The Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun, yesterday 7th October 2020, gave a bungalow and N5million cash gifts to the winner of Big Brother Naija, Moshood Olamilekan Agbeleshebioba. He also appointed him the Ambassador of the Youth in Ogun State.
However, the Nigerian Islamic human rights organization, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has described Governor Abiodun’s action as disappointing, disgusting, misplaced, and myopic. MURIC’s reaction was revealed in a statement circulated to the media on Thursday, 8th October 2020.
MURIC said, “We are miffed by Governor Abiodun’s action. What does he think he is promoting? A whole governor is idolizing indecency and encouraging greed and materialism. It is disappointing, disgusting, misplaced, and myopic. This is happening at a time millions of young men and women are roaming the streets of Oke Agbede, Itoko, and Asupopo in the state’s capital in search of jobs that are not there. That N5 million could have evacuated twenty-five area boys from Panseke, Lafenwa, and Ashero, all in Abeokuta. These are roads that the governor himself plies every day and he sees abject poverty printed on the faces of the youth.
“It is a misplaced priority. What is in BBNaija that the governor has to waste the resources of Ogun State on a contestant who had already been over-pampered by the organizers? Afterall Moshood received a whopping N85 million, a car, and a house from the organizers. Why give him a house again when he had already been given one? Is it a reward for hard work, intellectual display, or what? How old is the winner? BBNaija is a cornucopia of repulsive, nauseating, and Bohemian behavior. Or what does Governor Abiodun think of open sex on television being watched by all and sundry, including our underaged children? It is a big shame.
“The Muslim Rights Concern is deeply concerned that even our traditional rulers all over the country failed to add their voices to that of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, Ojaja II when he called on the Federal Government (FG) to ban BBNaija. No single traditional ruler spoke in support of that clarion call.
“FG must also take responsibility for the damage this irresponsible program has done to the psyche of Nigerian youth. How can we allow a foreign idiosyncrasy to bastardize the values and norms which we hold very dearly in our land? It is not Nigerian if it is not Nigerian.
“The Glorious Qur’an says, ‘Evil has appeared on land and sea because of (the evil) which men’s hands have committed, so that He may make them taste part of that which they have done, in order that they may show remorse. (30:41)
“We congratulate Governor Abiodun for demonizing hard work, for idolizing laziness and for celebrating indecency. Abiodun has undone all that his predecessors had done in the past. We commend him for encouraging greed and materialism among the youth. The police in Ogun State should simply go to sleep since we have a governor whose body language seeks the proliferation of Yahoo Yahoo, 419, and armed robbery. That is what the governor has succeeded in doing because the peers of the BBNaija winner will definitely aspire to get by the bend that they cannot attain by the straight.
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“If we may ask our over-generous governor, what did you give those who excelled in educational feats in Ogun State? We have teenagers like Ojo Tobiloba of The Scholars Universal in Ota who scored 354 in the 2020 UTME examination. Ismail Opaleye scored 338 while Nafeesat Ajani had 320. What did the governor give them? Governor Abiodun has elected to sacrifice excellence on the altar of mediocrity. His action will have a far-reaching effect as he has given official recognition to the growing faith in the dogma of getting rich young and by fair or foul means.
“Nigerians are sick and tired of some of our political leaders. It is in all political parties. Abiodun is an APC governor but he suffers from acute desertification of the APC change mantra. We wonder where that N5 million came from. We doubt if it came from the governor’s private pocket. We are equally worried about the former owner of the bungalow which the governor gave Moshood. Was it Abiodun’s private building?
“As we draw the curtains, our candid advice to the governor is to return that money to government coffers if it was taken from tax payer’s money. The governor must also withdraw the bungalow if it is not his private building. He can build a whole estate for the BBNaija winner from his personal money for all we care about. As for the ambassadorial appointment, decent parents will not allow the winner of BBNaija to represent their children.”
Professor Ishaq Akintola,
President,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
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