The Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria, MUSWEN, has urged those planning a nationwide protest over hardship in the country to shelve the idea and embrace dialogue.
The umbrella body of the muslim communities in the South West, said it believed in mutual consultation, dialogue and peaceful resolution of any national issue in line with Islamic dictates as contained in the Holy Qur’an.
The call was made in a statement issued by the group’s president, Alhaji Rasaki Oladejo.
The group prayed for peace, unity and prosperity of the country and appealed to government to expedite action in cushioning the effects of the policies on the citizenry.
The statement reads in part:
“MUSWEN implores those behind the proposed national protest over the current economic hardship in the country to realise that such action might be hijacked by some unpatriotic elements thus making it violent and destructive.
“It must be pointed out here that no matter how peaceful a protest might be in Nigeria, hoodlums and miscreants usually participate in it – thus turning the whole exercise into uncontrollable and destructive crises.
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“It is important to stress here that organising any public protest now in the country will only worsen already bad situation which the protest wanted to correct and may also lead to destruction of lives and properties.
“In as much as MUSWEN believes in the fact that individuals and groups have freedom to protest, such act must follow its decorum and that the situation in the country now does not call for such.
“MUSWEN therefore call on those aggrieved and have better ideas on how to move the nation forward to be patriotic enough to share such noble ideas with those in the helms of affairs and give them more time to implement such.
“The Muslim Ummah also counsel the government of the day to listen to yearnings of the public and put the machinery in motion to address all their concerns as soon as practicable.
“We pray for the peace, unity and prosperity of the country while calling on government to expedite action in cushioning the effects of the policies on the citizenry.”
