SHEIKH LEMU: A PROUD SON OF NIGERIA

In the wake of the fratricidal bloody street violence in parts of Northern Nigeria that trailed the 2011 Presidential election, the Nigerian state was faced with the arduous and thorny challenge of uncovering the remote and immediate circumstances that gave rise to such ugly cocktail of killings by armed hoodlums made up essentially of youngsters.

The lot to head a highly powered investigative panel that was established by the then newly elected President Goodluck Jonathan fell on the head of a reputable Islamic Scholar Sheikh Ahmed Abubakar Lemu of Niger State.

Moments after this high profile investigative panel was set up, some commentators doubted the neutrality and/or credibility of the members but President Jonathan armed with formidable security reports in his possession, reposed so much confidence in the ability, integrity and neutrality of the panel's chairman Sheikh Lemu and his members. The President proudly identified Sheikh Lemu as a proud son of Nigeria who is so patriotically committed to the unity and progress of Nigeeria and asked Nigerians to also trust the panel to turn in quality and very objective report.

The Sheikh Lemu-led panel worked in compliance with its terms of reference and turned in a report which met the substantial expectations of the generality of Nigerians regarding the trigger points for the post 2011 election violence in Northern Nigeria which resulting in the killings of thousands of people of mostly Southern origin including my uncle and his wife who were set alight inside the Assembly's of God's Church in Kafanchan, Kaduna state where they took refuge during the riot but were nevertheless massacred.

The Presidential Committee on Post-Election Violence, in submitting its report stated that the then Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, Presidential Candidate, Major General Muhammadu Buhari's provocative remarks played a role in the bloody violence that led to the death of 10 members of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, and hundreds of others after the April 2011 presidential polls.

The media stated that apart from Buhari's utterances, the panel said that the government's failure to implement reports of past commissions and panels on ethno-religious and political crises also contributed to the post-election violence and urged the government to implement the reports. It also decried the parlous state of infrastructure, rising insecurity and ballooning wages of public office holders amid poverty among the citizenry and urged urgent remedies to avert a looming disaster in the country.

However, Buhari has denied making inciting utterances, saying that the panel and the Federal Government were executing a pre-determined agenda since the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and President Goodluck Jonathan had earlier accused the CPC of being responsible for the mayhem even before the panel was raised.

The 22-man Panel said that Buhari's pre-election utterances might have been misconstrued by his supporters to engage in the condemnable mayhem that greeted the aftermath of the presidential elections.

However, the panel claimed that “a long interactive session was held between the CPC presidential candidate and a five-member delegation of the panel, led by the chairman, in the office of General Buhari in Kaduna on September 14, 2011. It was discovered that he (Buhari) was a victim of the violence, the photographs of which were given to the said delegation”.

President Goodluck Jonathan who received the report of the panel upon the completion of its assignment vowed to implement the recommendations of the panel no matter the individuals involved, insisting that “the culture of impunity would be erased by the government and heavens will not fall”.

The media recalled that the Sheikh Ahmed Lemu-led Panel, was inaugurated on May 11 2011.

The report of the panel got widespread acceptance. The government has also started implementing some of the recommendations. Nigerians however are waiting on Government to prosecute the rioters and their sponsors to put to an end to the regime of impunity that has greeted virtually all the bloody riots in Northern Nigeria in the past fifteen years.

It was therefore not a surprise to many when from a distant land-Saudi Arabia, it was announced that Sheikh Lemu has won the 2014 prestigious King Faisal prize for his contribution to Islam and peace.

The prize for Service to Islam has been awarded to Shaikh Dr. Ahmed Abou Bakr Lemu of Nigeria. Shaikh Lemu is being described in international media as a composed intellectual, devout Muslim, and advocate of moderation and open-mindedness.

"He is a member of several international Islamic organisations worldwide. His efforts towards education, development and call to Islam are evident from his hundreds of lectures, seminars and classes. He has authored several Islamic books and school references which fulfilled a significant part of the needs of the Nigerian community and served as important resources for many Nigerian Muslim generations, helping them to understand Islam and expand their knowledge of the Islamic creed", the award committee noted.

Specifically, the prize consists of a certificate, hand-written in Diwani calligraphy, summarising the laureate's work; a commemorative 24 carat, 200 gram gold medal, uniquely cast for each Prize; and a cash endowment of Saudi Riyal 750,000 (about US$200,000) to be shared equally.

The winners got their awards on 30th March 2014 at a ceremony in Riyadh under the auspices of King of Saudi Arabia. President Jonathan did actually sent a high powered federal government delegation to honour this great son of Nigeria.

I have had the priviledge of meeting in person with this good man called Sheikh Lemu and I can testify that if Nigerian religious leaders can show greater patriotic love for Nigeria, then our future as a strong, United entity is assured.

* Emmanuel Onwubiko; Head HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS' ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA; [email protected]; www.huriwa.org.