By Julius Oweh
The toxic mixture of religion and politics is the distinguishing trademark that has beggared Nigeria's development and progress and until our leaders get the priority right, poverty and instability shall remain the signature tune of the country for a long time to come. I may be wearing the garb of a doomsday prophet but the realities are so stark and revealing.
The butchering of Deborah Samuel in Sokoto State by fellow students is a tip of the iceberg. It is not going to be the last time religious zealots nurtured by poverty and insane religious ideology shall continue to make a mockery of the secular nature of the country and a bad reason for Nigeria to attract international media attention.
The reaction of President Muhammadu Buhari is very instructive of the mindset of our leaders. After a belated condemnation of the murder of Deborah, the president counselled that people should be sensitive of other people`s religious persuasion. It is sad for our democracy and the secular nature of the country. Section 10 of the 1999 Constitution states clearly that no religion shall be adopted as state religion. And that Nigerians are very free to practice any religion of their choice. But this is observed more in breach. The reasons for mocking the secular state are many and varied.
Take a look at any of the Naira notes and explain to me what the Arabic letters and Islamic motif on the currency are doing. This is a country which lingua franca is English. Yet we are saying that ours is a secular state. There are no Christians` signs like the cross on the Naira notes. The governor of the Central Bank should explain to us why our Naira notes are so designed. For many years running, our Naira notes are paraded as Islamic symbols and I know that some people with twisted mind and toxic ideology may accuse the writer of blasphemy.
Even more offensive are the two legal systems in the country. In the northern part of the country, the sharia legal system that is deeply rooted in Islam is practiced and the numerous SANs and legal luminaries are looking the other side. Why are the northern states practicing the criminal aspect of Sharia law and we are keeping mute? Why are we deceiving ourselves that ours is a secular state? The truth of the matter is that most of our leaders are pretending to be living in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Add the Islamic secret police, Hisbah that is notorious for enforcing the strict code of Islam as regards the consumption of alcoholic drinks. Kano state is infamous for the destruction of beer and spirits and it is given wide publicity. Yet the same state government that takes pride in destroying alcoholic drinks gets money from VAT collected on drinks from other states. This is hypocrisy, pure and simple. If you say drinking of alcohol is bad, you should not receive money on VAT on alcohol from other states. That is why the issue of VAT should be well addressed and I stand with Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State on this matter.
Our leaders are always using religion to climb the political ladder and stay in power. Why is it that Nigeria sponsors religious pilgrimages to Mecca and Jerusalem? The Glorious Koran and the Prophet (Peace and Blessing upon Him) enjoin Moslems to embark on pilgrimage if you have the economic power. The Koran does not state that government should sponsor Moslems to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.
Even funnier is that case of Christians. There is no portion in the Holy Bible that says that you should make pilgrimage to Jerusalem. If you are doing that as a tourist and interested in the birth place of Jesus Christ and the places mentioned in the Bible, you are free to please yourself. Until government hands off the sponsorship of pilgrimages, the secular nature of the country shall be under assault and we shall continue to have those who want to kill in the name of religion.
Nigeria is a country infamous for many public holidays. The public holidays in the national interest like Independence Day and Labour Day are understandable. But the many public holidays in the celebration of Christian and Moslems feasts assault the very foundation of our secular state. Time was when government tried to balance the number of public holidays for Moslems and Christians. The adherents of African Traditional Religion are left out. But as Nigerians, when we have spiritual problems, we abandon the Bible and Koran and run to African Traditional Religion. Nigeria is indeed a limping secular state with religious sentiments buffeting her.
A lot of people have spoken and commented on the gruesome murder of Deborah by her colleagues in the name of religion. Two suspects are already in the custody. The sad and painful reality that some misguided youths demonstrated that the suspects should be released. I am not bothered about that. What gnaws my heart is that a certain professor hires many lawyers to defend the suspects.
The message is that the professor and his likes support the killing of innocent people under the veneer of `blasphemy`. Time was when some youths in the north demonstrated against a cartoon that was published in Denmark alleged to have disrespected Prophet Mohammed (Peace and Blessing of Allah on Him). The northern leaders should attack the virus of Islamic extremism by educating the youth.
*Julius Oweh, a journalist, writes from Asaba, Delta State
No comments:
Post a Comment