PROFESSOR ISHAQ AKINTOLA

FANATICISM IN SOUTH-WEST NIGERIA   By Is-haq Akintola   This article was first published in my column in the Nigerian Compass of Friday 27th August, 2010, under the title "Religious Extremism in the South-West".   Events in recent times call for a review of religious activities in the South-West. It appears too many things are being taken for granted whereas this geo-political zone sits on a keg of gun powder. The North is often touted as the only place which has the potential for religious conflagration. I have heard people saying that Muslims in the South-West are more tolerant and more civil. I do not know if I want to see it from that perspective.   But if South-West Muslims have been tolerant and civil, what about their Christian counterparts? I leave the answer to that question to the perception of individual readers, Christians or Muslims. Tolerance has to do with the ability to live and let live. We do not have to see things the same way. Christians see Jesus as God. Muslims should be free to see Jesus as a prophet and Allah as God. No offence.   We do not have to use the same type of dress or dress the same way.  If many people see nothing wrong with body-hugging, transparent, short and sex-provoking dresses, Muslims must be allowed free access to decent dressing and this includes hijab for Muslim females. We do not have to worship the same way. Christians worship Jesus while Muslims worship Allah. This is not enough to cause friction.   We do not have to believe or use the same religious laws to regulate our lives. The British colonialists bequeathed to us a Christian-oriented legal system with which Christians are very comfortable. They are free to use it and have been using it to date. The Muslims should enjoy the same freedom to use their own Islamic legal system. But any Muslim who advocates this is immediately stigmatized.   Live and let live. Worship your God and let others worship theirs. This is the golden rule in religious tolerance. But the sad thing is that we pay sheer lipservice to this rule in the South-West. We go about claiming that there can be no religious uprising in the Yorubaland because our families in the region are interwoven and religiously pluralistic. I agree that we are interwoven and so pluralistic. But are we truly tolerant of one another's faith? Is there genuine freedom of religion in the South-West? The answer is capital "NO"!   How and why is it capital "NO". Let me expatiate a little. The idea of salvation through Jesus alone is always pushed down the throats of Muslims in odd places: inside commercial buses by fanatical preachers, inside classrooms and lecture theatres in institutions of higher learning where only academics should be taught.   This is done mainly by fanatical Christian students who have been brainwashed to 'preach anywhere'. So while students wait in classrooms and lecture halls for the arrival of the lecturers or while they sit quietly to study and revise what they have been taught or to prepare assignments given to them by lecturers, fanatical Christian students mount the rostrum and start pushing the kingdom of Christ down everyone's throat. Students sitting quietly to study are therefore disturbed. Their attention is diverted from their study. This is one of the reasons for poor performance in schools. It has also caused friction on campuses on several occasions.   Some people may feel offended by this exposition of mine but this is what has been happening and we all have to face it to find a lasting solution. It must not be allowed to continue if we want peace to continue reigning in the South-West. My appeal to those who do not like what I am writing today is to look beyond me and talk to other Muslims: not the Muslim working under you but one who is not obliged to fear you. Someone you are not paying and you cannot sack.   Another way of this aggressive evangelism is what I call 'waste to weaken' tactics. Muslim students are compelled to attend lectures, do tests and take examinations during the holy hours of Friday in some institutions. Islamic religious knowledge (IRK) is taught in only about two out of every ten public schools in the South-West whereas Christian Religious Knowledge (BK or CRS) enjoys a very robust patronage. Muslims in Yorubaland have been complaining over this for more than three decades but the governments of the geopolitical zone have turned deaf ears.   Muslim parents have been calling for permission for hijab for their female children in public schools but the vocal and elitist minority Christian group have always resisted this. Muslims called for the introduction of civil Shariah in Yorubaland but they had to resort to private Shariah panels when the Christians shouted blue murder. Are the Muslims being tolerated?   The recent intrusion into the University of Ibadan Mosque by a female Christian who asked the Muslim congregation to accept Jesus as their Lord and saviour must open our eyes to what is happening. It is an indubitable testimony of the fanatical mindset of many Christian groups today who believe that Islam must be wiped out of Yorubaland. Otherwise what is the motive for all these aggressive proselytization?   Yours sincerely is of the opinion that the governments of the South West must move quickly to address this issue. Christian fanaticism is on the rise in the region. It has become the sword of Damocles hanging over our heads. Government must put a stop to preaching inside buses. State assemblies in the region must draft bills aimed at tackling noise from churches. Security agencies must begin to focus attention on extremist and fundamentalist Christian groups.   The region is peaceful today not because there is mutual respect among the adherents of different faiths but because Muslims in the region are generally peaceful. But this 'docility' (?) must not be taken for granted for too long.        Is-haq Akintola (Ph.D), Associate Professor of Islamic Studies, Lagos State University, P.O. Box 10211, LASU Post Office, HO 102 101, Ojo, Lagos, Nigeria. Tel. 234-803-346-4974   I remain oppressed untill the hungry are fed, the naked clothed, the sick healed and the homeless sheltered