THE POSITION PAPER OF THE MUSLIM CONGRESS SUBMITTED TO NATIONAL POLITICAL SUMMIT ON THE FUTURE OF NIGERIA HELD FROM

MONDAY, 26TH TO THURSDAY 29TH AUGUST, 2013 AT THE CONFERENCE HALL, LE MERIDIAN HOTEL, UYO, AKWA IBOM STATE, NIGERIA Preamble Nigeria can best be described as a nation blessed with flora and fauna or the scriptural milk and honey, which if well harnessed by creative and visionary leaders (which the nation lacks) could have turned the country into one of the biggest economies in the world. The inability of political leaders to lift the nation beyond the precarious state of economic stagnation, poverty, insecurity, unemployment and hopelessness calls for serious concern. Indeed, the economy and polity stinks! Despite the numerous human and material resources we are endowed with, we cannot rival our colleagues like Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia, South Africa et cetera, that we started the journey of nationhood together. Thinkers within and outside the shores of Nigeria attributed Nigerias endless journey of no destination to myriads of reasons, namely: (a) lack of true federalism; (b) political mediocrity and bad governance, (c) downplaying of religious voices, (d) corruption and profligacy OUR POSITIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS The Muslim Congress (TMC) commends the organisers of this National Dialogue on National Security for coming up with this programme at this auspicious moment. We are therefore grateful for the invitation extended to our organisation as a participant. Considering the fact that two-day deliberation and large number of delegates may not allow for exhaustive comments on all issues tabled for discussion. It is apt to mention that the contents of this position paper was the outcome of deliberation jointly put together by coalition of Islamic groups working with TMC. They comprise The Muslim Congress (TMC), Al-Muminaat Women Organisation, Conference of Islamic Organisations (CIO), The Young Muslims Association (TYMa), Muslim Students Society of Nigeria Lagos Area Unit, Mosques, Arabic Schools and eminent Islamic Scholars who met recently in Lagos on the state of the nation. The stakeholders reflected on diverse issues affecting the nation. At the end of the strategic brainstorming, the stakeholders were unanimous on the following: 1. That, Nigerian Muslims have held several summits on national security and other burning national issues under platforms like MUSWEN, CIO, NACOMYO, MURIC, Lagos State Muslim Council, Abuja Muslim Forum, October Lecture Series, Muharram Get-together and several others. The core declaration has always been that Nigerian Muslims are sincerely and patriotically committed to the unity and continued corporate existence of Nigeria. However, there are fundamental issues begging for attention, which are always swept under the carpet.

2. That, future political and constitutional reform (FPCR) in Nigeria should embed the ethos of True Federalism. This type of governmental structure allows genuine sharing of power between the federal government and constituent units (states, provinces or regions). The federating units agree on the areas of jurisdiction/autonomy/resources that would be conceded to the federal government, not an imposition by the federal as practised presently. True federalism allows for robust deliberations and debates before contending national issues are ratified. The future constitution should be amended to re-specify the jurisdictions of the federating units (federal, states and local governments) under the exclusive list, concurrent list and residual list.

3. That, it is a manifest hypocrisy to describe Federal Republic of Nigeria as a secular nation despite religious influences, agitations and conflicts. Alas! Nigeria is undoubtedly a multi-religious and multi-ethnic entity. Following from the assertion above, it is recommended the future constitution and all enabling laws should always recognise these facts. Therefore, proposed people-oriented constitution/legislations of Federal Republic of Nigeria should draw from Islamic laws, Biblical values and prevalent Nigerian norms/cultures.

4. That, the endemic violence and threat to national security in Nigeria unleashed by the Boko Haram sect is fueled by poverty, unemployment, bad governance, economic corruption, frustration and political manoeuvring of selfish elites - not Islam or Christianity. Nigerian Muslims are united in condemnation of BH and therefore frowned at the statement Boko Haram Islamic Sect as consistently reported by the Nigeria media and insinuated by some elements. Boko Haram sect is appropriate. Islam thrives on advocacy, education, counsels and preaching as tools for social change, not killings. The acts of bombing/killing of people and destruction of properties, mosques, churches, markets, police stations, UN office and other places are antithetical to the principles of peace, tolerance and decorum preached by Islam and other divine religions. Enemies of peace use religion as political tool and ethnic agenda to cause rift, raise emotion and recruit foot soldiers among hopeless and pauperized masses for selfish ends. This is evident in Plateau, Kaduna, Kano and the three states where state of emergency had been declared.

5. That, the ruling party and the opposition should sit down and tackle headlong the hydra-headed poverty, unemployment and corruption, instead of attacking one another in the media. The executive arm of government at the three levels should come up with robust socio-economic policies that would alleviate poverty, provide jobs for the unemployed, and put food on the table three times a day. For meaningful social justice, the stolen but recovered billions of Naira and Dollar should be utilised transparently for infrastructural development and job creation, as well as providing enabling environment for entrepreneurship development and foreign direct investment.

6. That, future constitutional reform should address the issue of control of resources, as this agitation would help engender pluralist democracy, equitable revenue sharing formula, competition among the states, state police, public choice, rule of law, independent judiciary and protection of minority rights. The present federalism going by the avalanche of criticisms favoured arbitrariness, rentseeking, self-seeking, monopoly of resources by powerful centre, weak/non-viable states, nepotism, unequal opportunities and corruption, the result is over concentration of power at the center and big-headed Federal Government.

7. That, the Federal Government MUST establish a Ministry of Religious Affairs, where religious issues as it concerns socio-economic and political development of Nigeria would be modulated and pass to government as policy prescription. Also, the inter-faith dialogue between Muslims and Christians under the aegis of Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) should be energized and used as platform for discussing national issues rather than vituperations in the media.