Plans are underway by the Muslims Umah of South West Nigeria (MUSWEN) to strengthen Zakat collection to assist more indigent Muslims and solve some social problems confronting them.
However, the group has bemoaned the spate of insurgency in the country, urging the Federal Government to put in place proper mechanism to guarantee security of lives and properties.
The group, in a communiqué made available to The Guardian after its second general assembly meeting in Ibadan condemned the bloody and destructive activities of Boko Haram insurgents who are masquerading under the garb of Islam to perpetrate unprecedented atrocities in some parts of the country.
MUSWEN, in a statement signed by its Chairman, Sakariyau Olayiwola Babalola insisted that Islam stands for peace in all ramifications adding that such atrocities was grossly antithetical to the tenets of Islam.
Besides, it called on the Federal Government to quickly devise a means to address the fundamental causes of insecurity in the land and make frantic efforts to rescue the Chibok girls.
It therefore enjoined Muslims to organize special prayers for the nation. "That the political situation in the country today, when combined with the well known insecurity has become so dangerous that only constant prayer can rescue it. MUSWEN therefore calls for such prayers from all and sundry,"
MUSWEN at the meeting however established a Muslim Elders' Forum for the southwest to address some socio-economic and political issues affecting Muslims, which were often overlooked by an existing Yoruba Elders' Council and similar bodies in the region.
Worried about the present economic situation of the country, particularly as being affected by the crash in crude oil prices, It insisted that, existing agricultural policies should be quickly implemented by the federal and state governments to engage millions of Nigerian youth as a way of curbing unnecessary restiveness in the society.
The group also noted that the overwhelming poverty within the Ummah betrays the preponderance of the meaningful Muslim population in Nigeria, which forms a great workforce that should help to stabilize the economic and political harmony of the country.
"Nigerian Muslims are incessantly confronted by two major problems: One is poverty. The other is ignorance. Whereas a solution to one of these two problems can automatically pave way for the solution to the other. However, no serious attention seems to have been paid to such solution for a long time," it stated.
It further called all Nigerians, irrespective of their ethnic and religious backgrounds, should come together to rally round the present government especially President Muhammad Buhari in solving the multifarious problems staring the Nigerian people on the face.
(All Africa / 29 April 2016)
---Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: www.alfalahconsulting.com
Consultant-Speaker-Motivator: www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com
Islamic Investment Malaysia: www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com
