Date: 2017-10-27

Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State has asked the electorate to stop chasing politicians with inordinate requests if corruption in the country will be reduced.

Ahmed, who spoke through his Senior Special Assistant on Youth Empowerment, Saka Babatunde, at the annual Independence Day lecture of the state branch of The Muslim Congress (TMC), last weekend, said the electorate must exercise restraint in the volume of requests they present to politicians.

The governor urged Arabic and Islamic instructors in the country to key into the global picture by improving their qualification and adding value to their fields of activity.

Speaking on the theme of the lecture, "Confronting the Tripod of Bad Governance, Political Corruption and Tribalism," a national Imam of TMC based in Ibadan, Ustadh Ismail Busayri, said many Muslim leaders, including former heads of military governments, the late Murtala Muhammed and the late Tunde Idiagbon, because of their godliness and religiousness, had contributed to the growth of the country.

He said such leaders who had stood out of the pack never attended Ivy League universities but were able to make a difference by applying what they learnt from the "school" of Prophet Muhammad. Busayri, who noted that the clamour for secular state by some religious groups in the country was a problem, said any system devoid of divine connection was bound to fail.

In his message, the grand patron of TMC in the state and former Grand Kadi of the state Sharia Court of Appeal, Justice Olohuntoyin Muhammed, said political corruption and tribalism had brought the country backward.

He said everybody, including the high and low, were benefitting from corruption and as such, there was the need to sensitise the family and all religious and secular groups in order to bring about change.

According to him, everybody should be ready to support the government to make the country better.

On restructuring, Justice Muhammed said all parties should embrace peace and whoever has any grudges should bring them to the table for discussion and resolution.

"Restructuring the country at this stage is dangerous. All of us will suffer for it and the sweat of the founding fathers will be in vain. Nigeria is not the first country with many tribes. We should all preach peace and encourage peaceful coexistence. The coming generation will blame us if we allow restructuring to consume the country," he said.

The coordinator of TMC in the state, Basheer Ariyo, said the essence of the programme was to review happenings in the country and set agenda for Muslims in the country.

Other speakers at the event include Dean, Postgraduate School, University of Ilorin, Professor Lanre Badmas; chairman of the occasion and former Deputy Director (Commercial Services), Lower Niger River Basin Authority, Ilorin, Alhaji Nurayn Olatunji Oniyngi and Chief Executive Officer, D-Positive Image Consult, Alhaji Nasir AbdulQaqir.