Press Release: Response To Orchestrated Attempt to destabilize NBAIS activities/programmes

A HEARING BETWEEN THE NATIONAL BOARD FOR ARABIC AND ISLAMIC STUDIES (NBAIS) AND THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE IS AN INTIMIDATION STRATEGY AND CONSCIOUS MANIPULATIONS OF FACTS …

A hearing between the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS) and the National Assembly committee which took place on 19th September 2022, is a sconscious manipulation.

The hearing, which took place at the National Assembly Complex, was to interrogate issues of revenues and remittances of NBAIS.

This press release is clearly a response to this well orchestrated attempt to destabilize the NBAIS activities/programmes and the registrar from being focused on his determination to leave a long lasting legacy for generation unborn.

The senate committee on finance led by Senator, Olamilekan Solomon Adeola, in its usual grandstanding of putting the cart before the horse and apportioning blames ‘harsh-hosted’ the management of the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS).

The Senate committee projected statistics without having a comprehensive understanding of the revenues that were generated, how the money was used, or perhaps even what percentage of the anticipated cash eventually reached the NBAIS’ account.

And this is an intimidation strategy and conscious manipulations of facts adopted by the committee members, whereby NBAIS registrar, Prof. Mohammad Shafi’u Abdullahi on the orders of Senator Adeola was asked to switch off his microphone midway when he tried to clear issues of revenues and remittances of the agency.

How could one be expected to explain, and clear issues when no attempt was made to avail the person an opportunity to do so? How could facts and figures be proven when a head of a government agency was ordered to switch off his mic? It was a simple psychological warfare strategy aimed at taking your target off-balance and thus having an edge over your target.

The Senate committee brandished figures without detailed knowledge of revenue that accrued, how funds were utilized and possibly how much of the expected revenue hit the purse of the NBAIS.

This is not to deny the fact that there are many government chief executive officers whose stewardships to the Nigerian people are still questionable. But in the case of the senate committee on finance and NBAIS, the committee denied itself and Nigerians the opportunity to be availed of that stewardship report by the management of NBAIS.

The national Assembly committee allowed itself to be swayed by emotions and thus created room for any discerning mind to puncture its allegations with facts and figures. Invariably, one could still believe that the intimidation strategy adopted by the committee was a deliberate action aimed at being heard, hailed, seen and held as a pro-people committee.

“Following the incident, I delved to ascertain if the claims by the senate committee chairman and his team during the agency’s budget performance hearing were anything to write home about. Unfortunately, as it turned out, the session was laden with more fuss than a fact-finding exercise.

The Prof. Safiu Abdullahi was one of the chief executives invited by the committee to make a presentation on the agency’s annual budget performance. During the hearing, the committee had made several allegations suggesting injudiciousness in the management of funds that accrue to the agency.

“Senator Adeola alluded that ASUU strike was a result of reckless spending and a lack of accountability by university authorities. He went as far as suggesting that the federal government should withdraw from funding the salaries of lecturers since according to him, the universities’ authorities have not been accountable for the revenues that accrue to them.

Instead of explanation around the figures brandished by the committee, he was confronted with questions that did not seek to unravel the issues on hand, but were laden with sensational questions such as ‘Is it the Federal Government that funds your agency 100%?’ A question that suggests that the committee did not fully understand the workings of the agency vis-a-vis revenue generation, utilization and remittance. Even though the registrar accepted that the agency was fully funded by the government, the question was as irrelevant as the confrontation.

Another question that tended towards sensationalism rather than fact-finding is the question of whether N410 Million were recorded as collected by the agency for the year 2022.

If the committee was diligent and willing to get facts rather than arouse sentiments, they would have ascertained how the ‘controversial’ sum of N410 Million was collected from the state governments and private individual schools across the country.

“They would have understood firsthand that owing to the non-payment of the students’ examination fees by some state governments from 2018 – 2021, the agency was plunged into huge debt burdens with their contractors, and suppliers of examination materials.

Why didn’t the Senate committee unravel that and possibly aid the agency in its efforts at debt recovery from the state governments running into hundreds of millions of Naira?”.

Arewa Media Practitioners have took time to investigate the activities f the National Board For Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS). The Association comprises of both Muslims and Christians that are actively involved in the practice of journalism for decades, we faulted the senate Committe.

The registrar no doubt, he is a God~fearing man that has refused to be disturbed by threats. We encourage a dispassionate investigation and report, devoid of emotions rather than what appears to be a clandestine moves to thwart a quiet revolution that is meant to restore the NBAIS to its original mission and vision. Truth, according to Uthman Dan Fodio is an open wound, only conscience can heal it.

Mischief makers, detractors and enemies of the NBAIS must realize that their campaign of calumny against the the board has failed and will always failed.

NBAIS remains a spectacular success story and nothing can change all the evidence of dramatic progress and development in the past and present.

This has obviously not gone down

well with the system as some of them have vowed to fight the registrar.

In fact, the Registrar should be commended, he has achieved massive development and repositioning for which he is being applauded.

In conclusion, we challenge authorities outside the management to undertake an independent investigation on happenings in the NBAIS. Both members of Academic and Non academic staff should be interviewed to have an informed position and not this, we understand clearly that it’s an intimidation strategy to undermine the efforts of the registrar and the NBAIS to turn things around.

Enurf is enurf.

Signed:

Arewa Media Practitioners

Northern Muslim and Christian Journalists Forum

Youth Media Forum

4.West Africa Educational Writers Association (WAEWA)

Arewa Publishers

Lead Times Africa Foundation For Research and Development.

Africa Crime Reporters Association (ACRA)

Media Focus and Transparency Group