A Muslim group known as The Muslim
Rights Concern, MURIC, has kicked against the National Youth Service
Corps, NYSC, fixing its orientation camp during the month of Ramadan.
After weeks of speculation that the national youth corps programme had
been scrapped by President Muhammadu Buhari, the NYSC finally announced
this week that prospective corps members of batch A stream II are
expected to report to camps across the nation on Monday, June 13, 2016.
The Muslim Rights Concern has raised
issues with the timing calling it “unconstitutional” for the authorities
to open the camp at the Ramadan period. The group called on the
Nigerian government to postpone the programme.
The group accused the NYSC of
discrimination and said that religious crisis is common in Nigeria due
to the “overzealousness and insensitivity of some government officials”.
It should be noted that Nigeria is a
secular country and the group failed to quote which part of the
constitution recognises Ramadan in the country’s official calendar and
what kind of government activities should or should not be carried out
during the Ramadan.
“We reject this date because Muslim
corpers will still be fasting at that time. It is illegal, unlawful and
unconstitutional for NYSC to hold camp at a time when its Muslim members
will be deprived of their freedom of worship and the liberty to
practice their creed without fear. This planned camp is exclusive,
discriminatory and parochial,” MURIC said in a statement signed by Ishaq
Akintola, its director.
“Official policies in this country often fail to take our cultural and religious plurality into consideration.
“Any Nigerian institution dealing with
schedules and programmes particularly the NYSC whose programmes are of
such magnitude is expected to consider the dates and periods of
important festivals, rituals and religious practices. This should form
the core of its logistics. It is our humble opinion that NYSC
headquarters has failed in its strategic planning by allowing its next
camp to clash with the Ramadan period.”
MURIC said allowing the camp to go on as
planned would leave Muslim corps members at a disadvantage, explaining
that those observing Ramadan will find it very difficult to adapt to the
rigours in camp.
The body wondered why the NYSC did not stick to the initial date scheduled for the exercise.
“What happened to 21st May, 2016 which
was the date earlier picked for the orientation? We do not want to
believe that the shift was deliberately planned to coincide with the
Ramadan season with a view to excluding prospective Muslim corpers,” the
statement read.
“MURIC is not trying to indulge Muslim
youths. Fasting is no joke and it certainly cannot be combined with the
physical challenges which characterize the NYSC camp. Eligible Muslim
graduates will definitely want to be part of the service but the
obstacles standing in their way are gargantuan.
“Unlike the Islamophobic climate
expected in an NYSC camp organized in Ramadan, what happens during
Ramadan in Muslim-friendly environments is that both primary and
secondary schools close for the day around 2 pm. Lectures in tertiary
institutions stop from 3 pm while civil servants also leave their
offices by 2 pm. If Muslims are not asking the Nigerian government to do
this, its agencies should not become blatant tools of oppression.
“The clear message we are sending to
NYSC officials here is that the camp planned to begin constitutes a
serious impediment to the religious observation of Muslims. It is
exclusive, sectional and parochial. The planned camp should be put in
abeyance for now in the interest of peace. A stitch in time saves nine.
“Muslim youths throughout the country
are bitter and furious at the thought of being disallowed to fast in the
month of Ramadan. The best which NYSC headquarters can do for Nigeria
now is to postpone the camp till the end of Ramadan. This country needs
peace and stability to develop. We have had enough religious crises.
NYSC should not stoke another.”
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