Follow Us on Google
From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
The Kaduna State chapter of the Supreme Council for Shari’ah in Nigeria (SCSN) has supported concerns recently expressed by Catholic Bishops over the state of the nation, urging President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to pay closer attention to the challenges confronting millions of Nigerians.
The Islamic body said the concerns raised by the Catholic clerics reflected realities it had similarly drawn the President’s attention to in previous engagements.
Reacting to the bishops’ remarks, the Secretary of the Kaduna State chapter of the SCSN, AbdurRahman Hassan, said the Catholic Bishops “did the right thing” by speaking frankly about the challenges facing the country.
“The Catholic Bishops did the right thing by telling the President the reality on the ground. There are many issues bedevilling the country today: insecurity, untold hardship faced by millions of Nigerians and many more. These are problems that need to be addressed by the government without conditions,.”
Hassan said the Supreme Council for Shari’ah had also repeatedly engaged President Tinubu on similar concerns, particularly insecurity and the economic difficulties experienced by Nigerians, but expressed disappointment that more progress had not been achieved.
“The Supreme Council for Shari’ah in Nigeria has sat with the President on these issues time without number, but always met with the same reaction from Mr. President. Perhaps he was wrongly advised by his lieutenants on the actual situation on the ground.”
Hassan recalled that in January 2024, the Council urged the President to take urgent measures to reduce the impact of economic reforms and intensify efforts to address insecurity.
“As far back as January 2024, the Council met him and told him to expedite action to cushion the effect of the hard economic decisions and deploy everything within the government’s capacity to tackle the problem of insecurity,” he said.
Other News
According to him, subsequent engagements with the President produced similar discussions but did not yield the desired outcomes.
“Many meetings followed with the President, and these and other emerging issues were always raised, but unfortunately, nothing serious came out of those meetings in terms of solving the problems,” Hassan added.
The SCSN official said both the Catholic Bishops and the Islamic organisation had independently arrived at similar conclusions regarding the challenges confronting Nigerians.
“In a nutshell, both the Catholic Bishops and the Supreme Council for Shari’ah have independently reached the same conclusion: that the President is either disconnected from the suffering of ordinary Nigerians or surrounded by advisers who paint an overly rosy picture of the situation.
“Probably because of his confidence in them, he believes whatever they present to him.”
Hassan stressed that religious leaders remain close to the grassroots and are often among the first to understand the difficulties faced by ordinary citizens.
“Religious clerics are the ones directly in contact with the grassroots. If they inform Mr President of the reality on the ground, he should listen and act on it.
“After all, if actions are taken on the issues raised, the credit will go to his government,” he added.
