Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, the executive director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, has criticised religious authorities in the nation for compromising the truth in return for political advantage.
He claims that individuals in this type of religious leaders have lost their moral character and respect, and that rather than protecting the law and acting as beacons of truth in society, they have turned into “beggars” of political favour.
Rafsanjani stated on Monday’s episode of Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily that if every Nigerian keeps quiet out of concern that they won’t be elected to public office, Nigeria will suffer.
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Religious leaders, he claimed, had remained silent and advised their followers to pray for their oppressors rather than speaking out and denouncing the activities of the political class.
He said “In the past, we all knew how our grandparents stood for the truth. They would face a governor, a minister, a local government chairman, a director, or a president and tell him the truth, not in an abusive way but in a very corrective way.
“Now tell me, who do you see speaking the truth to our leaders, whether privately or openly? We hardly see those things happening, and that is why now you will see that religious leaders have practically become (with due respect) beggars.
“A governor will call them, and they will rush to come to him. In the past, a governor would have to come to community leaders or religious leaders in whatever capacity they found themselves. Now they are running after the government house all the time or running to come to the villa.
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“I think that has grossly undermined the integrity and capacity they are supposed to have and also caution leaders when they are doing wrong things.”
He continued by observing that while battling for justice, Nigerian elites appear to have lost their composure, and that consumerism has corrupted many people’s morals and undermined the integrity of the entire system.
The human rights activist said “Most people that are in the position to speak the truth, you tell them they are not speaking the truth, or they are simply being quiet.
“This is a major challenge, and you can look at it from different stakeholders in Nigeria. Religious leaders who are supposed to tell the truth sometimes just decide to keep quiet and ask their followers to pray for oppressors. Community leaders are also in the same shoes.
“If every Nigerian now will have to keep quiet because he or she is afraid that they will not give him an appointment, money, or table, then we are in trouble.
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“That is the reason why, in particular, judges are given this special consideration of respect and regard: they are supposed to play justice; they are not supposed to compromise and be doing all these kind of funny things that we are seeing, delivering judgements through Zoom.”
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