by Eze Eluchie,
The signs of
a build-up to a religious conflagration in Nigeria is all too clear, particularly
since the ascendance into the highest political office in Nigeria of a man,
Muhammadu Buhari, who has over the years exhibited traits of adherence to
extremist Islamists philosophies and severally proved himself an
ethno-religious bigot. The odious record Mr. Buhari had set in 1985 as the only
President who had voted against a national of his own country for the Office of
Secretary General of the African Union, during his earlier stint in office as
Nigeria’s Head of State (as Military dictator) when he had voted for Ide Oumarou,
a Muslim Fulani from Niger Republic against Mr. Peter Onu, a Nigerian
Christian, still remains etched in history and reality.
When, for
instance, a Christian converts to Islam, it’s a private issue (some State
Governors, for example Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State and several Muslim
State Governors, have been known to waste public funds in ‘rewarding’ such
converts). In an environment plagued with endeic poverty, the cash and other
rewards accorded the convert serve to entice many others to change creed;
When,
however, a Muslim converts to Christianity, from nowhere, it becomes a
‘security’ issue and the Department of State Security, the Police Force descend
on the convert and whosoever is believed to have aided the conversion, to
reverse and or ‘punish’ such conversion. Riots even break out or get
instigated, during which several Churches get destroyed and more Christians
flee fro the area where such ‘conversion’ took place.
The issues
are further exacerbated by the undue pro-Islamic slant the machinery and
alliances of the Nigerian government has been taking under the present
leadership of Mr. Buhari. Such acts as Nigeria’s joining the Saudi Arabia-led ‘Islamic
Military Alliance to fight terrorism’, the Nigerian Government floating SUKUK
(Islamic) Bonds, the ineffective response by Security agencies (controlled by
the Federal government) to check ethnic cleansing of genocidal proportions
taking place against the predominantly Christian populations of the idle Belt
region by predominantly Muslim Fulani herdsmmen and recent vote patterns at
international summits.
When one
realizes that the above situations are occurring contemporaneously in a
supposedly secular state where the numerical strengths of the twin Abrahamic
religions are almost at par, it does not take a rocket scientist to discern
that if current approach and deployment of state apparatus in favour of any
religious orientation continues, it will give rise to conflict.
The way out
of this oncoming apocalyptic conflagration is to holistically restructure and
renegotiate the Nigerian contraption whilst there is yet time.
Muslim girl conversion
becomes cause for intervention by Department of State Security (DSS): http://guardian.ng/news/controversy-over-girls-conversion-from-islam-to-christianity/
Picture: Symbols of
the Islamic and Christian faith.
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