The echoes of the first annual Ramadan Lecture organised by The Point newspaper will for a long time continue to reverberate in the minds of many Nigerians and in the nation’s media space.
The lecture, titled: “Achieving Peace, Stability and Good Governance in a Multi-Ethnic and Multi-Religious Society: The Islamic Perspective,” afforded Nigerians the opportunity to have a reassessment of Nigeria’s journey, so far, as a nation with diverse people, ethnic nationalities and religions.
The choice of the Guest Lecturer, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, the Secretary General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, who doubles as Registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, was applauded by many guests, who attended the Ramadan lecture, held inside the Combo Hall of the Lagos Television, Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos, on Monday June 4, 2018, and others who later got to know of the event in the various news media.
Frank and thorough as ever, the erudite secretary general of the NSCIA gave a profound, incisive and enlightening x-ray of the situation in the country, especially regarding the perennial and persistent problems of ethnicity and religion. His profound delivery on the subject matter of the Ramadan lecture enthralled the large audience at the event, who listened carefully to him with rapt attention.
Without minding whose ox would be gored, Oloyede, no doubt, stirred the hornet’s nest and even ruffled some feathers with The Point’s maiden Ramadan lecture.
The erudite NSCIA representative used the occasion to take on the Christian Association of Nigeria on its hard stance on the abducted Dapchi school girl, Leah Sharibu, disclosing to Nigerians that the apex Islamic body was already negotiating the release of the young girl with the Boko Haram insurgents before CAN threatened to go to war if she should die in captivity.
Oloyede said that NSCIA had already reached out to the insurgents and promised to help to secure an amnesty for the members of the sect, if they set Sharibu free, describing the threats by CAN on the matter as unnecessary, uncalled for and counter-productive to the negotiations for Sharibu’s release from captivity.
He reminded all that the ultimate goal of the Boko Haram insurgents was to foist a religious war on Nigeria.
Oloyede stressed that the sect had never hidden its mission to set Nigeria ablaze by igniting the fire of a religious war, which could consume the country, adding that it was in pursuit of such evil agenda to cause war in Nigeria that the insurgent group had decided to target innocent school girls for kidnap.
Citing the case of the kidnapped Christian school girl, Sharibu, who has been held in captivity since February this year, he said that the group would do everything to achieve its evil goal of destroying the Nigerian nation.
The NSCIA secretary general, therefore, expressed disappointment with the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria for unwittingly playing into the hands of the insurgents by threatening a religious war over the kidnapped girl.
Oloyede said, “The unfortunate abduction of Leah and other girls, both Muslims and Christians, is intensely hurtful to all right-thinking persons. I am aware that the particular case of Leah made the leadership of the NSCIA reach out to all possible channels of reaching the group with a proposal to secure amnesty for the group, provided Leah and other girls in captivity are released and the group surrenders their arms. This knowledge made the careless threat particularly painful.
“The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) recently escalated the state of insecurity with its threat that should Leah Sharibu die in captivity of Boko Haram, there would be religious war!!! I am as astonished as the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, who recently expressed shock at the destructive and counter-productive statement.
“Boko Haram has never hidden its mission of setting Nigeria ablaze through a religious war. Whose interest was the call to serve? Definitely, not that of the innocent Nigerian Lady, Leah Sharibu. Is it fair, religious or Godly to, for the sake of political grandstanding and publicity-seeking, endanger the life of such a precious, principled and promising lady?
“I am sure the immediate family members of the Lady would not subscribe to such politicisation of the misfortune.”
Also speaking on how Nigerians had been playing the ethnic card for selfish interest, Oloyede said, “Overlapping and dynamic identities are at the root of recurrent problems in Nigeria. An identity assumed by a person or group of persons in Nigeria is not static but dynamic, depending on what is at stake and for how long. A person who is a religious champion can, within a twinkle of an eye, become a social-class-champion or an ethnic champion. Current or momentary interest dictates the identity and its tenure.
“Nigeria is a federation of geo-political entities presently referred to as “State”. They used to be “Regions”. The states are generally not monolithic in terms of ethnic composition. They appear to be generally arbitrary and circumstantial in origin.
“Over 250 ethnic groups with over 500 languages have been identified in Nigeria. While it will be wrong to regard ethnic group as a unit of the Nigerian Federation, it is also true that ethnic loyalties are very strong in Nigeria.”
According to Oloyede, “Whenever a person or group of persons finds it expedient to invoke the ethnic identity in a struggle for public space, it is speedily employed as if it is the only permanent identity of the person or group. The truth of the matter is that the ethnic identity is a latent intra-state feature generally employed in a non-official platform because the constitution gives little or no recognition to ethnic identities. Despite this, ethnic partisanship and emotional commitment are understandably and generally more potent than commitment to the abstract “State”.
“The Qur’an (49: 13) recognises ethnic diversity as labels of identities, but does not regard it as being of much value as piety or consciousness of Allah.”
He, however, stated that “justice and fairness to all groups and interests apply to ethnic groups, whether or not they are active participants in national negotiations.”
Oloyede also identified religion as “another identity that is constantly invoked in Nigeria,” adding, “Unlike ethnicity, the Constitution of Nigeria pays major attention to religion vis-à-vis the nation. Sections 10 and 38 of the Constitution are the most prominent of the provisions.”
He said that while the Nigerian media chose to constantly refer to Nigeria as “Secular”, no constitution of Nigeria had ever used the word “Secular” to describe the nation.
“The popular notion is derived from Section 10, which is “non-adoption of religion-clause”. Examples of secular states with national official religion such as the United Kingdom abound. On the contrary, the Constitution contains clauses, which expressly acknowledge the multi-religious nature of the country. Section 10 and 38 too are evidence of the multi-religious nature of the country,” he said.
Oloyede also threw another controversy into the discourse by citing a statistical data on religious demography of Nigeria, which put the population of Muslims as 52 per cent; Christians, 46 per cent; African Traditional Religion, one per cent; and others, one per cent.
He argued that “common sense of the composition of an average Muslim family supports the data.”
The NSCIA secretary general, however, stressed, quoting Qur’an 2:23, that “whether a country is Islamic or not, Islam prescribes that there is no compulsion in Religion.”
Oloyede noted that the socio-political crises in Nigeria were being aggravated by the irresponsibility and lack of sincerity by some religious leaders and a section of the media, adding, “One can understand why political actors manipulate truths and facts to conjure dangerous lies and fabrications at the expense of national cohesion and development. One is constantly at a loss when trained journalists betray the profession to publicise and propagate sensational falsehood in the name of journalism. Prizes, awards and recognition are even being stage-managed for some of such fake but licenced journalists. One thing that is certain is that such persons would never end well and would be faced with the consequences of their devilish deeds, though only very few would be able to trace their inevitable calamities as their nemesis.
“More alarming is the fact that some religious actors seem to consider as pardonable, lies and falsehood deployed in the name of promoting their religious causes.”
He, therefore, warned Muslims against emulating such antics.
“Muslims should realise that the momentary gains of employing falsehood to propagate a religion is ungodly and is punishable in the sight of Allah as telling lies in mundane matters. The Prophet said – religion is sincerity to Allah, the Prophet and to humanity in general. No matter how attractive, religious services should be devoid of falsehood and fictitious allegations against others,” he said.
Referring to the killings in the North Central part of the country, he argued that the conflict between the herdsmen and Tiv people was as old as the country, and not a new development as Nigerians were being erroneously made to believe.
Oloyede said, “The age-long conflict between Tiv and the Fulani, as bad as it is, is being aggravated by political and religious irredentists assisted by irresponsible media. If not for political expediency, the sociology of Tiv-Fulani relations and linguistic dynamics of asking, “where are my cows” by Fulani man and the response of “munchi” (I have eaten it) by a Tiv man would have resonated a long history of such inter-group relations.
“But where desperate politicians seek relevance, any straw can be held on to gain cheap political points. Nigerians should not fall for the propaganda, whether from the politicians or from religious bodies with soiled corrupt hands.
“A deep reflection of what is being presented as a new clash would have shown that it is a conflict that is as old as Nigeria. The Colonial Masters created grazing routes, forest reserves and mediating teams to address the economic and social friction between the Tiv-farmers and the roving herdsmen.”
Oloyede, therefore, enjoined religious leaders in Nigeria to make concerted efforts to properly guide their followers in order to enhance peace and unity of the country.
The NSCIA secretary general sued for peace and harmony between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria, saying they both serve the same God.
Quoting from Quran 29vs 46, Oloyede stressed that since Christians and Muslims worship the same God, religious crisis should have no room in the society.
“Disunity on the basis of religion stems from intolerance, ignorance of the beliefs of others, unhealthy competition, etc. In order to promote unity through religion, Islam prescribes certain codes of conduct for its adherents in their dealing with people of other faiths. Every Muslim is made responsible to employ good manners in dealing with all human beings, whether Muslims or non-Muslims. It is incumbent on Muslims to be faithful in dealing with non-Muslims,” he
added.
Rounding off the lecture, which recommended unity of purpose, truth and justice for national development, the NSCIA secretary general reiterated the need for “public officers to be sincere and honest, fair and just in the discharge of their public trust; religious leaders to realise that devilish tactics are not compatible with religious responsibilities and, therefore, dedicate themselves to the promotion of truth, peace and justice rather than utilising sacred trust for evil cause, for God does not accept filthy offerings as genuine sacrifice; all Nigerians to eschew hatred, conflict, suspicion and imputation of motive; and the media to be objective, analytical and patriotic in the discharge of their watchdog and agenda-setting responsibilities.”
Earlier in his welcome remarks, a former Minister of Mines and Steel Development, and Baba Adeen of Yorubaland, Edo and Delta states, Chief Sarafa Tunji Isola, said the term “Islamic terrorism”, used in certain quarters, was a misnomer and part of the efforts to paint the Islamic religion in bad light.
Isola described Islam as a religion of peace, which ensured justice for all human beings.
Other dignitaries at the Ramadan lecture included the representative of the the Mudeer, Markaz, Sheikh Habeebulah Adam Al-llory; the President, Muslim Ummah of S/West Nigeria, and Vice President General, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Chief S.O.B Babalola; pro-Chancellor, and Chairman of Council, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Alhaji Azeez Bello; former Minister of State for Agriculture, Alhaji Najeem Awodele; immediate past Registrar, APCON, Nigeria, Alhaji Bello Kankarufi; and National Amirah, The Criterion, Alhaja Fatymah Yewande Oyefeso, among others.
Also in full attendance at the lecture were Nollywood actors and actresses, led by Alhaji Adebayo Salami, popularly known as
Oga Bello.