AMNESTY! – IN SUPPORT OF THE SULTAN

Time and again at meetings of the MSSN or its offshoots such as the Muslim Corpers’ Association of Nigeria (MCAN) and the National Council of Muslim Youth Organisations of Nigeria (NACOMYO), we wasted no time in deriding the JNI as “that bunch of self-serving traditional rulers”. The other senior Islamic grouping, the Nigerian Supreme Council […]

Time and again at meetings of the MSSN or its offshoots such as the Muslim Corpers’ Association of Nigeria (MCAN) and the National Council of Muslim Youth Organisations of Nigeria (NACOMYO), we wasted no time in deriding the JNI as “that bunch of self-serving traditional rulers”. The other senior Islamic grouping, the Nigerian Supreme Council on Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) got worse shrift – “supreme Ramadan crescent watchers”, we called them. “Away with them!” That was then.
All of a sudden, someone from our immediate older generation, someone who may likely think a bit like us, became Sultan of Sokoto and leader of both the JNI and NSCIA.  Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar could understand us and empathise with our feelings and frustrations. He started to speak in our ‘language’, or at least made us understand some of the goings-on at the top level of Nigerian Islamia. And so we made a U-turn of sorts (though, admittedly, for some it is still not a full ‘U’, it’s rather an L-turn). Many among us have started to ‘understand’ them, as someone from there on top of them had started to understand us.
Is it only the ‘Sultan effect’? Or is it that we are getting older? Or is it the reality of the times? Whatever it is that made many of us come down from our self-created revolutionary level to even listen and discuss with these two groups – and even meet them to search for ways forward – gives lots of meaning to the Hausa adage abin da ya koro bera ya fada wuta a hakika ya fi wutar zafi (literally whatever it is that chased a mouse into the fire must be more fiery than the fire itself).
So here we are, again, supporting the call this week by the Sultan of Sokoto calling on the Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan to grant amnesty to members of the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunnah Lid Da’awati Wal Jihad (also known as Boko Haram) in order to restore peace in the North. The Sultan was speaking in Kaduna at the Annual Central Council Meeting of the JNI, attended by senior traditional rulers and Muslim leaders from across the country. News reports say this is the first time the Sultan would publicly canvass amnesty for members of the Jama’a, though he had previously urged for dialogue between government and the sect.
The Sultan said President Jonathan should use the few members of the sect who denounced militancy to reach out to others who have yet to do that, apparently referring to a Boko Haram faction which announced a ceasefire recently but was later disowned by sect leader Abubakar Shekau.
The Sultan said, among other things: “I want to use this opportunity to advise the President…to see how he can declare total amnesty to all combatants without thinking twice. This will make any other person who picks up arms to be termed as a criminal. If the amnesty is declared, it will make all those who have been tired of running and hiding to come out and embrace the amnesty. Some of them have already come out…Even if it is one person that denounces terrorism, it is the duty of the government to accept that person because he can be used to reach others;…the government should accept that person first and then interrogate him to see if he really belongs or not.”
Referring to the bold step taken by late President Umaru Yar’Adua, who granted amnesty to the Niger Delta militants, the Sultan said: “The type of amnesty that ended militants’ unrest in the Niger Delta will be suitable for the North. Initiating a restoration and rehabilitation programme that would integrate them into the larger society will pave way for dialogue rather than engaging them in an endless war.” In other words, Yar’adua did well by Jonathan’s people; it is Jonathan’s turn to so treat Yar’adua’s people.
The Sultan added: “Some people think we are not doing anything as leaders in the North. No, we have done enough and I want to commend all of you in what you have been doing. We will continue to do so despite criticisms because we know what we are doing. In sha Allah we will continue to talk with the government to be just in whatever they do…We want to tell our political leaders and religious leaders the truth on the way forward for this country. We will continue to advise the government at all levels. If they do what they ought to do, alhamdulillah. If they don’t, we will continue to tell them to do the right thing because it is our duty to tell them.”
The Sultan was right about ‘not doing anything as leaders in the North’. Many Nigerian Muslims are still very sceptical about the JNI, the NSCIA, the Sultanate (and its counterpart the Shehurate of Borno) and the entire leadership of the Muslim community. These people – the sceptics- need to be convinced and re-convinced. We (us, the new ‘believers’ in the JNI et al enterprise) may be privileged because of reasons of proximity, contact or relationship with some among the leadership, but the millions of others have no such access – and no such conviction.
Later, in a communique issued by the JNI Secretary General Khalid Aliyu (our contemporary and peer and colleague in the MSSN, etc.), the JNI Central Council meeting observed, among other issues, that cases of violent conflicts have unfortunately not only continued to recur unabatedly but have also monumentally grown in terms of magnitude and proportion across the country; that in spite of the serious security and existential challenges facing the Muslim Ummah, the problem of disunity among the Ummah has continued to not only persist but is also taking dangerous dimensions, further wreaking havoc on the Ummah; that the enemies of peace have continued to vilify Islam and Muslims through various campaigns of calumny; and that Muslims are still being denied their constitutional rights to practice their religion unhindered and are even being persecuted in some instances.
Top among the JNI resolutions, in the light of the observations made, was the resolve not to relent in efforts at advising leaders at all levels to be more sincere, proactive and responsive in handling cases of conflicts. Government should be seen to be fair, just and impartial in dealing with such conflicts; and that, as a way of curtailing religious insurgency, the Federal Government should, as a matter of urgency treat the case of insurgents with all sense of magnanimity by declaring amnesty to all of them, especially combatants that have expressed readiness to tread the path of peace.
Further, the JNI called on Islamic scholars to foster the spirit and mechanisms for cooperating mutually and working together in the interest of Islam, in spite of their differences of opinions, rather than further dividing and weakening the Ummah; and that, in the spirit of mutual respect, tolerance and peaceful coexistence, a section of the press and preachers that propagate hate and blasphemy should desist from such unwholesome attitudes and tendencies.
And finally, the JNI called on the nation’s leaders to be upright and more responsible in leadership and to dispense justice and fairness to all.
On Amnesty we all stand! In this, we support the Sultan and the JNI!