INTRODUCTION
The CAN Executive members here present, All Heads of Blocs in CAN, My beloved Bishops, Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Gentlemen of the press, ladies and gentlemen.
We are here today to address some salient issues as they affect our Nation.
THE STATE OF THE NIGERIA NATION
In the build up to the 2015 elections, majority of Nigerians expressed great hope that there would be POSITIVE CHANGE in the nation. However, one year down the way, after the new government was sworn into office, credible apprehension is now being experienced given the policy direction of the new administration. We hope that the build-up to these policies do not result in full blown Sharia which President Muhammadu Buhari is alleged to have promised Muslims in Nigeria.
A number of worrisome issues readily come to mind:
Inclusion of Nigeria in the Saudi Arabia Military Coalition of "Muslim/Arab" nations would appear that the Foreign Policy thrust of the present administration is to make Nigeria a satellite state of Saudi Arabia. The strengthening of the nation's democracy and security for all should remain the greatest priority of Government. This we see to have been negated by the President's fiat/unilateral decision to enlist Nigeria in the 34 nations Muslim/Arab coalition. Given the emotive and sensitive nature of this unilateral Executive decision, it should have been handled by Mr. President in line with our democratic culture through popular discussion and participation by the citizenry, or at the very least, through the National Assembly.
The root of the problem of insecurity, distrust and mutual suspicion in Nigeria is the conflict between Liberal Democracy and Sharia ideology. Nigeria was established as a nation upon the principles and practice of Liberal Democracy. Indeed under the laws of Nigeria, every citizen has the right to practice and profess the religion of his/her choice without any hindrance.
Bearing in mind the huge ethnic, cultural, religious, and racial diversities in Nigeria, it was deemed necessary that an all accommodating ideology would be required to ensure justice, equality, and fairness for all the divergent groups in the nation. Unfortunately this appears not to be the case, as it appears that some forces have been working surreptitiously over the years to supplant Liberal Democracy with Sharia as the "source of legislation" in Nigeria, over and above the Constitution.
The consideration of establishing "free visa" arrangement with Islamic D8 nations. These countries are: Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, Turkey, and of course, Nigeria.
The apparent Islamization of key security positions in the country.
The apparent disdain and contempt with which Mr. President holds Christians in Nigeria as demonstrated by his interview on Al–Jazeera on the objection of Christians to Nigeria's involvement in the Saudi led Military Coalition to fight ISIS is to say the least undemocratic and certainly insensitive.
The issuance of national license to Jaiz Bank to operate Islamic Interest-free banking in all the 36 states of the federation. The sultan of Sokoto who is the head of all Muslims in Nigeria has warned that whatever Jaiz does must conform to the rules and regulations of Islam. Jaiz has also set up Takaful Islamic Insurance.
Mr. President needs to be reminded that he was brought to power through the votes of Nigerians, Christians inclusive. The over 50% non-Muslims in Nigeria did not vote for the nation to transmute into a Sharia compliant nation. Fortunately, Mr. President was confronted with these concerns and he assured Nigerians that he was now "a converted democrat" but we are disturbed by the direction of his administration.
KADUNA STATE RELIGIOUS BILL
We wish to join our voices to express our disdain at the proposed Kaduna State Religious Bill. The proposed Bill contravenes Section 38 (1) of the 1999 Constitution and the secularity principle of Nigeria. The Governor of Kaduna State must be reminded that religion is personal and no one has the right to legislate on how individuals worship. We call on the Kaduna State Governor to retrace his steps from this ill-advised venture. The proposed legislation in Kaduna is anti-Christian, it is only Christians who give out tracts and evangelise through cassettes and any attempt to stop this is virtually telling Christians to stop evangelising. Evangelism is the primary assignment given by Jesus to the Christians when He instructed the disciples to go and make disciples of all nations. The current Kaduna ill-advised State Religious Law is an affront on democracy and must be reversed.
In the past there have been Maitatsine riots, Taliban riots, terrorist activities of Boko Haram in the north east, activities of the Shiite sect in Kaduna State and more recently the now dreaded 'Fulani Herdsmen'. These are all Muslim groups. It will be most unfair to make laws that will curtail the spread of Christianity because of violent Muslim sects. The Christians have maintained the peace all these years in the face of unwarranted provocations, especially in the northern states.
We therefore consider this an affront and deliberate provocation which must be stopped forthwith. The Sharia Commissions in the northern states should be called to order. They must respect the constitution of the country which clearly states that Nigeria is a secular state.
ABDUCTION AND FORCEFUL MARRIAGE OF UNDERAGED CHRISTIAN GIRLS
We call on the law enforcement agents to see to the immediate release of other girls held without the consent of their parents. Enough of this child labour, paedophilic desires of some men who hide under religion to commit hideous crimes. The Police should wake up to their duties and perform without fear or favour. A situation where the Police behave as if certain people are above the law is unacceptable.
We are saddened by these serial cases of forceful abduction of underaged, forceful marriage, marriage without parental consent of the Christian girls and their forceful conversion to Islam. We condemn in totality this act of violation of the Human Rights of these girls and it is a degradation of our national values.
RAMPAGE OF FULANI HERDSMEN
We are dismayed by the inaction of the Federal Government to the carnage and destruction caused by the Fulani herdsmen against legitimate native land owners and farmers, across the country. It is most shocking that till today, there has been no prosecution of any of these marauders. For years, the Fulani herdsmen have been murdering innocent Nigerians with impunity. The murderous escapades of the Fulani herdsmen has gained international notoriety to the extent that the group is now considered, internationally, as the fourth most dangerous terror organization in the world. It is sad to note that Boko Haram, which is presently regarded as the world number one most dangerous terror organization and the Fulani herdsmen, considered the fourth are both operating in Nigeria. Meanwhile, the response of Government to the menace of the Fulani herdsmen has to date, been tepid and indifferent.
The activities of Fulani herdsmen who spread destruction and mayhem from north to east and north to west should be checked forthwith, so that farmers are protected. We are yet to hear of any Fulani herdsman who has been arraigned for murder, arson and destruction of property. We've only heard of peace talks. We challenge the federal government to stand tall on this.
Are the police supposed to call murderers and arsonists to peace talks or to arraign them for crimes committed? This double standard in the maintenance of law and order has emboldened the herdsmen that if destructive activities are not curtailed, we may be sitting on a keg of gun powder which could explode anytime in the near future.
GRAZING RESERVE
One reason adduced to justify the perennial attacks of the Fulani herdsmen is the argument that they seek grazing fields for their cattle and as a result engage in conflicts with farmers. It was therefore proposed that ancestral lands of other ethnic groups should be allocated to them as grazing fields.
However, the most sensible and economically wise approach would be to build ranches for the herdsmen in their states of origin. This makes more sense and it is the internationally approved best practice under the circumstances. Other nations of the world consume beef yet, nomads do not drive herds of cattle all over the nation in the 21st century.
The Grazing Reserve proposal is seen as a deceptive manner of appropriating the lands of indigenous ethnic groups for the Fulani herdsmen to spread their tentacles of terror all over the nation. The proposal should be dropped and the state governments of the herdsmen should build ranches for them in their states of origin.
NO TO THE NEW 9-YEAR BASIC EDUCATION CURRICULUM ON RELIGIOUS STUDIES.
Following the decision of the Federal government to introduce the Universal 9-year Basic Education Programme, the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council(NERDC) restructured and realigned all extant Primary and Junior Secondary Schools(JSS) Curricula into a 9 year Basic education curriculum which commenced in 2008. This curriculum was recently revised by the Federal Ministry of Education through the NERDC. Part of the revised curriculum is the omnibus subject called Religion and National values.
Religion and National Values are said to be the merging of formally independent subjects such as Christian Religious Studies, Islamic Studies, Civic Education, Social studies and Security Education into one compulsory subject.
Given the fact that it is the duty of Government to provide functional education to her citizenry which is in line with the United Nations Declaration on human and people's rights, the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and even the Child Right Act of 2003; curriculum review is a welcome development. A review should eliminate subject matter overlaps, redundancies and enrich curriculum quality through the infusion of emerging issues. However, this duty, as exercised in this respect is faulty. A holistic view of the rights – both as enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Child Rights Act point to the fact that the parents or legal guardian should be taken into consideration in any matter that affects the interest of the child.
Unfortunately, the current educational curriculum did not take all these into consideration. In fact, parents as stakeholders were not consulted before the formulation and implementation. For instance, the Right of the child not to be exposed to a contrary religion outside those of his parents / Guardian is not taken into consideration by this curriculum. This has been made possible because the NERDC-approved textbooks for this subject contain materials on both Christian religious studies and Islamic studies. This is of immense importance as the majority of children that attend the basic schools are minors(less than 18 years of age).
According to section 38(2) of the 1999 constitution as amended, no person attending any place of education shall be required to receive religious instruction or take part in any religious observance that is contrary to his religion or religion of his / her parents or guardian. Also, subsection (1) of the same section 38 makes it explicit that freedom of worship is sacrosanct. Some of the alleged offensive/controversial parts of the curriculum include;
1. The supremacy of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) over all other prophets or religious icons
2. That the glorious Quran is the final authority of Allah
3. Children could disobey their parents if they refuse them to follow Allah (can you imagine that this curriculum was written for minors (primary one pupil to JSS 3)
4. Prophet Isa (pbuh) that Christians know as Jesus Christ did not die nor was crucified
5. All the children including those of other faith apart from Islam are to learn, memorize and recite the Quran/Arabic language.
Should the above be true, it is our position that;
1.Christian Religious Studies and Islamic Religious Studies should be allowed to stand separately and be studied as independent subjects with separate textbooks just like the Nigerian languages (Hausa, Ibo and Yoruba} in line with the previous curriculum.
2. Relevant authorities responsible for mid-wifying this new curriculum should as a matter of urgency reverse the curriculum and revert to status quo ante.
3. Attempts to make this omnibus subject compulsory, for the Basic Education Certificate Examinations should be discontinued.
4. There should be a public hearing on this to galvanize the opinion of parents on a matter as sensitive as this.
5. Federal Government should device means of confronting directly those who propagate violence and religious intolerance rather than combining two different religious subjects
6. Furthermore, the disadvantage of this omnibus integration outweighs whatever could be the advantage. When five subjects are merged into one, it is obvious that detailed work cannot be achieved both in writing of the textbook and the teaching. The child would be made to struggle to learn and comprehend five-in-one subject, which is not going to be easy. The result would be penny wise, pound foolish as excellence would be sacrificed at the altar of social integration.
7. Arabic language that has been introduced is not relevant to the general public, it should only be in Arabic schools
8. Morning devotion / Assembly should not be stopped in our schools. In this state and others where devotions have been stopped, it should as a matter of urgency be restored without delay.
CONCLUSION
Nigeria belongs to all of us. We all have equal stakes as bona fide citizens of Nigeria. This is part of our own contribution to the Nation, we shall continue to tread the path of peace and be open for dialogue because dialogue is a pathway to truth and progress.
God bless Nigeria, God bless you all
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