Less than 48 days to the conduct of the general polls slated to commence on February 25, the deployment of religion in swinging the pendulum to gain political advantage has become the norm, rather than the exception. All the parties are culpable in turning the issue of faith into an effective platform for manipulation.
Even in the South East geo-political zone where Christianity is the major religion for over 90 percent of the entire population, inter-denominational differences are threatening amity among the people. Fully aware that religion has always posed a big challenge, as the perpetrators resort to sentiment to perfect the divide-and-rule strategy in pulling down the walls uniting Nigerians, the deployment of faith belief has become a worn-out tactic used by politicians to achieve electoral triumph.
More than any time in the history of elections in the country, there has been no time than now when religion has been subversively deployed to enthrone falsehood, all in an attempt to deceive gullible voters to gain victory at the polls. For the South West that has risen above the manipulation of religious chicanery of the old system, the forebears of Nigeria’s nightmare are still determined to ignite the monster of religious intolerance.
It is now clearer as the day that people from the South West have soared above falling prey to religious conflicts, but the former Northern Region, comprising the 19 Northern States, is still a hotspot of religious intolerance and bloodshed. The raging anger over the same-faith ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC), especially among Northerners, reveals the relevance of faith to ordinary Northerners who are sometimes discriminated against on the basis of their faiths.
The raging storm over religion ahead of the 2023 polls is not unconnected with what Nigerians have witnessed and experienced since 2015 when the foundation of equity for all Nigerians was shattered by General Muhammadu Buhari. The nepotistic tendencies of the APC-led administration since the party dislodged the former ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led to what many see as the enthronement of religious supremacy of one religion over the other, with the monster of religious bigotry spreading their wings over our nation’s skies. It is sad that these frightening uncertainties of the future are further compounded by deliberate attempts by power seekers to portray their political foes in bad light, using religion to subvert the electoral process and corporate survival of the Nigerian State.
Just as the Spanish philosopher, Lucious Annaeus Seneca, once declared: “Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful”, Nigerian politicians have never in the past or present spared efforts in exploiting religious sentiments to deceive the electorate in order to maintain their stranglehold on power.
The North has been a theater of religious bickering between Muslims and Christians, but the two religions have never been in conflict. The major problem confronting the electoral process is when politics is skewed into religion. A democracy inspired by the flowing fountain of religious bigotry is a quick invitation to consuming chaos, and can’t survive for too long. Any system that is confronted with evil seeds of discrimination on the basis of religion can only lead to the creation of national cracks capable of torpedoing the ship of democracy if not checkmated.
The crippling level of illiteracy and the cascading poverty, coupled with the manipulation of the electoral process by the political class, has turned Arewa into an intolerable atmosphere. The present insecurity and waves of other illegal activities unleashed by terror groups that are determined to decimate our nation can be predicated on the failure of the North to work against the manipulation of religion.
The rumbling Muslim-Muslim ticket of the APC has come under acerbic attacks by even members of the ruling party. The reaction of the former Secretary of the Government of the Federation, Mr. David Babachir Lawal, and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, has caused a swirl of attendant reactions in the political circle. That the protest by the Christian politicians from the North-east came on the heels of the adoption of the same faith ticket by the APC revealed the inscrutability behind their motive. How come, Northern Christians remained dumb and did not find it expedient to express their views but waited for the bolting of the horse from the stable? Was it because they had hoped to be nominated as the running mate to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; and so that explained their observance of table manners in anticipation of having their dreams realised by their nominations?
For those who are ignorant of what is happening in the North, it is not today that Northern Christians are passing through the dungeon of fiery subjugation in both politics and public office. The dilemma of non-Muslims in the North only worsened after the APC-led administration abandoned the entrenched power sharing arrangement that was taken for granted. Why Northern Christians have found themselves where they are today is largely hinged on the absurdity of Northern Christian politicians who have refused to work for the democratic growth of their people.
After spending many years in the corridors of power, these Northern Christian politicians are only perturbed if their positions are threatened. We saw that happen during the days that heralded the parting of ways between the former SGF and Hon Dogara. When those who should protect their own refuse to do that; they are invariably contributing to the relegation and subjugation of their own people. In their refusal to see the bigger picture, they eventually pave the way to Church leaders who may not be properly informed on the dynamics of power play. Where the religious leaders are well informed, the unity of purpose in realising common dreams becomes herculean.
Not a few Christians felt insulted when those who claim ‘competence’ and not ‘religion’ was identified as a major determinant of who becomes the vice presidential candidate for Senator Tinubu. Considering the dynamics and the desperation by those who have now assumed the role of ‘Defenders of the Christian faith’, portraying Senator Kashim Shettima as someone opposed to Christianity has now become a passion and pastime. He is alleged to be the governor who barred the teaching of Christian Religious Studies (CRS) in Borno public schools.
As far as in the1980s, the teaching of CRS in public secondary schools in most Northern states was volunteer work. At the Government Secondary School Bungudu, then in Sokoto, but now in Zamfara State, our then principal, who is now the 18th Emir of Tsafe, His Royal Highness, Alhaji Muhammadu Bawa, engaged a volunteer staff to teach us CRS as there was no approval by the then Sokoto State Ministry of Education to employ CRS teachers. Nearly 40 years since the completion of my secondary education, the status quo has remained unchanged. In Kebbi, Katsina, Jigawa and many Northern states, excluding states in the North-central zone, Christian students can only be taught through volunteer teaching.
Long before Senator Shettima became Borno governor, the teaching of CRS in public schools had been barred during the administration of Governor Mala Kachalla. When he served as the governor, Senator Shettima was reported to have assisted in rebuilding some of the churches bombed by Boko Haram, and proved to have been favourably disposed in encouraging religious harmony and peaceful co-existence.
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr Peter Obi, who is a strong Catholic, has not been without some allegations of favouritism from members of the Anglican Church. The presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, is yet to convince his traducers that he did not come under pressure from Islamic clerics when he deleted his tweet on the killing of Deborah Samuel in Sokoto.
In attempting to win political points using fertile imagination, Nigerians must be warned against ruining the little hope of encouraging patriots across religious divides to unite after the polls. Christian politicians, especially in the North, should imbibe caution and adopt a strategy aimed at serving their people. After 23 years of this unbroken democracy, politicians must resist the temptation of riding on wings of religious bigotry to unleash barefaced lies in order to score cheap points against political opponents.
That is not to state that Nigerians should refrain from asking candidates tough questions and seek to unearth what happened in the past. Citizens must eschew outright falsehood and half-truths to ignite religious emotions against political opponents.