The Islamic group, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), on Wednesday warned former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, to guard his utterances, saying that his statement that the hardship in Nigeria is ‘getting out of control’ can make Nigerians to “go out of control.”
In a statement by its Founder and Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, MURIC said: “We are alarmed by the tone of this statement. It is an extreme language to say things are getting ‘out of control’. We do not expect a former head of state to use such strong words when describing the current situation in the country.
“Of course we all know that things are hard but to describe them as getting out of control is to expect people to also go out of control. There is a milder way to put it and the retired general knows it, having been trained in the use of diplomatic language before, at least while in Aso Rock himself.
“Undiplomatic and unparliamentary languages are capable of inflaming the populace. The retired general could have done better. As a former head of state and an elder statesman, the retired general has a duty to act in loco parentis. He is still one of our fathers. He could have reminded his immediate audience (a delegation of the Campaign for Democracy) of the global nature of the economic hardship which Nigerians are facing.
“The former head of state also added during his speech yesterday that people could demonstrate though he asked them to shun violence. Coming from a leader who witnessed the last #EndBadGovernance demonstrations a few weeks ago and the human and material losses it brought upon the country, the least we can say is that we are disappointed.
“Every right-thinking Nigerian knows that there is nothing like peaceful conduct in the vocabulary of Nigerian demonstrators of this age. General AbdulSalami Abubakar (rtd) himself saw the irrational behaviors exhibited by demonstrators during their last outing. How could he have encouraged another of such outing so soon?
“His belated advice to government is unnecessary because both the federal and state governments have been implementing all of them even before he mentioned them. It is however sad that he could come out publicly to condemn the sharing of palliatives which, in actual fact, has saved the lives of many poor Nigerians.
“We advise the retired general to channel his future admonitions to government directly to Aso Rock since he has access to the seat of power as a much respected former head of state. He must also endeavour as much as possible to remain neutral particularly in his position as leader of the Nigerian Peace Committee.
“Nigerians still respect General Abubakar as the only former military head of state who promised to hand over to civilians within one year and kept his words. He did not allow the perquisites of office to sway him. This is one of the reasons he still remains relevant in the Nigerian political scene.
“MURIC advises those who are planning to demonstrate on 1st October to shelve the idea and adopt dialogue. They should consider several efforts being made by the Federal Government to ameliorate the present economic hardship. Keeping demonstrations peaceful in the Nigeria of today is either sheer wishful thinking or a deliberate skullduggery to spread pandemonium. Demonstration is a square peg, the end result is often a round hole.”