John Shiklam,

In this interview with renowned Islamic cleric and scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, spoke on a wide range of national issues, declaring that President Muhammadu Buhari is using the fight against corruption as a mere slogan to attract votes from ordinary masses

What have you to say to politicians as 2019 campaigns begin?

My advice to the political parties and the contestants is that they should confine themselves to the issues that really concern Nigerians and avoid negative campaigns, blackmail and anything that will divide and polarise the nation. They should stick to their agenda. What do they have to offer? They should avoid negative campaigns, because Nigeria is inflammable; Nigeria is sick and does not need negative campaigns.

We have seen in the past that negative campaigns do not change people from making up their minds on what they want. It has very little effect, because a human being has that tendency to swallow the negativity of somebody he likes and amplify the negativity of somebody he doesn’t like.

What are the issues the politicians should focus on?

In Nigeria, the main issue now, is the economy. Even these religious and ethnic problems are caused by economic issues. Nigerians are fighting over money, nothing else! In fact if there is a place, where people are sharing money, you can’t differentiate between a northerner, a southerner, a Muslim and a Christian.

There was a time they asked me about this issue of corruption and I said we are making too much noise about corruption. I am against corruption, but you may be surprised that this corruption is uniting Nigeria. So, whoever can boost the economy, create jobs and improve on the living standard of Nigerians can succeed.

That is why there is clamour for power to shift from there to there. It is all for economic reasons. We should analyze the two parties and see their programmes and get economists to discuss how to improve the Nigerian economy.

President Muhammadu Buhari once advised religious leaders like you not to be involved in politics. Do you agree with him?

No, the President was saying please, don’t criticise me and don’t be with the opposition, but you can come and praise me and be with APC. This is what he was saying. It doesn’t mean anything other than that. A man who has a pastor as his vice president, what can he tell religious leaders?

So, religious leaders can play politics?

Every religious leader, whether Christian or Muslim, plays politics. So, let’s not deceive ourselves. Religious leaders are human beings. They have needs. They are part of the society; they want good leaders, who can make the society a better place for the practice of religion. Of course, there are religious leaders, who play their politics for selfish gains and there those, who play politics with national interest at heart.

Some religious leaders are conscious of whatever will destroy the nation. Some of them want to get close to those in power to get some personal aggrandizement, but in the long run, everything boils down to economic interest – whether you are pursuing a personal or a national interest. That is why I am always surprised when they say some religious leaders are bought with money, when they are seen with the opposition (parties), when actually the key to the Central Bank Safe, is in the hands of the government.

If a religious leader wants money, he will support the government. How much can the opposition give him? So, usually religious leaders, who align with government, are those who are pursuing personal interest, especially when the government is performing badly. Nobody hates success. No matter how you hate a leader, when you are getting results, you will forgive him. No matter how you love a leader, if you are not getting results, you have to complain. So, it depends if there are results or no results.