Former Special Adviser to the late Governor Ibrahim Yakowa of Kaduna State on Islamic Matters and Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Halliru Abdullahi Maraya, frowns at the killing of Usman Buda, who was accused of blasphemy and immediately murdered by an irate mob in Sokoto State recently, saying Islam does not encourage people to take laws into their hands, adding that prosecution and punishment of those involved in the dastardly act will help to stem the tide of jungle justice.

Maraya, in this interview with Vanguard, also spoke on the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, passing verdict on his administration. Excerpts:

How can we stem the tide of jungle justice as it relates to the issue of blasphemy in the North?

Islam does not encourage people to take laws into their own hands. Once an offence is committed, the offender has to be prosecuted in a court of competent jurisdiction, after a proper investigation.

It is the court that will determine whether the offender is guilty or not. Islam is a religion of civilisation, a religion of law and order, therefore, people should not take laws into their own hands. Such an act is at variance with the laws and injunctions of Islam and those of the country.

So, anyone caught taking laws into his own hands should be brought to face the law. The application of punishment is the only thing that can deter people from taking laws into their own hands. If people are not punished for this act, it will continue. This is the only thing that can stop this barbaric act.

Don’t they take orders and directives from their leaders?

If the leaders actually know what their followers are doing is right, why are they not doing it? Any religious leader found giving such orders or encouraging their followers to take laws into their own hands should also be prosecuted, otherwise, they will make this country an epicenter of jungle justice.

The naming of the principal officers of the National Assembly was met with criticism from both the ruling party and some members of the PDP. Do you think the leadership of the National Assembly erred in the selection process?

The lawmakers should be allowed to choose their leaders by themselves. The executive arm of government should not interfere in the selection of leaders of the legislative arm of government. Otherwise, the legislative arm would be a stooge of the executive arm of government.

Even if the party wants to be involved in the process, the members of the National Assembly should be given the freedom to decide who should be their leaders. The party should not impose anyone on them, the party only needs to guide them so that the rules are followed. That is what obtains in the developed world.

In view of a number of policy measures put in place by President Tinubu, do you think he is on track?

Yes, he is on track, the pains now notwithstanding, I know Nigerians will enjoy later. But my advice for him is to fix all four refineries. He should do everything possible to bring them back to shape; otherwise, Nigerians will continue to suffer, hanging our fate on individual private importers.

With the change of baton in the military and security operatives in the country, do you think Nigerians can sleep with their two eyes closed?

(Laughs) The appointment of service chiefs and security adviser will not change anything. You know that the internal security of this country is the responsibility of the police. Unfortunately, the Police are understaffed compared to other African countries like Egypt.

They need more personnel, we have many young men who are willing to join the police force. The same goes for the Army, Navy, and Air Force. The issue of weaponry is another thing. They need to be well equipped with sophisticated gadgets. Then you move to the issue of training and retraining the personnel.

You also need to contend with their welfare. Look at the police and military barracks, consider their salaries; education and health of their children. All these will motivate them to do well in their various assignments. But mere changing the leadership will not change anything.

In addition to these areas, the government should address the issue of poverty, and unemployment should be brought to the barest minimum. Any country with this rate of unemployment cannot enjoy security.

How is Kaduna now?

Well, nothing for now; the new government is just about six weeks old, and we are hoping that it will be absolutely different from its predecessor in terms of unifying the people, providing social amenities, and providing education and healthcare, inter alia, not the dualisation of roads in the metropolis.

That is not what we call development. Development is a legacy in social welfare, education, and health.

As I am talking to you, many places in the metropolis do not have portable drinking water.

So, how will you rate the performance of former governor El-Rufai, are you saying he did not do well in the state?

Without mincing words, I will say that it was a failed administration. El-Rufai failed woefully. You see, the primary responsibility of any government is the protection of lives and properties. Close to 6,000 people were killed during his administration.

Whatever any government must have provided for its citizenry, if such a government failed in the protection of lives and properties, then is it considered a failed government, true or false?

But that issue was not peculiar to Kaduna alone, we saw how banditry, kidnapping, and insurgency ravaged other northern parts of the country. He also cried out, calling on the then Buhari-led government to be more proactive on the issue of insecurity.

I have not restricted my comment only to Kaduna State. Any state government that cannot protect its people’s lives and properties has failed.

Okay, what about other areas of governance, did he fail as well?

As I am talking to you now, there is no single public secondary school in Kaduna State that can boast of three science laboratories that are well equipped. Biology, physics, and Chemistry laboratories.

I repeat, there is no secondary school in the state that has a well equipped single laboratory. Many of the classrooms hardly contain the students. In some primary schools, the pupils are over 130–150 per class. So the teachers are in the ratio of 1:130, sometimes, 1:150. Go do your investigation.

There is no single public secondary school that can boast of a well-equipped library. That is why the children of the commissioners of the previous government withdrew their children from public schools. Even the governor then when he enrolled his child in a public school, later withdrew the child from that school and sent him to a private school.

He had initially taken the child to the public school to deceive people. You can do your findings. He also sacked many experienced school teachers. Now, there are many schools in Kaduna State that have no teachers.