Leading Reporters

A renowned Islamic cleric Ustaz Abdul-Lateef Adekilekun and the Waziri Muminina of Yorubaland has strongly frowned at the practice of beheading or killing for blasphemy in Islam.  He said the practice was propagated by a self-acclaimed jurist and has no doctrinal basis in Islam.

Adekilekun’s reaction followed the recent incident in Sokoto state, where a butcher was stoned to death on allegations of blasphemy against the Prophet.

In his statement to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ede, Adekilekun emphasized that it is not in accordance with Islamic teachings to take another person’s life due to blasphemy. He reiterated that Islam is a religion of peace and does not promote violence.

Furthermore, the cleric recalled reading a book 61 years ago that advocated beheading anyone who accuses the prophet, clarifying that the book was not the Quran or Hadith. He explained that it was a publication authored by a self-proclaimed jurist.

In his words, “I remember, I read a book and I was taught in the class exactly 61 years ago where they said anyone who accused Prophet Muhammad should be beheaded. But the book is neither the Qur’an nor hadith. It is just a book written by a self-styled jurist.

He described the action of killing over blasphemy as an expression of ignorance by the Nigerian devotees especially from Northern Nigeria who fly with beliefs that have no Islamic origin.

“Our problem in Nigeria is ignorance.  Blasphemy in Nigeria is mainly from the Northern part of the country and the cause is ignorance.”

“You rarely hear of such in the Southern part of the country where enlightenment and awareness are more pronounced”

The cleric said that the establishment of the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies is established to help bridge the gap of ignorance as the board is saddled with the responsibility of blending Islamic-Oriented education with Western education for a proper understanding of Islam.

The Rwandan government has waived entry visas for Nigerians, other Africans and members of the Commonwealth in order to promote the ease of doing business and attract investors into the Central/Eastern African country.

Speaking at the commemoration of Rwanda’s 29th anniversary celebration and liberation day in Abuja on Tuesday, the country’s Charge D’Affaires in Nigeria, Mr. Vianney Rubagumya, said: “In a bid to widen tourism and spur trade and investment, Rwanda has waived entry visas to visitors from all over Africa, the Commonwealth, and la Francophonie nations.

“The move complements the ease of doing business strides and popularity as a preferred Conference destination.”

He also disclosed that Rwanda is in advanced stages of expanding the operations of the Kigali International Financial Centre, which is poised to dispense innovative world-class services.

According to the envoy, “29 years after, ‘Liberation’ is still in process. At the forefront of the leadership agenda of H.E President Paul Kagame, animated by the ‘Vision 2050’, is the commitment to consolidate and sustain the journey towards self-reliance by ensuring holistic economic emancipation, as well as effective and accountable systems of governance.

“In this process of Liberation, Rwanda counts on her citizens of course, but also on her friends and partners. I therefore take this opportunity to commend the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the immense support during the transformation journey and the excellent bilateral cooperation.”

He stressed that President Kagame’s attendance at President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s inauguration on May 29, 2023 was an affirmation of the strong bond between Nigeria and Rwanda.

He said: “Both countries are increasing cooperation, including in parliamentary diplomacy, defence and security, aviation, governance, sectoral peer-to-peer exchange, and trade and investment.

“Rwanda’s renaissance, is conceived around three major choices, which H.E President Paul Kagame pointed out in his 7th April 2014 speech: Unity, Accountability, and Thinking Big.

“Based on those fundamental choices, Rwanda decisively embarked on structural socio-economic and political reforms, which have been guiding the transformational process. In this connection, some of the significant milestones, include: reduced poverty levels between 1994 and 2018 from 78% to 30%, respectively; increased life expectancy from 51 to 69 years in the last two decades; 2nd best performer in the ease of doing business in Africa; 4th top troop contributing country to the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping
operations.”

The Nigerian representative at the anniversary celebration, Samson Itegboje, assured the Rwandan government of continued support towards building Rwandan economy.