DON’T DESTROY SOMEONE WITH LIES; YOU WILL BE RUINED BY THE TRUTH (1)
Balogun Ibrahim

It has been brought to my notice a press release issued by the president of the Obafemi Awolowo University Muslim Graduates Association (UNIFEMGA) about some supposed “recalcitrant group” “usurping” the name of Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria on the OAU campus. In the said release, he would go on to make damning accusations about the conducts of this group bordering on instigating violence and even failed veiled attempts at religious extremism and terror potentials.

As someone who knows the issue at stake inside out, I have to clearly state that the said release in full of lies and innuendoes. The only use I can possibly find for it is as an instructional material on ‘How Not to Lie’. While that has not a bit surprised me, I have to admit that I marveled at the kind of father who would put such weighty lies on kids who by providence interestingly are of the same age as his own children. People who shoot arrows into the sky and cower under the mortar should remember they have children out there in the wild too. Given the present Nigerian situation viz the unholy acts of some supposed Muslims, one would expect a reasonably constructive address of such personal problems turned societal as this MSSNOAU issue. I call this personal knowing all that I know that at the base of this issue is the ego of just one individual; the Chief Imam of OAU Central Mosque, Professor Abubakar Abefe Sanusi.

HOW IT ALL STARTED
I really don’t know how to make this brief but I’ll try. The genesis of this issue is difficult to put a date to but we all agree it goes back to around year 2000 as a conservative estimate. As old-young relationships are, the students had some fall-outs with the lecturers and the scope of the trouble got escalated when the students quite correctly felt let down by the chief Imam in a case they had against the school authority. This was the case of Muslim sisters using the face veil. The then Vice Chancellor, the revered Professor Roger Makanjuola would later allude to this fact vindicating the students in his memoir “Water Must Flow Uphill”.

And in a bizarre manner, I watched the chief Imam literally beat his chest inside the Awolowo Hall mosque that he instigated the niqab ban “because you disobeyed me!” You see my point about a personal problem? This problem, wherever it heads or ends, is a product of the ego of this Professor Abubakar Sanusi.

2003 – 2010
Now how did we get here? Following the great upheaval that followed this into 2003, 2004, a reconciliation committee was set up comprising the students, the Muslim staff, the broader MSS and UNIFEMGA. The committee looked at the selection of executives which had by then become another sing-song on the lips of the imam. They resolved to select the executives together with a mandate that subsequent ones shall be selected by the students with the Muslim staff community and MSS as observers in order to ensure transparency and equity. This became the tradition and there was never a problem with this until the year 2010 when the imam’s ego hit new heights. This time, he would no longer be an observer; he wanted to be the head of the shuurah (the selection committee). Not only that, he would reserve the right to select or deselect anyone he so wishes.

The intent behind this laughable suggestion did not take much time to manifest; he would later select a parallel executive council filled with names of the children of his cronies and other members of staff plus some unfortunate ones. This same year, after prayers at the OAU central mosque, he pronounced the MSSNOAU proscribed in a bizarre tale that didn’t end till he physically assaulted Mutiu Jimoh for daring to ask a question. So much for an Imam fighting in the house of Allaah!


The other major events of that year included his announcement of a set of executives at a shameful ceremony at the central mosque wherein the announcement was roundly booed by the vast majority of students. This majority has however ever since been referred to clandestinely as a “splinter group”. Note that the MSSN people were on ground that day even though they have many times denied this implicative fact.

The imam would also later lead his selected Imam into Fajuyi and Awolowo Hall mosques one night and crudely instruct him to lead prayers. This was also resisted by the students and they both left in ignominy. At that point, this new battle line became bolder.

DON’T DESTROY SOMEONE WITH LIES; YOU WILL BE RUINED BY THE TRUTH (2)
Balogun Ibrahim

DID MSSNOAU DECIDE NOT TO REGISTER?

Acting on instructions, Dr (Mrs) Lateefat Durosinmi, the then Dean of Students’ Affairs used every machination to prevent the MSSN registering on campus. She came up with a denigrating law prohibiting registration for any society without an approval letter from its parent body. What is this about? Dr Durosinmi is the wife of Professor Muiz Durosinmi, a past chairman of the Muslim Community who himself was handpicked by the Chief Imam in a bid to oust the eminent geologist Professor M. AbdulRahman who was always sympathetic to the cause of the students. Dr (Mrs) Durosinmi, herself a high ranking member of the Muslim Staff Community knew of some intractable disagreements between the MSSNOAU and the broader MSS.

In collusion, the MSS and the Muslim Staff body (which should read Imam Sanusi) decided they wouldn’t give this letter of approval.

The DSA even circulated a release around school warning new students off the MSSNOAU. As it has become tradition, they were doing the jobs of islamophobes while wearing the garbs of Muslims! And when they talk about the MSSNOAU not being registered, this is what happened. They deceitfully don’t ever paint the full picture that we tried over and over to register but this new ‘decree’ that was never applied to anyone before or after us was the albatross. Note for the sake of brevity that our issue with the larger MSS was in one word; INDEPENDENCE, and if in two words; INDEPENDENT THOUGHTS!

What sort of university students look on as some non-students (that is what these MSSN careerists actually are, people who are already grannies who for the quest for leadership have for decades stuck to MSSN; Muslim STUDENTS Society of Nigeria! Grand Students!) condescendingly kick them about even against established religious dictates? They would restrict your resource persons to only those who subscribe to their ideas; they would at their own whims throw off basic religious principles for those of their leaders.

While religious tenets may be open to different interpretations, bidding to restrict everyone to your own declared thought is anathema to sound reasoning, upward mobility and progressive thoughts which should be the hallmark of young vibrant university students. This rejection of these debilitating thoughts is what has brought the strange bed fellows of the MSS and the OAU Muslim Staff together to fight a common enemy; kids they should be fathers and mothers to but have decided to make adversaries of!

DON’T DESTROY SOMEONE WITH LIES; YOU WILL BE RUINED BY THE TRUTH (3)
Balogun Ibrahim

CALL TO DISUNITY

This is what has been on since then till the last year when they got some willing boys registered as the new MSSN in OAU. This new MSSN was pushed through in a shadowy manner before the departure of Dr Durosinmi as DSA. Save for the letter from their “parent body” and staff advisers, there was no way they could have provided all the other things needed for registration.

Documents like the secretarial reports of the last Annual General Meeting and Financial Statements, and names with details of members could never have been submitted by the group. But the rigmarole was set into position. In a single incident, Nigeria’s future and even today was once again sold out by the unexpected twins of academia and religion! This small band which has been predictably bootlickers have grandstanded before their paymasters that they have the students with them, but this fraud that has seen their UNIFEMGA paymasters shower them with unaccounted cash is becoming clearer by the day. Hence this desperation to by any means hang the dog! Interestingly, these foot soldiers who have been operating on Radio Biafra as they can’t even step in the hall mosques have been chastised for failing to attract any crowd to their failed programmes.

It is on record that the Jihad Week of this group even with all the money spent by UNIFEMGA had ridiculously low attendance while the Islamic Awareness Programme they badmouthed was a huge success in terms of crowd, acceptance and resource persons.

THIS SESSION AND ITS MANY ILL FIRSTS

This new session has witnessed unprecedented events in the annals of OAU Muslims. It started out with an orientation programme by this group for themselves as students shunned their programme. Inevitably, for the first time; there were two different Muslim Freshmen Orientation programmes. Then the Imam with the support of the MSS tried to announce his new executives. This brought back the 2010 memories as the shout of No! No! by the students infuriated the Imam to such an extent that he proceeded to grab another brother by the scruff of his neck. The video of this unfortunate incident even made it to YouTube. The next line of action was worse; the new DSA, Dr Akinola was dragged into the scene. She made a lowly release which should never come from the most unprofessional of administrators and got it reported in some newspapers. She alleged Boko Haram like links, called a group of more than 5000 members an unpopular splinter group, and in a way never expected of an African mother, deliberately lied and called the sisters prostitutes. Interestingly, she was hailed on by the MSS, UNIFEMGA and the Muslim Staff community whose bidding she was doing. Note that by the Muslim (Staff) community, we mean a small but powerful clique that has hijacked the noble body for its own ulterior motives.

There are still many upright members of that community, just as in UNIFEMGA also who do not have a say in how things proceed. Dr (Mrs) Akinola, a wife to Professor Akinola, a respected activist and pastor is such a willing tool in the hands of Imam Sanusi such that you have to wonder what the connection is. Well, the fact is the DSA is Professor Sanusi’s patient at the OAU Teaching Hospital. So it doesn’t get any easier to manipulate the woman.

Together, they tried to forcefully close down the students’ mosques and this was again resisted by the students. This is the type of man the Imam is! He wouldn’t care if the mosques were shut, as he didn’t care when sisters in veil were forced out of OAU and those around are/were harassed. The same way UNIFEMGA and the rest do not care if their recent false accusations end up giving their adversaries scarred lives behind bars, loss of studentship (which they are currently pushing for) or death (when you impugn terrorism on one today, it’s akin to murder). So a Jihad Week programme held this year and it also was the first time that two different such programmes will hold. UNIFEMGA and co are really having a success breaking the ranks of the Muslims. Now, a little about the Jihad Week.

DON’T DESTROY SOMEONE WITH LIES; YOU WILL BE RUINED BY THE TRUTH (4)
Balogun Ibrahim

JIHAD WEAK

The traditional programme of MSSN is Jihad Week as is widely used in various schools around the South West at least. But in 2003, the MSSNOAU branch decided to break with this tradition. With the prevailing post 9-11world and misconceptions about the Jihad word, it was changed to something more endearing and pleasing. It is silly to undermine the institution while scaring people away from the intent; to learn Islam.

So the name change to reflect what we intended – Islamic Awareness Programme (IAP). While this was being done, the bulk of the present UNIFEMGA-MC foot soldiers who still haven’t mastered English grammar (such terrible lot!) were in primary schools or even kindergartens. So when they question the IAP name not being traditional to MSSNOAU, tell them it was changed before their elder ones ever heard about OAU. So if it’s possible that someone does a 5-year course, goes to NYSC, comes back for his MSc and then his PhD and he never witnessed a Jihad Week, why is the IAP becoming a problem today? It is even on record that UNIFEMGA have in the past been part of this IAP especially the Reunion Nights and pep talks. So where is Engineer Odeyimka bringing this lie from? Sadly, lying to me gives me no problem, the only problem is I won’t ever believe you again!

One other important issue here is; is OAU the only school not ‘celebrating’ a Jihad Week? Absolutely not! Lead City University, Ibadan MSS does ‘Dawah Week’, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) does Islamic Awareness Week and so do many other schools.

So this IAP has been an annual programme and Engineer Odeyimka has actually lied by claiming it is a strange programme. The DSA, if she were competent enough should also know this. Ask even Christians and they will tell you they know no Jihad Week but IAP. The DSA in tandem with these fringe elements from the Muslim Community even illegally froze the bank accounts of the MSSNOAU. When they discovered this wouldn’t change a thing, they resorted to threats; when this failed, they resolved to lie. That is why you saw that unfortunate piece from the UNIFEMGA president. It is on record that they instigated the President of the AWOVARSITY, owner of the hall used for the said programme to write a bogus security report implicating the brothers and sisters for destruction of property.

The honourable person refused and funny thing is he is even a Christian! A professor from the Agric Engineering department has been fingered as the arrowhead of this shameful plot.

May God bless that man who stood by the truth and elevate him and his children to higher places. Even when the electricity supply to the venue was deliberately switched off, the students were still calm and conducted themselves peacefully as the school’s security operatives therein present can confirm.

*DON'T DESTROY SOMEONE WITH LIES, YOU WILL BE RUINED WITH THE TRUTH (5)*
Balogun Ibrahim

CONCLUSION

This is as much as my initial reaction to that UNIFEMGA release will be. In summary, it’s all lies and false insinuation. They made sure the MSSNOAU never got registered and registered their cronies instead. The IAP isn’t a strange programme in OAU, the Jihad Week is. The MSSNOAU has always been a peaceful group which never gets involved in protests against the school or even school politics. The UNIFEMGA as the name implies is largely made up of oldies no more in touch with present realities. As such, the bulk of OAU Muslim graduates do not associate with them. Where is the Islam in a group that should be mediating but is actually fuelling the crisis with naked lies? And all of these, dribble back to the ego of one man; the Chief Imam who pocketed the Muslim Community and UNIFEMGA save a few such that his word is law; and beguiled the MSS.

Lastly, it is my hope that I have clarified all the raised issues and will be willing to listen to any COURTEOUS fellow who needs clarifications or answers. If reconciliation is possible, no one is against that, but if it is impossible, maybe it’s time to negotiate our mutual existence. Students shouldn’t get devoured where they ought to have safety – with their elders.  Live and let’s live!  Leaving the MSSN nomenclature isn’t the issue at all since they already have a group bestowed with that by them. But can others just be allowed to exist? Why force your views on them? So to be Muslim in a university, you have to be MSSN? I don’t think even Engineer Odeyimka would say that. Innocence is found in youth as victory is found in truth!