Mahdi Shehu Tackles Islamic Clerics Over Silence Amid Hardship, After Promoting Tinubu In Mosques
A businessman in northern Nigeria, Mahdi Shehu, has lambasted Islamic clerics including Sheikhs, Mallams and Ulamas for keeping quiet amid growing hardship, rising insecurity and killings in the country under President Bola Tinubu’s government, according to a report from Sahara Reporters.
Shehu noted that Islamic clerics played a significant role in advocating for a Muslim-Muslim ticket consisting of Tinubu and Kashim Shettima, effectively convincing Nigerians, particularly Muslims, that this was the preferable option.
He pointed out that in the lead-up to the 2023 general elections, various Islamic clerics, including Sheikhs, Mallams, and Ulamas, actively endorsed the All Progressives Congress (APC) Muslim-Muslim ticket to their followers. He asserted that their efforts aimed to dissuade support for any Christian candidate of Northern origin for the vice-presidential role in Nigeria.
Shehu characterized this campaign for a Muslim-Muslim ticket as harmful and negative, asserting that the Muslim clerics were instrumental in promoting and popularizing this divisive approach in governance.
He said, “They influenced their congregations, quoted verses of the Quran, interpreted those verses to serve their own purposes. Before you know it, it was all over in wholesale and retail.
“Majority of the people were convinced that Muslim-Muslim ticket is justifiable, and we saw the results, especially in the Northwest and the Northeast.
“They sold the ticket even though 14 million people in Nigeria said no, the voices of Obi and the voices of Atiku said no. In uniform, over 14 million people said no. Only eight million people that are still doubtful vote into the booby trap.
“Now, it is Muslim-Muslim ticket at play increasing hunger, starvation and insecurity all over the horizon. People are traumatised, confused, bewildered and dislocated. Everybody today in Nigeria is on his own. Everybody for himself, God, survival of the fittest and the devil take the hindermost.”
Chiazorkam (
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