My retirement from LASU beginning of new journey — MURIC director, Akintola

THE Executive Director of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), Professor Ishaq Akintola, has described his retirement from the Lagos State University (LASU) as the beginning of another journey in his life.

A retirement ceremony/book launch was recently held by the MURIC director who bowed out of LASU as a professor of Islamic Eschatology after 39 years of service.

Professor Akintola, in an interview with the Nigerian Tribune during the week, said: “My retirement on Monday, 10 July, 2023, marked the beginning of another lifestyle. For 39 years, I have been holed up in the Ivory tower, teaching and researching at the Lagos State University (LASU).

“LASU will remain an integral and unforgettable part of me with sweet mementos to remember. LASU is a great academic institution and successive vice chancellors have performed creditably to make the university the citadel of excellence it has become today.”

He particularly commended the current Vice Chancellor, Professor Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, whom he described as a great academician and administrator par excellence.

According to him, although Professor Olatunji-Bello is a Christian, her relationship with the LASU Muslim community is superb and everybody loves her. He said he had no doubt “that this woman will go far.”

Akintola said: “Conscious of my responsibility to town, Nigerian Muslims in particular, I have always found a way to break loose and share the message of liberty as enshrined in the glorious Qur’an with them. This I did via the human rights organisation, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) which I established in 1994 for the promotion, projection and protection of Allah-given fundamental rights of Muslims and the Telly Dawah Embassy, which I founded in 1996 for evangelisation.

“Therefore, anybody can guess what I will be doing after my retirement. The choice is as clear as daylight. It is Aluta intellectual Jihad. Another life has just started. I have entered another milestone in my life.

“I remain oppressed until the hungry are fed. I remain oppressed until the sick are healed. I remain oppressed until the naked are clothed. I remain oppressed until the homeless are sheltered. I remain oppressed until every Nigerian Muslim is free from religious harassment, economic intimidation and social stigmatisation. Intellectual Jihad is my life.”

Speaking at the retirement ceremony/book launch organised by Professor Akintola, the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdul-Rasheed Adewale Akanbi, had declared that obaship in Yorubaland is not about the worship of idols.

Oba Akanbi spoke after receiving the ‘Defender of the Faithful” award at the event.

The traditional ruler said: “As the paramount ruler of Iwoland, we have changed the course of history of the Yoruba people. We have let them know that kingship is not about idol worship; that it is an institution established by Allah Whom the Yoruba call Olodumare.

“One is not expected to worship his father. One does not go to God through an intermediary (like an idol). One does not need an intermediary to reach God.”

He added: “Yoruba obas are supposed to be vicegerents of Allah, but, today, we do not see obas that live up to this. You, alfas (Islamic clerics), are messengers of God. Do not relent in reminding us (the traditional rulers) that we are vicegerents of God. We are the ones who bear the name closest to God’s.

“They call you (the obas) Kabiyesi. Are you really Kabiyesi? I am not Kabiyesi.

“Our word is that, obas should not worship idols. The one who deserves their worship is the one who employs them, Allah. You are a vicegerent of Allah (on earth).”

He expressed happiness for the award, saying “this one (the award) looks like gold, befitting of an oba.”