Stroy from Najib SANI, Bauchi
The Bauchi State chapter of the Muslims Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN) has reacted to the calls by the ‘detractors’ of Sheikh Isa Ali Pantami for his resignation as Minister of Communication over allegations of supporting terrorism ideologies in the past.
Addressing journalists, Wednesday, at the secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Bauchi, an official of the Muslims’ group, Dr Hamid Adamu Mohammed, alleged that Pantami’s detractors are saboteurs and enemies of progress of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration ‘because he is one of the most performing ministers’.
Buttressing his points, Hamid opined that many Nigerians did not know about NITDA and its existence until Sheikh Pantami was appointed as director-general adding that the agency, under his leadership established ICT centres in many learning institutions and skills acquisition centres in parts of the nation.
“Presently, as Minister of Communications, he has given directives that all registered SIM cards should be linked with a national identification number (NIN) and to block all unregistered mobile SIM cards.
“This is a giant effort in curtailing many forms of crime such as cyber-crime (yahoo-yahoo), kidnapping, banditry and other nefarious activities which are highly dangerous to our safety as citizens and also to our security as a country.
“Furthermore, in the midst of the pandemic imposed recession, the ICT has for the first time in the history of Nigeria become one of the major contributors to the national GDP, an option in our economic diversification.
This would have never become a reality without the resolute efforts of the Hon. Minister”, he said.
According to him, Pantami was among the first clerics in the whole country that tackled the first leader of the Boko Haram terrorists group in Nigeria by engaging him in a debate at the risk of his life.
“One will ever(sic) wonder what these blind-folded campaigners want to achieve. What benefit will they get by tarnishing the image of this hardworking and patriotic citizen? What would they gain by smearing a person working tirelessly to make the country a better place for us all?
“This is a person who has put his one and only life on the line to accept a scholarly debate challenge from the founder of Boko Haram, when almost all the Islamic scholars in the country have rejected that”, he noted.
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