Professor Ishaq Akintola no doubt evokes positive and negative passions with regards to the stance he takes on critical national issues as they relate to the welfare and wellbeing of the Muslim community in Nigeria.
Depending on where you stand in the nation’s sharp religious divide, the Ile-Ife, Osun State born scholar is considered as a right crusader and in some other quarters, he could be perceived as an ‘irritant’ seeking relevance but one constant thing with him is that his views are never dismissed by officials of state.
Using the platform of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), Akintola has never shied away from speaking out where others prefer to remain silent on issues relating to the collective wellbeing and aspirations of the Muslim Ummah in the country.
Until a few years ago, Akintola, a graduate of the Cairo, Egypt based Al-Azhar University, was a lecturer in the Department of Islamic Studies at the Lagos State University, (LASU) where he had the opportunity of bringing secular flair to teaching of Islamic studies.
While in active service in the academia, he specialised in researching into Islamic Eschatology, which roughly translates into probing into issues relating to perception of muslims on death, the final destiny of the soul of mankind in the hereafter.
It is to the credit of Akintola that he has consistently canvassed issues relating to the advancement of Muslim Ummah in the country and one of such was the unconditional support that he gave to the Tinubu, Shettima presidential ticket in the 2023 general elections which many saw as unfair to the Christian community considering the fact that it broke the norm where partners in any electoral contests must be adherents of the two major religions in the country.
In the past, it was common to see a situation, where the presidential candidate would be Muslim and his running mate would be Christian but the current arrangement has thrown up two Muslims, which Akintola had no qualms with.
However, two years down the line, Akintola seems not to harbour any doubts with regards to whether the current arrangement has further helped the interest and progress of the Muslim Ummah.
In a chat with Saturday Telegraph recently, Akintola who had initially expressed his fruatrations with the perceived predilection of the Bola Tinubu led government to favour Christians over and above Muslims whom he said trooped en mass to put the government into place.
He said, “The present administration appears too willing to please Nigerian Christians at the expense of the Muslims who struggled tooth and nail to put a Muslim-Muslim ticket in place. Enough respect and recognition is not being given to Muslim leaders.”
According to him, this thinkung is widespread within the Muslim community, saying “I am not speaking my mind alone. I get feedbacks from Muslims all over the country on a daily basis. Our organisation, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has branches with chairmen in 35 of the 36 states of the federation and each state has its mechanism for feeding headquarters with vital information. Anambra is the exception.”
Highlighting the deep seated resentment of the Muslim Ummah towards the current government, he said, “I personally belong to many sensitive social media groups which allow me to interact with Muslim leaders across Nigeria.
“We chat almost on daily basis. Almost every Muslim group adds me without hesitation. Tens of opinions drop in my box daily. Therefore the view I am expressing today is the broad thinking of Muslim leaders across the country.”
Akintola stated that it would be hard to resell the ticket to the Muslim community; he stated that adherents of the faith across the country “are most likely to shout me down if I say anything different about the current administration.”
He stated the Tinubu led government has been unwilling to address their misgivings with regards to appointments and other privileges of state that should accrue to them (Muslims in the country) not minding the fact that acseries of representations have been made to press home their frustrations.
“Every time new changes are made by this administration, it brings sorrow to conscious Muslims. I won’t mention names, but this administration goes out of its way to please Northern Christians, including Southern Kaduna to the chagrin of the overwhelming majority of Northern Muslims.
“If the rationale behind hobnobbing with Northern Christians is to give hope to minority groups, why hasn’t the same gesture been extended to the minority Muslims in the South East and South South?
“How many Muslims from the South East has this government given appointment? It appears this government cares more about what Christians feel about it than what Muslims feel.
“It is the worst treatment we are getting and it is so bad that fellow Muslims now warn me on social media not to make any attempt at campaigning for this same Muslim-Muslim ticket come 2027. That is most frustrating.
“We are not saying Christians should not be appointed but this Muslim-Muslim ticket has violated all the norms of democratic decorum. We have been marooned,” Akintola said in a tone laden with sorrow and indignation.
He stated that the situation is not limited to the government at the centre, saying such exists at the sub-national level where the same treatment has been meted out to Muslims citing the South Western part of the country as worst culprits.
“The worst case scenario is playing out in the South West where this administration is now reputed for digging out fake Muslims for appointments while genuine Muslims get nothing. By fake Muslims I mean former Muslims who converted to Christianity but retained their Muslim names,” he said.
He cited the case of the immediate past Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai as a pointer to many of the sufferings Muslims have continued to suffer in the hands of the current officials of state.
“Muslims were worst hit on the el-Rufai ministerial saga. The ex-governor was the face of the Muslim handshake across the Niger. We were deeply hurt by the Senate cum executive manipulations and we are still licking our wounds.
Despite misgivings of the Muslim community about the government, Akintola however said the Tinubu led government has made some strides since coming on board two years ago, saying it (the government) has taken some actions that would eventually turn out well for the country and its citizens if properly carried through.
He particularly praised the political sagacity of the government in the political sphere, saying President Tinubu whom he described as a political strategist has succeeded in neutralising the opposition in the country.
“When it comes to governance per se, when it comes to evolving political strategies, President Tinubu is the grandmaster. He does not only hit the iron when it is hot, he knows how to make the iron hot by burning it.
“He is doing well with the economy he inherited. Naira is out of the ICU unit and responding to treatment. Prices of goods are falling. Just this week and for the first time in ‘geography’ Nigeria paid all its debts to IMF,” Akintola stated.
Apart from that, the Osun State scholar and cleric lauded the prevailing industrial peace in various sectors of the country, describing it (the prevailing peace) as a remarkable achievement for the government, away from what the situation was in the past.
“There is industrial peace. ASUU is happy. NLC has met its match. Infrastructure blossoms across the land. Opposition political gladiators have all been bourdillonised,” he said.
Akintola however scored the current government low in the area of securing the country from the series of challenges confronting it from various undesirable elements running amok across the length and breath of the country unchecked, saying this is one area the government must urgently look at.
“Insurgency is the nut that has resisted cracking. The bombs are still exploding in Borno. Boko Haram has recently obtained the licence to attack army bases in Marte and Dikwa. Kidnappers are still on the prowl,” he maintained.
