The Adamawa State Muslim Council has registered its dismay over alleged manipulation and divisive move by a regional group under the aupieces “Gongola Elders Forum, GEF to create unnecessary political disharmony in the polity.
Chairman of the Council Gambo Jika made the position of the Council public at the this years public presentation of Hijrah Calendar 1446 (AH) and Annual General Meeting which is the fifth in the series in Yola Weekend accusing organizers of Gongola Elders Forum (GEF) of alleged deliberate tactics of dividing people along regional, religious and tribal considerations.
Jika frown at such tendencies of division to gain political traction saying that their mission is dead on arrival adding that Adamawa Muslims are too strong to be undermined.
Recalled that, in June 2024, the Forum (Gongola Elders’ Forum) had organized a stakeholders meeting in Yola resolved to charting a new course for ethnic nationalities aim to free them from years of acclaimed “political and economic marginalization.” in the country.
Jika noted that the council decided to maintain a calculated and mature stance during the provocation daring that such silence should not be misconstrued as weakness.
He noted that Muslims have significant influence and political wherewithal to call the bluff of anyone who thinks he can whip up sectional, religion or ethnic sentiments for the expediency of political capital calling on the ethnic nationalities to rather than throwing tantrums take the course of mediation for peace and harmony to prevail.
“They are trying to whip up divisions and we will not agree in Adamawa. I want to use this opportunity to tell the organizers of the forum that their mission is dead on arrival. What happened in 1979 will never repeat itself again in Adamawa State. We will never allow the politics of sentiments, ethnicity, divisions and religious to gain traction again.
“It is trite that the forum did not think that amongst the array of Muslims in Adamawa no one deserves to be invited. If they are really talking about ethnic nationalities how many Muslims who are ethnic nationalities were invited? Even Lamido was shunned but the organizers deemed it fit to invite Aku Uka to lead the gathering.
“I want to use this opportunity to strongly and unambiguously tell them that their mission is dead on arrival. Let me tell them as we have done before, the Muslims will again come up strongly and defeat any such tendency because we have what it take to make our voices and our aspirations count.
“I was in Saudi Arabia when the act of provocation took place but I deliberately refused to respond and I enjoined Muslims not to respond but we will tell them no conspiracy crafted against us will prevail.
Many prominent personalities graced the occasion including a Frontline Kano based Islamic scholar sheikh Aminu Daurawa among others.
If I get the Gongola Elders Forum right, They did not talk about religion rather they are lamenting about the dominating attitude and behaviour of Fulani that are settlers in suppressing the indigenous tribes of Gongola.