GEJ's Ambition Destroyed Traditional Institutions - NSCIA

Jamiu Ademola,

The Secretary General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, has said that the ex-president Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s led administration bastardized almost everything, including the Sacred and our traditional institutions in his desperation to seek a second term in office.

The former Vice chancellor of the University of Ilorin, who said this while speaking various national issues, advised President Muhammadu Buhari not to end up like his predecessor.

When asked about his feelings on the involvement of some religious leaders and religious bodies in the murky water of partisan politicking during the last general elections, he said: “I don’t know what the definition of religious leaders is. But by whatever definition, I don’t consider myself a religious leader. I just consider myself as one of the operators of the system.

“I believe that it’s not just religion. I believe that the last administration bastardized almost everything, including the Sacred and our traditional institutions. If we face the reality, you’ll know that they are not in the perception of the public. They are no longer what they used to be. Even politicians, nobody takes any politician seriously now. Even the so-called religious leaders could not have been an exception.

“I believe that what happened was a bastardization of the system. It will take a person with a strong character to keep himself or herself out of the madness. As for me, I saw it as people being short-sighted. The whole thing will go as it has gone in one way or the other. But we should learn some lessons. The community, particularly are our Christian brothers who are unduly dragged unnecessarily for very selfish and personal reasons.

“There were some credible leaders like Cardinal John Onaiyekan and Bishop Josiah Atkins Idowu-Fearon and others who took principled positions. But there were some others who were not hesitant in dragging religion into the dirty waters of politics. Of course, we heard rumors about our people too. But as Muslims, the leadership of the Nigerian Supreme Council made it clear in unmistakable terms that we should not be dragged into politics.

He warned that nobody should allow material attraction to drag the name of Islam into the mud through selfish interests.


“By and large, we have rumors of few and insignificant people, who allowed themselves to be used. Of course, they were not given the real money. They were given just pittance and they eventually regretted what they did. They discovered that they were just being used for reasons that were not of national interest. So, I believe that we should learn a lesson from what has happened.

“I hope this new government will be different. You have to put so many question marks on people these days. But I hope that they will be different in terms of making things to work properly. This will happen when they do not exploit people for selfish and personal reasons and destroy national institutions. Only God helped us with the last administration.

“There was nothing sacred that was not touched; Christians against Muslims, Hausa against Beron, Beron against Igbo, Igbo against everything. They were just looking for anything that will pull the country down. I didn’t know why they had to do that. But we thank God that at the end of the day, it didn’t pay. That should be a lesson for anybody who wants to tamper negatively with the interest of this nation,” he said.

Meanwhile Governor of Nasarawa state, Umaru Al-Makura, has come to the defense of Goodluck Jonathan as he accused the former Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, of having set former President Goodluck Jonathan against the Northerners when he was in office.

Al-Makura claimed that Maku’s hostile tendencies along with ethnic and religious lines helped fuel the crises in the state.

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