Muslim cleric wants Nigerians to support anti-graft war

The Secretary -General of the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), Dr. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, has urged Nigerians to support President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s anti-graft war.

Aliyu who spoke in Abeokuta recently however, challenged the government to do everything possible to improve the living conditions of the people which to him, are getting worse.

He noted that corruption had made it difficult for the country to stabilize, saying that until the government paid serious attentions to it, the country would not progress.

Aliyu who spoke at a lecture, said: “Corruption is becoming the value of our country today, it has made it difficult for the country to stabilize. As long as the government do not tackle corruption to the end, our country would continue to fall into problems.”

The lecture entitled, “Islam and Human Security: Fundamental to Sustainable Development,” was organised by the Correspondents’ Chapel, of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Ogun Chapter.

He stressed that the government should show more commitment in protecting the live of its citizen inorder to avoid breaking up of the country.

“The government should focus on the importance of the well being of the human race, regardless of boundaries of nationality and ethnicity, class and culture, gender and religion.

“The shift of paradigm from the protection of the state to protection of people continuously generates debates among intellectuals and academia.
In the real sense, the state is not exonerated or isolated from the issue of human security because many of the issues in our society require state action and commitment. What is now needed is serious commitment of the state to protect people who are the owners of the state.

He added that for the country to develop, there must be stabilty of government, good governance, peace and security, provision of basic human needs “and human rights must be respected.”

The Islamic Cleric however, commended the organisers of the lecture, urging journalist to be fair in their report and help in nation building through their content.

The Chairman of the Chapel, Alhaji Kunle Olayeni, appealed to government at all levels to find a lasting solution to the economic hardships, pervasive poverty, rising unemployment, declining educational standard, bad governance and corruption.
Olayeni said that these problems were underlying factors responsible for the security deficit, saying that failure to act now may be too grave.