A Nigerian democracy: the place of religion by Tunde Akande

If Nigeria does not restructure, she may still have a little chance of continuing as a nation but if she doesn't tame religion within her body politic she will collapse. Whatever we have suggested so far or anybody will suggest will not help Nigeria's democracy, will not indigenize it if religion is not seriously tamed.

When Karl Marx said religion is the opium of the people he didn't totally put it down as dangerous. He meant religion can help people when they are in pains as a result of society's suffering. Just as now, many Nigerians are receiving succour from religion as a result of the pain inflicted on them by Tinubu’s so called reforms. The other side of Karl Marx’s statement is that religion also dull the people to the extent they are unable to discern the real source of their suffering. This is the reason for the inability of the massively poor in the north, especially to find solutions to their misery in their leaders, it is the will of Allah, they say but Allah has nothing to do with it because he didn't create the poor. But that is coming to an end, the youths of the north are taking a different view now and they will rise against the oppression of their leaders.

It has gotten to a situation where many, especially in the south are campaigning for an abandonment of religion altogether. They point to China which does not profess any religion yet now is leading the world in technology and development. But religion must not be totally abandoned, especially in a Nigeria that is so lacking in morality. The problem with religion is not in religion itself but in the way it’s handled by its leaders and its audience. In Nigeria, religion has been weaponized by politicians to deceive the people. In the north it has confined the power of life and death in the hands of the preachers, people do whatever they are asked to do in the name of religion. I have watched a video where an Islamic preacher asked his audience to go out immediately to kill a person who he said has committed an infraction according to Islam. The irresponsible way Islam has been preached in Nigeria has left the vast region virtually lawless. The killing of Deborah Samuel, a student at Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto State, Nigeria, on May 12, 2022, was motivated by allegations of blasphemy. She was accused of making comments in a WhatsApp group that some Muslim classmates deemed offensive to the Prophet Mohammed. This led to a mob of students attacking her, beating, stoning, and burning her body. Deborah was killed and over 32 lawyers headed by a professor of law rose to defend the assailants. At the end of the day nothing was heard again of the case. Because the average northerner knows that there will be no consequence if he or she kills because of religion, hence he goes ahead to kill always.

A sordid example is the forcible breaking of the glass door of a hall where a ceremony was being held to lead an emir into the hall where the president was already seated. The breaking was reportedly done by the palace guards of the emir. As far as the palace guards feels the emir is greater than the president and the governor put together. While some Islamic preachers lead the way of lawlessness in the north, the south uses Christianity to perpetuate all kinds of crime. Some pastors commit rape and use church funds anyhow. A bishop is serving life jail for raping three girls in his church. People are made to believe only prayers and prayers will get the nation to develop. They congregate in hundreds of thousands to pray, disturbing public peace and order without giving a thought on the effect on other citizens. Politicians exploit this to take politics into the churches. Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party in 2023 visited many mega churches in the name of asking for prayers. In Ibadan, Seyi Makinde, the sitting governor of Oyo state faced a big religious opposition mounted by his opponent Teslim Folarin of the APC. He was said not to be worthy of votes of the largely Muslim dominated state because he is a Christian. In his reply, Seyi Makinde pointed to a Mosque he built in Ibadan. Teslim Folarin is a Muslim. Pastor Tunde Bakare, the running mate of Muhammadu Buhari in the 2011 presidential elections was slammed with a fatwah because he is a Christian convert. Fatwah is a pronouncement of death on a Muslim who leave the religion. An Igbo Muslim convert who had translated the Quran into Igbo and was evangelizing in a market was killed. Nothing has been heard on the case.

Rigid Islamic scholars are rising up in the southwest demanding Sharia in the religiously tolerant region. Oyo state is now a potential field for religious uprising where Professor Ishaq Akintola, an Islamic fundamentalist who enjoys the support of the Sultan of Sokoto, Mohammed Saa'd Abubakar, who always grace his occasions to inaugurate Sharia panels in the state. This move is being opposed by Muslims, surprisingly and Christians who say they don't want the unity and peace of their state disturbed by Sharia that has not helped in any way in the states where it has been introduced in the north. Many of them see the move as a subtle way of extending Fulani conquest which is already threatening the peace of the southwest due to series of kidnapping by a group of Fulani herdsmen.

For democracy, the type that is fully Nigerianized to thrive, the state must be separated from religion. Religion must be left to the individual. Laws related to murder in the nation must be rigidly applied to all cases. Pastors and Imams who preach both Islam and Christianity must be strictly sanctioned if they preach any inflammatory message capable of inciting violence. Pronouncement of fatwah must be outlawed. The preachers must be brought under the laws that are collectively made by all representatives of Nigerians. Currently there are about 73 Islamic mentions in the constitution of Nigeria that were smuggled in by the military administrations of General Sanni Abacha and retired General Abdusalam Abubakar. They must be expunged from a new constitution. No part of the nation or the nation itself must be declared a religious state. This is the fear of many Nigerians down south that the thrust of the Fulani down south with their guns is to fulfil the dream of Sir Ahmadu Bello to dip the Quaran in the Atlantic Ocean. The nation can't remain together when one section believes it would be conquered by another. Visits of any politician to any Church or Mosque, moreso where the politician is introduced to the congregation for purpose of politics, especially during electioneering must be prohibited and heavily sanctioned. Any politician who does must stand disqualified in the election. The Pastor or the Imam must also be sanctioned. If found guilty on trial must be sent to jail for at least five years with no option of fine.

First Published in METRO

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Tunde Akande is both a journalist and pastor. He earned a Master's degree in Mass Communication from the University of Lagos.