Nigeria’s leaders have long perfected the
art of using religion to play politics. And we all know why. Religion
is arguably Nigeria’s biggest industry, and the second biggest export
industry after oil, ahead even of Nollywood. Almost everyone in the
country will openly and fervently identify with either of Christianity
or Islam (a good number will expertly combine this with a traditional
belief system).
Right there at the seat of power in
Abuja, the power of religion can be clearly seen. Now my only contact
with the Presidential Villa has been the banqueting hall, but I have
been reliably informed that conspicuously positioned near the
Presidential residences are a Chapel and a Mosque. I believe the mosque
was built by President Babangida, while President Obasanjo, the first
Christian to rule Nigeria in 20 years, on assumption of office promptly
built a Chapel right next to it, ostensibly to balance things out.
That’s how seriously we take our religion in this country. A columnist
once argued that the Aso Rock Chapel and Mosque both ought to be
relocated, but we all know that insisting on that would be like asking
for a Civil War.
Continue reading after the cut...
In April 2010, weeks after an ailing
President Yar’Adua was smuggled back into Nigeria, the ‘cabal’ running
Nigeria in his name arranged an excursion to the Presidential Villa for
two groups of people: Christian and Islamic clerics. Their assignment
was to come and bear witness to the resurrection of a man whom we had
all presumed permanently incapacitated. They went in and came out, but
we could tell from their muted enthusiasm that all was not well. But it
was a brilliant move on the part of the then First Lady and her clique.
They knew that if anyone was going to help convince Nigerians that the
President was doing well, it would be religious leaders. They knew that
Nigerians don’t query their religious leaders.
Nigeria must also be one of the few
secular countries that devote substantial amounts of state funds to
sponsoring religious pilgrimages. Every year the federal and state
governments allocate tens of millions of naira to their Christian and
Muslim Pilgrimage Commissions. It really doesn’t make sense to me, but I
don’t expect it to change anytime soon. As far as I know, travelling to
Mecca or Jerusalem on pilgrimage is a personal demonstration of faith. I
therefore believe it should be funded by the individual seeking to
fulfill that responsibility. The government has no business subsidising
religious enterprise. But then again I’m making an argument that has no
chance of succeeding in a country like ours; a country where employers
see nothing wrong in insisting that all their staff take part in
‘morning devotion’, and where shopkeepers see nothing wrong in keeping
customers locked out on account of the same (Christian employers are
especially guilty of this). We haven’t quite learnt how to keep religion
in its proper place. The ongoing National Conference in Abuja had
barely kicked off when a religious controversy arose.
In December 2010, during the Presidential
campaigns President Jonathan pulled off a grand move by visiting the
Redemption Camp, and having himself pictured kneeling down before Pastor
Enoch Adeboye, one of the world’s most influential Christian leaders.
Those pictures drew some criticism, but the president’s handlers knew
that the positives would no doubt outweigh the negatives. To most of
Nigeria’s Christian population this was the perfect picture of humility.
A president submitting himself to God, and humble enough to do it
openly. (I’m guessing their calculation was aimed at putting a seal on
their presumed control of the Christian vote, based on the fact that he
was the front-running ‘Christian’ candidate).
Never underestimate the power of those
religious images amongst Nigerians. And President Jonathan’s handlers
appear to be aware of this. The international media of course likes to
focus on the fact that he is a ‘Christian President’ sitting in office
at a time when, according to the terms of an informal power sharing
pact, a Muslim President from the North should be in office. This
description is often wrongly used to try to explain the Boko Haram
phenomenon; as though we were having to deal with the insurgency because
we have a Christian President usurping a Muslim’s role.
Somehow it appears to me that the
President has started to believe this ‘Christian President’ business. In
recent months he has made it a point of duty to be photographed in
churches. Every week there’s a photo of him in a church, or at a
gathering of Bishops, accompanied by a news headline and story quoting
him speaking religionese; thanking God for giving him wisdom or thanking
the Church for their ceaseless prayers, without which Nigeria would not
be what it is today. In October 2013 he travelled to Jerusalem, and his
media team bombarded us with photos of him praying and being prayed
for.
And then in February, the News Agency of
Nigeria quoted him as saying, at the Dunamis Gospel Church in Garki,
Abuja: “This year, we have decided that from now onward, until I leave
the State House, every last Sunday of the month I will go to different
churches. The reasons are very obvious, not because if I worship in the
State House I am not worshiping God… But I feel that it is good for me
to go round and continue to appreciate what our brothers and sisters
have been doing.”
Each one of these actions, by itself,
doesn’t mean much. But put them all together and you get the picture of a
President who seems to be trying to ‘work’ religion for 2015. (When I
saw the images of him meeting with the Pope a few days ago, I couldn’t
help seeing it in terms of a deliberate ‘Christian President’ strategy).
Combine that with the repeated attempts
by the Peoples Democratic Party to portray the All Progressives
Congress as an ‘Islamic’ party, and things fall into place even
further. Presidential aide Reno Omokri was recently ‘caught’ trying to
anonymously circulate a maliciously-worded document portraying – without
any evidence – suspended CBN Governor Lamido Sanusi and banker and
businessman, Umaru Mutallab, as Boko Haram sponsors and sympathisers
bent on Islamising Nigeria. That the government has ignored the outcry
that followed the unmasking of Reno says a lot about how much they agree
with his tactics and messaging.
And this is not about President Jonathan
alone. Many Nigerian politicians are guilty of trying to whip up
religious sentiment in a way that boosts their own image, or demonises
their opponents. During the Presidential election campaign in 2002,
Muhammadu Buhari was quoted in a news headline as saying that Muslims
should only vote for Muslims. That expectedly drew a backlash. But
Buhari denied ever saying that, and Hassan Matthew Kukah, today the
Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, came out staunchly in his defence.
And I guess there’s also a message to
religious leaders to be careful to not allow themselves to be used by
politicians seeking to court voters on the basis of religion. As the
elections approach we will see intense scrambling for photo-ops in
churches and mosques, by politicians who know that the quickest way to a
Nigerian’s heart is through his or her religious leaders. They will
invade the religious houses looking pious and saying all the right
things, and asking for prayers.
But we all know the truth. This has
nothing to do with piety. If they were half as pious as they pretend to
be Nigeria would not be where it is today.
I’d like to remind President Jonathan of
the words of his party’s national secretary, Olisa Metuh, issued in a
statement earlier this year (interestingly the same statement that
accused APC of “[using] religion to divide the country.”): “It is our
unshakable creed that Nigeria belongs to all Nigerians irrespective of
religious, tribal, ethnic or regional affiliations. This country belongs
to Muslims, Christians and citizens of other religious persuasions
alike and our people are free to live and work in any part of the
country and aspire for any office irrespective of religious or ethnic
affiliations.”
This is a loud call to all politicians
and political parties, to keep the matter of religion out of politics,
regardless of the temptation to wield it as a weapon. A President of
Nigeria is elected to be a President of Nigerian, not of Nigerian
Christians or Muslims alone. Same applies to the Governors. Anyone who
wants to be seen as a Christian or Muslim “brother” should immediately
exchange the soapbox for the pulpit, and squarely face that religious
calling. And anyone who wants to gain political mileage out of labelling
an opponent as a religious ‘Other’, should think twice and desist.
Governance is about delivering high
quality leadership to all citizens regardless of what they believe or
don’t believe. Presidents and Governors ought to keep their religions
personal, and not drag the country into it. Christians and Muslims and
traditional worshippers are all very well represented on the list of
people who have brought Nigeria to ruin. If there’s one lesson Nigeria
has taught us, it is that a person’s religion or lack of it has nothing
to do with the quality of his or her leadership. Faith is meant to be a
personal connection between man and a Supreme Being; and we should allow
it to stay that way.
-Tolu Ogunlesi
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