{"id":43321,"date":"2021-05-19T15:37:37","date_gmt":"2021-05-19T15:37:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/?p=43321"},"modified":"2021-05-19T15:13:00","modified_gmt":"2021-05-19T15:13:00","slug":"islamic-group-counters-reps-member-on-legalisation-of-cannabis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/islamic-group-counters-reps-member-on-legalisation-of-cannabis","title":{"rendered":"Islamic Group counters Reps member on legalisation of cannabis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – Nigeria<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>An Islamic civil rights group, the Muslim Rights Concern, (MURIC) has countered the spokesman of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu over his claim that cannabis would aid Nigeria\u2019s industrial drive and boost its internally generated revenue, IGR if legalized.<\/p>\n

The lawmaker had on Monday said the global industrial hemp market which was valued at $5 billion in 2019 is projected to reach $36 billion by 2026.<\/p>\n

He had also argued that countries like Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and South Africa have legalised cannabis, adding that marijuana is medicinal and would create jobs, boost foreign exchange with an estimated value of $125 billion by 2025.<\/p>\n

But the Islamic group in a statement signed and released by its founder and Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, warned that the legalisation of cannabis will be the last nail in the coffin of morality in Nigeria.<\/p>\n

According to the statement obtained by DAILY POST, the group \u201cstrongly condemn this attempt to compartmentalise Nigerians into vicious drug cartels\u201d, adding that \u201cBenjamin Kalu wants to turn Nigeria into another Mexico on the African continent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe already have serious security challenges. Boko Haram has been here for more than a decade. We have a homegrown kidnapping crisis. Desperate separatist movements have turned into terrorists.<\/p>\n

We have cultism-related killings in our cities and among our young students.
\n\u201cThe Glorious Qur\u2019an has diagnosed the Nigerian problem with microscopic accuracy. It said, \u2018Evil has appeared on both land and sea as a result of the handiworks of men so that Allah may give them a taste of their deeds and perchance they will turn back from their evil (Qur\u2019an 30:41 Zahara al-fasad fil-barri wal-bahr..)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe security challenges we are currently facing are punishments for our recklessness. Instead of thinking of making criminal elements in the country \u2018turn back from their evil\u2019, Kalu wants to cap the edifice with a drug war.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no gainsaying the fact that the legalisation of cannabis will be the last straw that broke the camel\u2019s back in terms of its impact on insecurity and the last nail in the coffin of morality in Nigeria in terms of the country\u2019s descent into the abyss of moral debauchery which began a long time ago,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n

Akintola said although \u201ccannabis may have its benefits but the disadvantages outweigh the advantages\u201d and therefore called on the House of Representatives to reject any attempt to smuggle the cannabis bill into the hallowed House.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis House must not become the House of Marijuana. It must remain the House of Reform, Progress and Dignity,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Quoting from the Holy Bible, he said: \u201cFor what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world but lose his own soul\u2019 (Mark 8:36)?
\nWhat does Nigeria stand to gain if it makes billions of dollars from cannabis but destroys the country? You cannot sow the wind without reaping the whirlwind.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe already have a large number of youths whose lives have been ruined by taking drugs even without legalising cannabis. What then should we expect if we eventually make it legal? Students, area boys, cultists will go haywire. Drug-related cases will increase in psychiatric hospitals.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Islamic scholar, who also recalled that Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu has been advocating for the legalisation of cannabis since 2019, advised him to drop his cannabis dream for massive investment in food production.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. An Islamic civil rights group, the Muslim Rights Concern, (MURIC) has countered the spokesman of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu over his claim that cannabis would aid Nigeria\u2019s industrial drive and boost its internally generated revenue, IGR if legalized. The lawmaker had on Monday said the global industrial hemp market […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":43320,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,28,14,26],"tags":[1570,2140,2934,254,1589],"class_list":["post-43321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-nigeria-2","tag-cannabis","tag-nigeria","tag-reps"],"yoast_head":"\nIslamic Group counters Reps member on legalisation of cannabis - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An Islamic civil rights group, the Muslim Rights Concern, (MURIC) has countered the spokesman of the House of Representa ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/islamic-group-counters-reps-member-on-legalisation-of-cannabis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Islamic Group counters Reps member on legalisation of cannabis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An Islamic civil rights group, the Muslim Rights Concern, (MURIC) has countered the spokesman of the House of Representa ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/islamic-group-counters-reps-member-on-legalisation-of-cannabis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-19T15:37:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2021\/05\/img-60a52aceb9e52.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/islamic-group-counters-reps-member-on-legalisation-of-cannabis#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/islamic-group-counters-reps-member-on-legalisation-of-cannabis\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Islamic Group counters Reps member on legalisation of cannabis\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-19T15:37:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/islamic-group-counters-reps-member-on-legalisation-of-cannabis\"},\"wordCount\":569,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/islamic-group-counters-reps-member-on-legalisation-of-cannabis#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2021\/05\/img-60a52aceb9e52.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Nigeria\",\"cannabis\",\"Nigeria\",\"Reps\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"Policy\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/islamic-group-counters-reps-member-on-legalisation-of-cannabis#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/islamic-group-counters-reps-member-on-legalisation-of-cannabis\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/islamic-group-counters-reps-member-on-legalisation-of-cannabis\",\"name\":\"Islamic Group counters Reps member on legalisation of cannabis - 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