Ogun chieftaincy law booster for freedom of religion —MURIC

THE Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has commended Ogun State governor, Dapo Abiodun, for signing the Ogun State Chieftaincy Bill into law.

The new law curbs fetish practices in the installation and burial of kings in the state, thereby allowing each traditional ruler to be installed and buried according to his religious dictate.

MURIC described the development as a booster for freedom of religion.

The group, through its founder and director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, said the law would curb fetish practices and put an end to the monopoly of traditionalists who, it said, had hitherto controlled all installation and burial ceremonies of kings in the state.

Akintola said: “MURIC identifies with the aspirations of the brains behind this bill. It is a booster for freedom of religion and a vital shot in the arm for the dignity of homo sapiens, for decency and for Allah-given fundamental human rights.

“It will stop overbearing traditionalists who have monopolised the installation and burial rites of obas in the state with their fetish practices without respecting the personal religious beliefs of the obas.

“Many Christians and Muslims who are eligible to vie for the obaship stool but who have been kept in abeyance by the fetish practices will now be able to compete freely with others from the ruling houses.

“It is our hope that this will be extended to the obnoxious and illegal practice of unilateral imposition of curfews on communities by Oro worshippers. Ogun lawmakers may have to take another look at this aspect as it may require another bill to stop the imposition of illegal curfew by Oro worshippers.

“MURIC also commends the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona and Honourable Akeem Balogun (Ogun Waterside State Constituency) for working in synergy to introduce the HB No 36/OG/2020 bill in the Ogun State House of Assembly. Equally worthy of appreciation are members of the state assembly who supported the bill.

“We call on other assemblies in Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti to syndicate the bill. Only thus can the houses of assembly in those states be described as truly democratic and in pursuit of freedom of thought, liberty and human dignity.”

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The concessionaires complained of poor cooperation from state governments who mostly delay in meeting their own part of the agreement, for instance in the area of land provision.

Another major challenge they emphasised was the lack of narrow gauge rail lines in and out of the dry ports which they noted was important to make the operation of the ports efficient.

They added that access to funds also remained a major issue even as banks and foreign investors make unreasonable demands for assets and bank bonds before the release of funds.

The concessionaires unanimously stressed the need for the ports being constructed to be given the status of port of origin and destination and also to be registered with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) upon completion.

In view of the delay in execution, the concessionaires stressed the need for a new agreement, pointing out that an agreement started in 2017 between them and the NSC but it was yet to be cleared by the Federal Ministry of Justice on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Transportation.

They however commended the ICRC for its intervention and also appreciated the NSC for their support so far, noting that they were confident that under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, the contracts will be sorted out.

The concessionaires pledged their commitment to see the concession to conclusion and the ports operational even as two of the concessionaires, Equatorial Marine Oil and Gas Ltd for the Katsina ports and Dala Inland Dry Port for the Kano Ports declared that their ports will commence operation before the third quarter of 2022.

Managing Director of Equatorial Marine Oil and Gas Ltd, Mr Usman Iya Abbas, informed the ICRC team that the Funtua port was already at over 85 per cent completion and was ready to launch before the end of the second quarter of 2022.

“We hope to commission this project before the end of the second quarter and the ports will become functional immediately. We are lucky to have great relationships in the shipping industry and with major shipping lines.

Managing Director, Dala Inland Dry Port Ltd., Hon. Ahmed Rabiu, concessionaires of the Kano Inland Port also hinted that the construction of the container depot was already nearing completion.

He assured that the company was working assiduously to ensure project completion and take off before the end of March 2022.

On his part, ICRC’s Director of Contract Compliance Department, Dr Ewalefoh who chaired the technical session of the meeting assured the concessionaires of the continuous support of the Commission, charging them however to send a detailed update of the contract status reports to the ICRC.

The Ag. Head, Media and Publicity of ICRC, Manji Yarling said he further enjoined the other four concessionaires who were yet to make remarkable progress in their contract execution to emulate the milestone recorded by the other two who were finalizing their constructions, so that the ports can yield the economic benefits for which the concessions were granted.

While thanking the stakeholders for honouring the invitation of the ICRC, it was resolved that going forward, there will be periodic meetings to ensure that the projects are speedily completed.

Saheed Salawu