The leadership of Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, on Thursday lambasted the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike for declaring the state a Christian State.
The Director of the organization, Professor Ishaq Akintola, in a statement issued to newsmen, described the governor’s statement as audacious, unguarded and reckless. He called on stakeholders in the “Nigerian project” to call Wike to order.
“At a time when Nigeria is facing religious and ethnic crises, a state governor still has the temerity to declare his state a Christian state. Wike is short in intellect, long in impunity. It is not his first time of making this pronouncement. We ignored him the first time because we did not want to dignify him with a response. But he has just exposed himself as an analogue governor with a triangular approach to all problems: religion, violence, and impunity. Wike cannot think outside this triangular box.
“At a time when religious fanaticism is on the rise and the authorities are cautioning Nigerians to be moderate, a state governor is running loose with reckless statements like, ‘I repeat once again without apologies, Rivers is a Christian state. That is why nobody can touch us’.
“This is nothing but articulated demagoguery. It is audacious, preposterous and myopic. It is also a dangerous precedent. Nonetheless, Wike’s statement must also be seen as meaningless unless he can establish Canon law for his ‘Christian State’. That is the challenge we like to throw at Governor Wike. He should promulgate canon law without any hesitation, otherwise, all his boasts amount to nothing. They are empty.
“Is Rivers the only state with Christian majority? Wike should learn from the moderate stance of the governors of Cross Rivers, Delta, Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi, etc on the issue of religion. Wike is perpetuating a culture of acrobatic religiousity. He is playing on the intelligence of the good people of Rivers State and lending credence to Karl Marx’s view of religion as opium of the people. He is brandishing state-sponsored religiousity to cover his gross ineptitude.
“The spate of crime in Rivers State is an indictment on Wike. Cult-killing is on the rise. Kidnapping has become an obsession. Youth restiveness is everywhere in the state. But all these are by-products of mass unemployment. This is what Wike should face.
“He should be thinking of empowering the youth. Where are the roads built by Wike? What is the state of Rivers’ schools? Are there drugs in the hospitals? What are the rates of infant and maternal mortality in Rivers State? Port Harcourt is one of the most expensive places to live in Nigeria. How can Wike bring relief to the residents? It is high time Wike focused on governance and stopped propagating motor-park doctrine, manifesting ‘agbero’ faculty and exhibiting ‘bolekaja’ mentality.
