15th October, 1999

Mr. Olusegun Obasanjo,
President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria,
Aso Rock Presidential Villa,
Abuja, Nigeria.


cc:

The Senate President
The Speaker, National House of Representatives
The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation
The Minister of Police Affairs
The National Security Adviser
The Chairman Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs
The Chairperson FOMWAN
All Nigerian Muslim Organizations
All daily newspapers in Nigeria


INFRINGEMENT ON THE RIGHTS OF MUSLIMS IN NIGERIA: A CALL FOR
INTERVENTION

We are an internet-based discussion group of Nigerian Muslims
living in different parts of the globe but conscious of our
responsibilities and obligations towards our fatherland, Nigeria.

We wish to seize this opportunity to formally congratulate you on
taking the mantle of leadership of our potentially great country,
Nigeria. We also wish to commend your Government's effort towards
ensuring fairness, justice, equity, accountability and a better
Nigeria.

However, we wish to draw your attention to the urgent need for
your Government to put in place one of the most fundamental
ingredients for the greatness of any country - the peaceful and
harmonious co-existence of its citizens through the respect of
their basic rights both as citizens and as human beings, as
provided by the Nigerian Constitution as well as the United
Nations Charter.

As Muslims, we have noted how in spite of numerous
representations, previous administrations in this country have
remained insensitive, nay privy, to matters that undermine the
practice of the religion of Islam by its believers. Indeed,
evidence also abounds where if Muslims are allowed to practice
their religion  at  all, then they are victimised in various ways.
As a result, peace and harmony  have continued to elude our
country with such devastating consequence on our  collective quest
for development and progress.

But as your administration comes with a promise to be responsive
in delivering  governance through equity and transparency, we wish
to take you on your words by  bringing to your attention areas
that need to be addressed not only in order for  us to feel the
impact of your promises, but also for the hope of harmony and
everlasting peace to be restored among Nigerians.

Your Excellency, some of these issues include:

1. Violation of freedom of worship

There seems to be a perennial official misconception in Government
circles in  this country about what Islam is and what it is not.
Such official  misconception, unfortunately, is gradually diffused
to Government institutions  and parastatals.

For the avoidance of doubt and the need to educate people, we wish
to make it  clear that Islam is a complete way of life for the
whole of humanity. It enjoins  on us, as believers, our
obligations to our Creator, to our families, to our leaders, to
our neighbours, to people of other religions and to society as a
whole.

In Islam, it is inimical to the teachings of the religion for one
to believe in  some injunctions and not others. Islam teaches its
believers what is allowed and  what is not allowed, what is proper
and what is improper, and the difference  between right and wrong.

It is in this light that the definition of decency in Islam
touches on behaviour  as well as dress code among believers, among
others.

Working on a wrong conception of Islam, previous administrations
in Nigeria have  imposed or encouraged the imposition of un-
Islamic values on Muslims, knowingly  or unknowingly, in  gross
violation of their fundamental right to freedom of  worship.
Evidence of such gross violation could be seen in the blatant
disregard  for Muslim women to dress according to Islamic
teachings by the Nigerian Law  School, some Corporate
Organisations especially the Banking Sector, and  Institutions
like Polytechnics and Colleges of Education. Indeed, parastatals
such as the Law School and the NYSC take additional steps to
punish Muslim women  who insist on adhering to the injunctions of
Islam on dressing and physical  contact with male counterparts in
such programmes as parade and physical  exercises. Such women are
either refused a call to the Bar or their service year
is often extended.

As citizenship is about rights, we view the denial of Muslim
women's right by  the Nigerian Government through its institutions
as not only injurious and  provocative, but also as an
infringement on the fundamental rights of Nigerian  Muslims
generally.

The increasing trend of forcing Muslim women to conform to un-
Islamic code of  dressing and practices as a necessary, even if
un-written, precondition for  employment is a very serious
discrimination that needs to be arrested. It is  also
undemocratic.

The attitude of previous administrations seems to, unfortunately,
be predicated on the wrong notion that Islam is a religion of
unqualified obedience. Yet,  nothing can be further from the
truth. Islam enjoins its followers to obey  leaders, elders and
parents. But Islam is also un-equivocal in calling on its
followers to refuse to obey even parents, whose actions and deeds
make or  force people to deviate from the ways directed by the
Almighty.

2. Degeneration in Moral Standards

Nigerians have for long been complaining about a massive
deterioration in moral  values that has ushered in a regime of
decadence as manifested in phenomenal  upsurge in vices such as
robbery, drug addiction, corruption and  prostitution.  It is no
coincidence also that this is happening at a time when Government
is  encouraging the proliferation of some of the  leading
workshops and institutions where these vices are manufactured and
reproduced, through the indiscriminate  issuance of licenses for
running night clubs and brothels. Sir, this action  makes your
Government a direct accomplice  in societal moral decadence even
as  it is supposed to be the custodian of  morality. The result of
this neglect of  duty is the growing insecurity that undermines
the fundamental rights of some  Nigerians to live and work
according to their chosen way of life without  intimidation or
harassment.

3. Growing tension and violence among communities

There is a new trend of recurring feud and violence among and
between different  communities in different parts of the country.
The search for peaceful co-existence among communities in Nigeria
will remain wishful as long as people are allowed to take the laws
into their hands and, by so doing, destroy property, maim or kill
innocent citizens under whatever guise. To arrest some of these,
government should engage in a mass mobilisation campaign to remind
Nigerians that every citizen has the right to live freely in any
part of the country of his/her choice, and also to educate the
populace on some of the sacred customs, values and rituals that
must be respected.


4. Destruction of places of worship

Places of worship like Churches and Mosques have of recent become
targets for  destruction and vandalism by hoodlums in times of
crises. We are convinced that  such places of worship have become
easy targets simply because of their  locations. There is clearly
the need for caution to ensure that Mosques or  Churches are not
located in areas largely dominated by followers of the other
religion. For activities of worship by followers of each religion
will easily be  misunderstood as nuisance and provocative by
members of the community that do  not belong to the religion.
Whilst Muslims are committed to tolerance towards people of other
faiths, we believe that for the sake of peaceful co-existence it
is necessary to avoid situations where places of worship are built
with a hidden aim of causing provocation to the predominant
religious community. On the other hand, a mechanism should be put
in place, where it does not already exist, or re-activated, where
it already exists, to prevent the random and deliberate erection
of places of worship with a view to causing offence, overtly or
covertly, to the host community. We, therefore, seriously view the
claim by the Christian Association of Nigeria  (CAN) that some
state governments have ordered the unlawful demolition of places
of worship. We urge the Federal Government to investigate such
complaints in all  states and  reprimand as well as provide urgent
redress where necessary.


5. The millennium celebration

We view the proposed plan by your Government to celebrate the new
Gregorian  millennium as not only insensitive to Muslims, but also
as an avenue for rent-seeking and directly unproductive activity.
Only 20 years ago  Muslims all over the world marked the beginning
of the 15th century of Islam. Because of its religious and
historical implications, this event was observed in Nigeria by
Muslim groups and organisations only, without direct or indirect
Federal Government involvement. In view of this precedence and in
line with established practice of ensuring a balance between the
numbers of Islamic and Christian holidays, it is only reasonable
that the Government should abolish any plans for the celebration
of the millennium. We believe that the business of organising and
funding the millennium celebration should be left to interested
private sector outfits and non-governmental organisations.

6. The issue of Sharia

In order to lay a credible foundation for the peaceful co-
existence of Muslims  and Christians in a truly democratic
Nigeria, a conducive environment must be  created for both
religions to be practised fully,  freely and in accordance to
their prescribed principles. Your Excellency Sir, as you are
aware, one of the  fundamental tenets of Islam is the Sharia.
Unfortunately, the issue of Sharia has been wilfully ignored by
past successive governments to the detriment of the Muslims.

In 1979 you endorsed and handed over to a democratic civilian
regime a constitution which recognises the Sharia as a legal
system with a judicial backing. Since then, the implementation of
the Sharia provisions has been persistently and consistently
hampered by well-known, specific interest groups in the country.
Now that you are back in power, through a democratic process, we
see this as an act of providence, and it is therefore our desire
and hope that you will use your good offices to remove these
obstacles which have continued to hinder Muslims from implementing
the Sharia provisions. We believe that tackling the issue of
Sharia once and for all would go a long way in facilitating
genuine co-existence between the various religious groups in
Nigeria.


7. Some Proposals

Your Excellency Sir, we strongly believe that your Government
needs to intervene urgently in addressing the various issues
raised in this memorandum. A cogent summary of the key areas that
require your immediate intervention is as follows:

(a) Formulation of statutory directive to all governmental and
non-governmental institutions, agencies and organisations in the
country to respect the rights and freedoms of Muslims to worship
(in all its ramifications) without fear of intimidation.

(b) Re-assessment and re-evaluation of all existing licenses and
regulations on nightclubs, hotels, and similar outfits with a view
to curbing the incessant criminal and immoral decadence in the
country.

(c) Establishment of a permanent and effective machinery for
creating community awareness about religious beliefs, sacred
customs, practices and values with a view to promoting mutual
respect of religious values and avoiding unnecessary friction
between and within communities.

(d) An urgent review of existing town/country planning laws and
the establishment of Building Enforcement Units to ensure strict
compliance with the planning laws at all the levels of government
in Nigeria. Such planning laws should incorporate measures to deal
with environmental pollution (noise, nuisance and public order
disturbance) and problems arising from the use of residential
houses for fellowship activities.

(e) No return of Schools to Missionaries: Muslims across the country
have consistently opposed the persistent effort of some religious
groups to secure the return of schools to missionaries. We fully
support this opposition for the obvious reason that schools have
in the past been used to, overtly or covertly, convert many
children from the religion of their parents. We urge your
Government not to return State Schools to religious groups, as
such schools have been and will remain to be maintained with the
tax payers' money.

(f) Revisiting the issue of Sharia with the view to finding a
satisfactory solution that guarantees a peaceful co-existence of
all and sundry.

(g) Educating the populace on the right of every citizen to live
in any part of the country of his/her choice without fear of
intimidation.

(h) Taking tough measures to discourage rituals and practices that
justify the killing of innocent Nigerians.

(i) Encouraging tolerance and dialogue amongst followers of
various religions with the hope of fostering greater
understanding, unity and quest for a better and prosperous
Nigeria.