On the Supreme Council for Sharia’s criticism of Buhari

President Buhari survived so many criticisms this year: from allegations of ‘northernisation’ and islamisation of the country to outright rejection of the Sukuk bonds in some quarters.

These are not the kind of criticisms the president would want to take into the New Year – a year preceding an election year.

But the Supreme Council for Sharia has attacked the president and accused him of letting down Muslims by not attending the emergency submit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) called by Turkey to discuss the United States’ pronouncement of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

With this attack, it is clear that the president has a difficult job meeting the demands of the Supreme Council for Sharia and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). Managing the conflicting demands of these two organizations could be an uphill task in the months preceding the general elections.

A few weeks ago, CAN reechoed its demand for Nigeria to exit the OIC. According to CAN, this was necessary in order to maintain Nigeria’s secularity status.

The presidency seems to have managed these conflicting demands very well with its calculated response to President Trump’s proclamation of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. And of course, the Climate Change Submit in France was enough reason to keep the president away from attending the OIC’s emergency submit.

But the Supreme Council for Sharia didn’t need to attack the president. Last Thursday, Nigeria joined 127 other countries to back a UN resolution which called on the U.S. to withdraw its recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

The president, in the last UN general assembly, made his position clear on Israel and Palestine.

Nigeria does not need to sensationalize its stand on the issue at hand. The emergency meeting of the OIC where the Turkish leader called Israel a terrorist state cannot achieve more than the loud message that was sent in last Thursday’s voting at the UN.

Nigeria has many reason to be careful about this issue. Last week, a Nigerien man stabbed two Danish journalist in Gabon, allegedly saying it was a revenge attack against the U.S. for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Nigeria is prone to religious violence and such event in Gabon needs to be prevented from happening in Nigeria.

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