THE  Nigerian Punch at page 12, Thursday May 9, carried a report that the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA, has asked Nigerians not to blame the violence in the North on Muslims.

They called on the FGN to immediately resettle all displaced Muslims in Bauchi ,Plateau and Kaduna states, stop the plan to exterminate Muslims in Wukari, Taraba State, set up a judicial commission of enquiry, to ensure that justice is done since they believe that non – muslims hide under Boko Haram to perpetrate crimes.

They also called on the FGN to caution those making inflammatory statements on the forth coming 2015 elections so that the fragile peace in the country will not be jeopardized, and to prosecute all detainees on allegations of criminal activities. They frowned at government’s non –implementation of the white papers of their commissions/panels of enquiry on various ethno-religious crisis and conflicts in the country.

No one can really fault these calls from the apex Muslim body in this country except for a few areas.

The colossal stature of this body makes it mandatory that every communiqué from them is weighed and considered with every seriousness, by any whose interest is in the progress and peace of our country, Nigeria. On the same scale, should any communiqué from the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, the apex Christian body in Nigeria be weighed. This is one gain of democracy and freedom of speech and opinion, unlike what we had just a few years back, under military rule.

I agree, of course, that we must not blame Muslims for the violence in the North. We must not do that. Instead , let us look for someone to blame, beginning with those Christians who want to persuade people peacefully and lawfully to follow Jesus Christ.

Or we just blame it on the foreigners who come here for their businesses, looking after their investments in our land.

Or we blame it on those of them who have come on humanitarian purposes and get killed in the North. Or let us blame it on those herdsmen, those illiterates who do not just obey the laws but are peaceful in their business.

The problem is that, in fact, most of the herdsmen are Muslims; so let us blame every other persons, including the governments, but NEVER MUSLIMS!

Whenever one reads of releases like the headline under reference, the stomach churns immediately because it contains some half-truths. The NSCIA wants the FGN to immediately resettle all displaced Muslims in Bauchi, Plateau and Kaduna States, but apparently they may not have been thinking of the resettlement, first of all those Christians and others that have been displaced over a year ago and running!

It is obviously the proverbial case of when people are carrying the coffin of their beloved one, it will seem to the stranger as if they are carrying a piece of firewood! Now that things have turned bad for all, we have come to realise that we must resettle the Muslims.

Resettlement is very good for all, but only  if you  resettle Christians and other victims first and foremost, then the rest may follow, or you resettle  all of them at once, because what is good for the goose is good for the gander. There should be no different rules for any class or religion, not now.

Yes, indeed, let all comments be guarded, and it will not be like the case where some would say things that would and may have actually caused disaffection among Nigerians and nothing happened.

We remember very clearly and vividly, those from the North who said that if they were not declared winners in the 2011 presidential election, blood would flow, and Nigeria would become ungovernable, etc.

Today Nigeria is still governable, but blood is flowing, and who knows for how long! Those comments made by strong and well respected politicians in the North, post 2011 elections results, may well be at the root of the fragile unity we have ended up with today, which the Islamic apex body is now calling on FGN to sustain.

Their call should have come since 2011, when Northern politicians and Muslims made provocative statements.

Asari Dokubo and his Niger Delta henchmen threatened us again earlier this week that come 2015, if GEJ is not declared the winner, Nigeria may not exist, and many started calling for his arrest. They surely do not know what they are saying.

How can you arrest these Niger Deltans now, when you did not arrest those Northern politicians who made very divisive and incendiary comments earlier in 2011? Why  were they not arrested? After all, if in the military coup d etats are used to take power, our politicians may now be using another variant of making the country ungovernable to push out their opponents. It is the same pill as far I can see; killing to get to power!

In any event, we must not forget that the Niger Deltans are  not the Igbos who can be arrested for anything they said or did. The Igbos are not violent, so you can arrest them. That is why Uwazurike of MASSOB is still being tried, while all the willful killers are being begged to come for amnesty, which they are disdainfully rejecting.

The Igbos are the ones who can be picked up at the whims and caprices of the powers that be, because they have been conquered in the civil war, conquered in their minds, overcome, and over whelmed, by desire for personal survival, so much so that they could not maintain or sustain any political party of their own ethnic foundation, or formulate any strong basis for negotiating power or anything with other ethnic groups.

The case of the Igbo man has become so bad politically, that if the ruling party  should zone the presidential ticket today to the South East of Nigeria, so many contenders will come out from that zone, and pull at that very ticket till they tear it, render it useless, and none of them will make it ultimately!

Mr. CLEMENT UDEGBE, a lawyer, wrote from Lagos.