Sharia panels good for religious harmony in South-West – JAMB registrar

The Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, has urged South-West leaders to endorse the formation of Sharia panels in the region to foster peace and religious harmony.

Oloyede, who doubles as the Secretary-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, made this known on Sunday while speaking on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande on Channels Television.

He expressed concern over the lack of understanding surrounding the issue, pointing out that Sharia panels have existed in the region for years.

He said, “I believe that Nigeria is great, and Nigeria will continue to be great, but it requires a lot of rethinking. Recently, people have been talking about Sharia panels in the South-West, and I was just smiling; I was smiling that I had never seen that level of ignorance being displayed.

“Sharia Panel in Oyo State, somebody did a PhD thesis on it in 2007, which means it had been there before 2007. The person who wrote on that appraisal is a professor today in Ibadan. He is Prof Makinde, and the governor coincidentally is Makinde. I don’t know whether they are related.”

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Reacting to issues surrounding religious tolerance in the region, the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin stressed that Muslims in the South-West are psychologically burdened by the peaceful coexistence enjoyed in the zone.

“When you have such a situation (of religious tolerance), and you do not continue to monitor what you are doing, you will be living in the past. I’m a Muslim from the South-West. The Muslims from the South-West pay psychologically for the peace and harmony that we are talking about.

“The churches are licensed by the government to conduct marriages that are statutory, and if you have any dispute within your marriage, you go to government-funded high courts for dispute resolution.

“If there is a dispute in my marriage, where do I go? I don’t have the opportunity because I married according to Islamic rites; I will have to go to customary court where the customary judge knows next to nothing about my faith, about the laws on the basis on which we got married. He would now use customary law to determine Islamic marriage, and the Constitution of Nigeria allows it to say where the state of assembly allows it, there should be Sharia Courts of Appeal.

“There have been Sharia Court of Appeal in different parts of the country, particularly in the northern part of Nigeria. When we say there is harmony, it means somebody is suffering in silence, but when the person speaks, they say, ‘Why are you making noise?’” he added.

Recently, controversy erupted in the South-West region over the establishment of Sharia panels, with Muslim leaders stressing their right to self-determination while non-Muslim groups raise concerns about the potential implications of these panels.

Sharia panels good for religious harmony in South-West – JAMB registrar

Arsenal thrash Man City 5-1 to reignite EPL title hope

Arsenal put a stunning performance Sunday evening, blowing away the reigning champions with a 5-1 victory at Emirates Stadium.

This has thus kept race for English premiership trophy alive notwithstanding the unrelenting spirit of the league leader, Liverpool.

The Gunners prevailed to move within six points of leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand.

Arsenal were gifted the perfect start within two minutes as Manuel Akanji lost possession and Kai Havertz squared for Martin Odegaard to open the scoring.

Havertz exposed Arsenal’s lack of a clinical goalscorer when he wasted a glorious chance to double the lead.

That could have proved costly when Erling Haaland headed in his 250th career club goal early in the second half to bring City level.

But the defending champions are a pale shadow of their former selves this season and conceded within 105 seconds of the restart when Thomas Partey’s shot deflected in off John Stones.

Myles Lewis-Skelly would have been suspended if his controversial red card in a 1-0 win at Wolves last weekend had not been overturned.

The 18-year-old made the most of that reprieve by curling in Arsenal’s third for his first goal for the club.

Havertz made up for his earlier miss by steering a precise left-foot finish into the far corner past Ortega with 14 minutes left.

It was icing on the cake for Arsenal as 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri picked out superbly by Declan Rice, bent a fabulous shot into the far corner.

Israel Adesanya reacts to knockout loss to Imavov in Saudi

Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is reassessing his career trajectory after a devastating defeat at UFC Saudi Arabia.

The Nigerian-born fighter suffered his fourth loss in five bouts, falling to Nassourdine Imavov via second-round knockout on Saturday, February 1, in Riyadh.

Imavov capitalized on an opening, landing a decisive shot that left Adesanya vulnerable before finishing the fight with ground-and-pound. Though Adesanya showed frustration with the referee’s stoppage, officials had little choice, as allowing the bout to continue could have led to a more severe outcome, according to GIVEMESPORT.

Following the loss, which brought his professional record to 24 wins (16 KOs) and five defeats, Adesanya addressed his future in an interview on the UFC post-fight show. While he did not commit to any immediate decisions, including retirement, he acknowledged that he would take time to reflect.

“I have to chill and then think about things,” Adesanya said. “I will relax first for a little bit, just help the teammates who have fights coming up, and yeah, see what I want to. I was going to do that anyway, but you know, now I’m forced to. Shoutout to Nassourdine for that.”

Adesanya, once a dominant force in the middleweight division, ascended quickly to championship status and pursued a second title in another weight class. However, after a meteoric rise, he now finds himself on a downward trend in the rankings. The path back to a title shot remains uncertain.

Expressing disappointment in the outcome, Adesanya noted that he had controlled the first round—according to GIVEMESPORT’s unofficial scorecard—before being stopped early in the second.

Reflecting on the fight, he said: “My team’s still proud of me for the work that I put into this. It’s just the thrill and agony. To be able to feel something so great but also able to feel something so deep and so [frustrating]. It’s a f****** lovely game, but it’s a stupid game at the same time.”

Acknowledging Imavov’s momentous victory, he added: “He must be excited to beat a guy like me. But again, I felt good. Round one, I was in control of everything. In hindsight, maybe I should have taken some time. I just didn’t want him to rest because I knew he was tired.”

Adesanya now faces a critical period in his career, with fans and analysts eager to see what his next move will be.