₦airaland Forum

Today's Saturday Tribune/Peoples Gazette column uses the story of one Adebowale Sikiru whom Foursquare MD Femi Osibona (who sadly died in the collapsed building) denied a job only because of his Muslim faith to call attention to time-honored casual bigotry and inferiorization of Yoruba Muslims by their own people in their own land.

I'm ready and loaded for bear for the predictable attacks from people who'd rather sweep this uncomfortable truth under the drug and attack the messenger.

Ikoyi Tragedy and Casual Bigotry Against Yoruba Muslims By Farooq A. Kperogi Twitter: @farooqkperogi

Amid the grief of the heartrendingly tragic collapse of the 21-storey luxury apartment building in Ikoyi, Lagos, a sadly familiar, barely acknowledged but nonetheless insidiously widespread anti-Muslim bigotry in Yoruba land came to light.

A Yoruba Muslim by the name of Adebowale Sikiru revealed in an interview with a YouTube news channel called AN 24 that he was rejected for a job at the Ikoyi construction site because of his Muslim faith.

He applied for the position of a site engineer and was found qualified enough to deserve being invited for an interview by Femi Osibona, the MD of Foursquare Homes, the firm that managed the construction of the ill-fated multi-storey building.

After the interview, Sikiru said Osibona asked him what church he attended, and he responded that he was a Muslim. “Ah, i can’t work with a Muslim,” Sikiru quoted Osibona to have said.

Osibona reportedly said in Yoruba that he couldn’t work with someone whose response to his chant of “Praise God!” would be “Alhamdulillah!”

When Sikiru told him of his struggles with getting gainfully employed after graduation, Osibona also reportedly said it was probably because of his Muslim faith that he was not “able to make a headway” in life. “He said that in front of even the bricklayers” and many others at the site, Sikiru said.

Sikiru left the site sad, humiliated, and deflated, but a friend of his who brought his attention to the job he had interviewed for called him while he was on his way back home. The friend wanted to find out if he was trapped in the building that had collapsed a few hours earlier. That was the time it dawned on Sikiru that his rejection and humiliation on account of his faith ironically saved him from death.

Unfortunately, Osibona died in the collapsed building, so we have no way of getting his own side of the story. Nonetheless, it doesn’t seem plausible that Sikiru, who didn’t even come across as a devout Muslim during his interview with AN 24, would just wake up and invent the encounter with Osibona.

Plus, videos that have emerged of Osibona’s meretriciously outward displays of his Christianity and evangelical exhibitionism are consistent with Sikiru’s account of his encounter with him.

More than that, though, it merely instantiates the casual bigotry that Yoruba Muslims routinely contend with in their own natal region on account of their faith, which i’ve known for years.

I followed the social media conversations that Sikiru’s encounter with Osibona triggered among Yoruba Muslims and came away with the distinct impression that many Yoruba Muslims are seething with frustration and deep-seated inferiority complex on account of their faith-based systematic exclusion and demonization, but they are grinning and bearing their fate in smoldering silence out of social pressure, out of anxieties about social ostracism. We call this the spectacle of the spiral of silence in communication theory.

A Facebook friend of mine by the name of Ganiyu Oludare Lasisi who now lives and works in Scotland narrated how he was denied a job to teach high school geography in his hometown of Abeokuta because of his Muslim faith. He has an Upper Second-Class honors degree in Geography and a distinction in the subject in his “O” level. But “on the day of the interview,” Lasisi said, “the school owner/founder (also a pastor) rejected me because of my Muslim name (Ganiyu). I was so sad and angry then. He even suggested that i can convert to Christianity and change Ganiyu to Gabriel.”

In their safe spaces, multiple Yoruba Muslims shared similar such anecdotal encounters of causal bigotry. They say they are habitually ridiculed for their faith, sneered at for their Muslim sartorial choices, alienated and rhetorically marginalized, and outright denied opportunities by people with whom they share the same ethnicity. Several of them are forced to convert to Christianity or hide their faith to fit in.

Just the other day, on November 3, Premium Times published a story of the appointment of a 45-year-old professor of geo-technical engineering by the name of Afeez Bello as acting Vice Chancellor of the Osun State University in Osogbo. The photo of Bello that the paper used to illustrate the story was of a heavily bearded man with a Muslim felt hat.

Apparently, that sartorial symbol of male Muslim identity was like a red rag to a bull among Christian Facebook commenters, most of whom were Yoruba. The man was called “Boko Haram,” “Shekau’s reincarnation,” a “fanatic,” and all sorts of other cruel slanders and unwarrantedly unmentionable vituperations. I was emotionally distraught after reading a sample of the comments. I inflicted self-torture on myself.

The truth is that the famed religious ecumenicalism and tolerance of the Yoruba people is often achieved at the expense of Yoruba Muslims. It is they, and not their Christian brothers and sisters, who must always perform religious tolerance. (In his interview with the YouTube news channel, even Sikiru felt compelled to say that 95 percent of his friends are Christians and that he hadn’t closed off the possibility that he could convert to Christianity at some point in his life.)

It is Yoruba Muslims who are required to downplay or hide their religious identity in the interest of an overarching Yoruba identity because, over the last few decades, Christianity has been rhetorically constituted in the popular imagination as a core constituent in the construction of Yoruba identity. That’s why prominent Yoruba Muslims almost always have to invoke their connection to Christianity to fit in.

The late Gani Fawehinmi always had a need to show that his wife was a Christian. Bola Ahmed Tinubu has a need to strategically let it be known that his wife isn’t only a Christian but a deacon. House of Representatives Speaker Olufemi Hakeem Gbajabiamila concealed his Muslim identity until he needed the support of the Muslim North to become Speaker. After the fact, his handlers played up the fact that his wife and his mother are Christians.

Prince Bola Ajibola, one of Africa’s finest jurists who happens to be a devout Muslim, doesn’t openly bear Abduljabar, his Muslim name—unlike his father who bore Abdulsalam as his first name—perhaps, not being married to a Christian, it was his only way to reassure his Christian Yoruba brothers and sisters that he is Yoruba. Yet, he is so strong in his Muslim faith that he established the Crescent University, one of Nigeria’s first private Islamic universities, in his hometown of Abeokuta.

Although Muslims constitute a numerical majority in Yoruba land, they are a symbolic minority and are perpetually put in a position to prove their “Yorubaness.” For instance, in the heat of the debate over the formation of Amotekun to ward off “Fulani bandits,” Bolaji Aluko, who was a professor here in the United States and who is now a prominent Ekiti State government official, used the moment to stealthily alienate Yoruba Muslims in his state.

In a January 25, 2021 article titled “Sunday Musings: On the Matter of Farmer-Herdsmen Clashes in Ekiti State,” he wrote, among other things, “Our Muslim Yoruba citizens must decide whether the Umma principle of brotherhood is greater that [sic] the collective security of our Yoruba citizenry." As I told him then, there are at least four ways in which he was wrong.

First, he exoticized, needlessly put Yoruba Muslims on the spot, and created a false binary between being Muslim and being Yoruba, even though (nominal) Muslims constitute the majority in Oyo, Osun, Ogun, and Lagos states. Islam has been in Yorubaland since at least the 1400s. The first mosque was built in Oyo-Ile, the ancient capital of the Oyo Empire, in 1550, that is, centuries before colonialism.

Second, Yoruba Muslims are themselves victims of the homicidal fury of Fulani brigands. If being Muslim hasn't immunized Yoruba Muslims against sanguinary clashes with Fulani people, why should they be singled out as people who are suspect, as people who might betray non-Muslim Yoruba people to the Fulani out of "the Umma principle of brotherhood," which, by the way, is nonsensical, meaningless verbiage?

Third, Aluko’s claim assumes that all Fulani brigands are Muslims (they are NOT) and that they are committing their crimes on behalf of Islam, which would predispose them spare Yoruba Muslims in the spirit of "the Umma principle of brotherhood." But nothing can be more ignorant and bigoted than that.

If "Umma principle of brotherhood" (whatever the heck that means) were a thing, Muslims in Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna, Niger, and elsewhere (who are also incidentally Fulani, Hausa or "Hausa-Fulani" wouldn't be killed, kidnapped, and overawed by criminally bloodthirsty Fulani brigands.

Mosques wouldn’t be invaded, and imams and worshipers kidnapped and murdered. That should tell anyone that this isn't about religion or even ethnicity.

Sadly, Yoruba Muslims have no voice and seem to have accepted their fate with listless resignation. Not being a Yoruba myself, i know i will be viciously attacked by the people who lubricate and enjoy the current hegemonic high ground that puts Yoruba Muslims at the lower end of the totem pole, but i am not one to shy away from telling the truth because of fear of attacks, i resist injustice no matter who the victims or the perpetrators are.

Nonsensical analysis. When Kano votes alone could neutralize that of the entire SS and SE combined!

Oga sell yah phone and eat na

Hello gentlemen, I am in a dire need of crude oil samples for geochemical analysis. I will highly appreciate if I could get it from the Niger Deltans here. Please Dm if you are in a position to help.

madri4u:
If you are still seeing not deployed up till now, to avoid hoping, just use the used code *45665#, select 1. Npower info and then input your BVN 2. Select registration status, if you are selected, your registration status is selected or otherwise not selected. Npower is not a do or die things.

Thank you for this. I just checked for my sisters and they're all selected but they are not yet deployed. Any hope?

Stop misleading the Public please, no documentation was held at PEF. And I say not even the Minister of State for Petroleum resources can intimidate or put the ES, Mr. Bobboi, in any trouble whatsoever, he has the full support, trust and confidence of the commander in chief in his actions.
They will call candidates when they are ready, but calling successful candidates for this recruitment or replacement is the last thing on his mind now. There are many hard nuts to crack, especially now that the PIB has been signed. A white paper for it's implementation will be released later this week.

Usmyne:
Congratulations Bro.

Allah ya sa albarka.. NCDMB din fa, ka bar mana?

Nagode Mal., But Ncdmb are not serious...lol

Alhamdulillah.
I have been awarded OSS at my fourth attempt. Glory be to Almighty Allah.

The guy should have resigned honorably and flee to China or Russia, the only countries that can't be intimidated by the US

service44:
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Can you deliver to the North?

gidob:
Do you know if they doubled the previous amount?

I can't say exactly, honestly.

Clinton12345:
The list is ready, what is left is for management to approve the release of emails to successful candidates. As at last week management were still deliberating doing another scholarship recruitment process or just add more slots to this years. It was resolved that it’s already late for them to do a new selection process.. Even this week is not so certain it might drop this week but it shouldn’t exceed next week (8-15) 100%.

They’re still considering somethings but it’s mainly a management decision thing that’s holding it. It might also be a virtual induction, I’m not too sure of this tho.

But it will not pass this week or at extreme second week of August. Contrary to people saying it’s this week indefinitely. But let’s see so let’s be hopeful.

The slots for each State have actually been increased

9JAFULLBREED:
They calculate rate based on the rate of the day u want to exchange Ringgit to Naira.

Can I get at 110, or Lower?

9JAFULLBREED:
I don’t know what you mean with exchanger but here is how it works. Dem go give u naija account to deposit naira to and dem go send Local currency to the Malay account u want to deposit to. Whoever u want to send the money to suppose to know how to make that happen but sorry I can’t help with that.

I see u Dey try send pm biko I no Dey check my email but if u got any questions ask am here

Please at what rate do they charge Myr to NGN?

Lutie20:
If you have direct contact of a governor you ones met before he becomes a governor can he be of help I dnt know if he can recognize me anymore

You need to give it a try and see

acumen90:
Please, I have a supposedly connects at INEC, a former Administrative Secretary, though he retired 2 years ago, one of the assistant directors, and a Secretary. They have been telling me stories. The former Administrative Secretary has changed his tone, always tells me to pray hard. The assistant director was the one that gave my aunt the secretary's contact for her to plead with the woman on my behalf. We have been following her (secretary) up since last year, but the woman has been saying it's only when recruitment process starts properly she can do something. Is there any advice you can give me on how to approach these people.

You need to have patience and if that doesn't work out, then find another connection. Note that politicians are in the best position to help you.

aligs:
Yes you are right, I am not better than them in any way. I just realized that my comment may have created that perception. However I noticed that people who get jobs through connections are not as confident when dealing with their superiors. But ofcourse, this is just my opinion

This doesn't hold. There are some unschooled/unlearned that can beat you hands down when it comes to public confidence. It's more of a character than learning. Also your DG/ES/CEO, is he also underconfident since he must have gotten there by connection too?

Ladysafe:
Deep. What happens when location is a barrier to meeting these people?

Start by getting their numbers or consider giving them a personal visit especially now that sallah is around.Your courtesies will surely be appreciated if not rewarded instantly.

aligs:
I think this is the truth.... I think the perception that one needs connection to get jobs makes it difficult for people without connections to apply for jobs even if they feel they maybe qualified for it. I think we need to be confident and avoid such sentiments when we apply for jobs and I think that's only when we will be able to clearly attack job applications with everything we have (I am not implying that if you have connections, you shouldn't use it but don't depend on it 100%).

In my department, only 2 of us got the job via interviews. The rest were through connections or just APL. Today we are the only guys with the most confidence in the department cz we know we got there on merit. Just cz people get jobs through connections doesnt mean we can't also get it on merit.

You are right. But even in America, people gets job by connection, it's not everything that's advertised and it doesn't means that those that got it by connection are incompetent.

Mykcool:
How do you guys switch FG jobs ?
I was of the impression that it's almost impossible/difficult to switch FG jobs. Can you please elaborate on the process.

Cc @abokii8, @aligs

As easy as removing your singlet and wearing a new one. Only if you have the right connection

Raudha:
God Bless you for this. Don’t take this lightly.
Alot started with knowing no one.

God bless you too. I wish you a successful career.

PlayMaker14:
Atiku's daughter is a nice person and atleast, influential to some point, especially for the job I really need... What I am trying to say is that I really need a way to reach her directly without the aide interfering and not delivering my message.

Thanks for your response.

When you go close to such people, you will be surprised by their humility. They're much more nicer and friendlier than the downtrodden. I once ate from the same plate, and prayed on the same carpet toe to toe with one of the highest connects you can ever imagine.

Start building your connections, make a priority list, semi priority and supplementary. Don't appear desperate to them, don't beg too much, don't disturb and don't appear to them like poor and destitute.

Raudha:
Good morning. I sorry for trying to interrupt your discussion. I want to testify to your claims. I am a northerner and I recently got a job from one notthern minister. Guess what, till now she no know how I look. I got her number, sent her a message, she responded and booom! I am resuming on 1st of next month. And it’s a very good place. So yes, some northern politicians are extremely generous with job slot. Just know how to approach then, when and steps.

Our people are really good in that aspect. I changed three FG jobs in a space of three years, all given to me by people that never knew me. One of them even gave me a car and good cash on top the job offer. They're some southerners that are good too. A southerner offered me an INEC and another, offered me FRSC, though I politely rejected both.

British fighter jets will rain bombs on Nairobi tonight for capturing Nnamdi Kanu, Says by IPOB

Losviking:
Please can you help me with the NIMASA breakdown. Whether the office or sea guys. I need it. Thanks.

180 and 250k respectively. Upfront of from 1.5-2M

nasiest:
My Oga that's not correct o. They are currently one of the highest paid government owned oil and gas agency in Nigeria.
The present administration has really given them meaning and reason to thrive with good motivations.

Yes oga, they earn much but not up to what people assume it is. If not for the sake of privacy, I would have posted someone's payslip here.

jlomz:
Bros good morning ooooooooO, hope you're good?
Would have loved to have a conversation with you on a couple of pressing issues oooooooO, I've sent you a PM.
Don't know if it's also okay to chat you up on WhatsApp

We are already connected, go ahead pls

Mykcool:
Any one you're privy to the info please drop it. I can try to do estimated deduction from it.

Am I permitted to mail you on something slightly unrelated?

Yes, you are free

Mykcool:
Oh wow. Thanks for the info

Please do you have a rundown for NIMASA also?

Even at nimasa, Office guys and sea guys don't earn the same

gidob:
You must be earning 1mil a month..
Walahi, this is blood money for some of us.

Ok...enjoy....lol