Muslim Group Lashes NYSC For Fixing Orientation Date During Ramadan
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has said that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has failed by allowing the 2016/17 Batch A (Stream II) orientation course which was slated for June 13, to clash with the Ramadan season.
This was revealed in a statement signed by MURIC’s director, Ishaq Akintola and made available to newsmen.
Recall that the new date was fixed after several cancellations and postponement by the management. The orientation programme is expected to run from June 13 to June 29 nationwide.
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MURIC noted that any Nigerian institution dealing with schedules and programmes is expected to consider the dates and periods of important festivals, rituals and religious practices.
The statement said that meals will be a challenge as adequate sahuur (early morning meal taken approximately between 4 am and 5.15 am) cannot be guaranteed in the NYSC camp. Neither can the futuur (meal taken at sunset to breakfast) be timely as camp schedules are bound to ignore and subsume this very important period.
The group said, “It is illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional for NYSC to hold camp at a time when its Muslim members will be deprived of their freedom of worship and the liberty to practice their creed without fear.
“This planned camp is exclusive, discriminatory and parochial.
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“It is our humble opinion that NYSC headquarters has failed in its strategic planning by allowing its next camp to clash with the Ramadan period,” said, a professor.
“What happened to 21st May, 2016, which was the date earlier picked for the orientation?
“We do not want to believe that the shift was deliberately planned to coincide with the Ramadan season with a view to excluding prospective Muslim corpers.
“MURIC is not trying to indulge Muslim youths. Fasting is no joke and it certainly cannot be combined with the physical challenges which characterize the NYSC camp,” he added.
“That is on the surface. The whole month of Ramadan is a period of spiritual dedication. There are so many other spiritual exercises in which Muslims engage, the tafsiir (exegesis of the Qur’an) session, the taraawih (late evening supererogatory prayers) and nawaafil (night supererogatory prayers).
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“Only the deep can call to the deep. All these cannot be possible in the NYSC camp.”
