nigeria is too high. It needs to be drastically reduced. Such reduction will leave more funds to provide for the teeming masses. A government that feels our pain will not mock us with daily festivities. If we must make sacrifices, we want to see what our leaders have sacrificed. Citizens cannot be working like elephants but eating like ants. Leaders must also lead by example.
“Nonetheless, we urge Nigerians to respect their country and to honour our independence anniversary which is October 1. We have no other country. We should train our children to respect their country, not to despise it.
“Americans are passionate about 4th July as the date in 1776 opened the gates of freedom unto them. The French hold 14th July most sacred as that was the day they witnessed the storming of the Bastille which signalled the beginning of the French revolution of 1789. The British idolise 15th June 1215 for it was on that date that King John affixed his seal on Magna Carta in a field at Runnymede. Let us give some respect to our Independence Day”.
