1st August, 2011
Improved living standard for Nigerians should be the focus of President Goodluck Jonathan, rather than mundane issue of political office tenure.
The Chief Imam of Nawair-ur-Deen Society of Nigeria, Lagos branch, Alhaji Shewu Mojeed, made the remark at the weekend during the annual Dawa lecture at the Central Mosque, Elegbata, Lagos.
According to him, the President should forget about the issue of six-year single tenure and focus on real issues of good governance that would make him more popular among Nigerians instead of hidden agenda of tenure elongation.
The cleric stated that the country is currently facing serious security challenge, principal among which is the issue of Boko Haram and armed robbery that deserve more attention considering the number of innocent Nigerians that were lost in recent times.
Mojeed went further to comment on the issue of infrastructure decay, bad roads, lack of functional health care system, falling standard and high cost of education, unavailability of housing for the poor, coupled with inability of federal and state governments to pay N18,000 minimum wage as agreed with the organised labour unions, were enough problems for the President to tackle.
The cleric stated that performance in office does not have anything to do with tenure or how long in office.
He made reference to Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos, who he said, had not spent 100 days in office during his first term before Lagosians began to appreciate him, noting that proposed bill on tenure elongation was designed by the president to divert attention of Nigerians from the problems facing the country presently.
The religion leader advised President Jonathan to address the issue of Boko Haram in the North before it spreads to other parts of the country, adding, however, that members of the sect are not Muslims because, according to him, Islam is a religion of peace and no good Muslim should continue to kill innocent people in the name of religion or for any other reasons, as Allah forbids such act.
Meanwhile, the Islamic cleric has enjoined Muslims to fast during the Ramadan as directed by Allah, so that they could be rewarded.
He explained that Allah only exempts the sick, women with menstruation and young persons under 15 years of age from fasting during the period, noting that the exercise was beyond abstinence from food and drinking of water.