The Nigerian Muslim rights group, the Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, has reacted to the purported list of successful candidates for the 2020/2021 Bilateral Education Agreement, BEA, scholarship to study overseas.
DAILY NIGERIAN reports that the list, which has gone viral, shows the Northern states as having only 21 successful candidates while the Southern states have 70 successful candidates.
Issuing a statement on Wednesday, the MURIC Director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, lamented that the list has “greatly short-changed the North”.
Mr Akintola, therefore, called on the Federal Government to defend itself on the seeming move “designed for the purpose of Christianising the North”.
“Worse still, there is only one Muslim among the 13 successful candidates from North Central. This is unacceptable. Such an exercise can only be designed for the purpose of Christianising the North. It is as diabolical as it is Islamophobic. If confirmed, it means another cunny move to Christianise Nigeria has just been uncovered,” the statement noted.
“Although we suspect that this list may be fake news and the handiwork of enemies of peace, yet the Federal Government must speak up on it before it causes further damage to the already thin veneer of mutual confidence in the North-South dichotomy as well as the fragile Christian/Muslim relationship in the country.
“..Not only that, but it has also been used as a tool for playing tortuous religious politics, particularly the preference for picking minority Christians from predominantly Muslim areas.
“This could only have been intended to further deepen ignorance and poverty among the Muslims while the infinitesimally small Christian group in the North is unjustly lifted into the circle of elites and the bourgeoisie.
“It is rather unfortunate that while we consistently lay emphasis on the need for fair distribution of the dividends of democracy among all groups, some unpatriotic elements are determined to continue exhibiting gymnastic religiosity in their official capacities.
“In spite of recent attempts to smear our image in order to blackmail us into silence, MURIC will not keep quiet in the face of elite tyranny. We will not kowtow to the poohpooh of shenanigans masquerading as regional heroes.
“We will never accept discrimination against any tribe. We will continue to stand for justice, fairness and equity no matter whose ox is gored. Stability, peace and prosperity in every part of Nigeria is the major concern of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC).”
