Missy85:

Well done Jason.

Just to add, I've not been in a circle  where anyone has raised the issue of religion as a reason for voting or not voting for a candidate in the S West.

Most families have practising moslems, christians and  the lot, as well as non practising folks. The overarching influence in Yorubaland is culture  and the omo o wa ni' concept.

jason123:

The SW or yorubas do not view religion as a big deal. Among the populace, the ratio is still 50:50 and they have lived peacefully for as long as I can remember. To the yorubas, the bond that the cultural similarities form are stronger than the divisive nature of religion since they were all animist before the introduction of christainity and islam. My father and 2 of my brothers are muslims and my mother and 3 of us are christains, I can tell you there has been no argument over religion.
Long story short, the cultural Identity is stronger than religion in the SW.

Missy85:

just spoke with someone in Akure, [size=13pt]Mimiko [/size] is a practising xtian.

Apparently, his family's real name is[b][size=13pt] Ifamimiko.  He dropped the Ifa bit.[/size][/b]

See how much info you can get in a few mins,,,the joys of cellfone!

Akainzo:

Good point Jason, the SW see more cultural and familial bond than religious leanings. Most families have mixtures of both thus they don't see the religion as a divisive factor. Most Nigerians should emulate them and we would have a better Nigeria.

TplenT:

, the O.P is not correct.fayemi is a christain(staunch catholic),akala is baptist while mimiko attends RCCG.Out of the SW Governors,only fashola and aregbesola are muslims;meanwhile fashola's wife is a staunch catholic(she's Antonia).which means that fashola himself may only be a nominal muslim,

koruji:

Growing up my uncle was muslim, my mum christian, we celebrated the holidays together and so on. Religion should be a personal thing, and those who continue to mix it with politics are neither serving God nor man!

Akhenaten:

Most Nigerians are dominated by ONE single religion. Hausas are predominately Muslim, Nupe are predominately Muslim, Igbos are predominately Christian, Ibibios are predominately Christian etc etc. How can we all emulate something that is most common with the Yoruba and not with other ethnicities except for a few like the Idoma, Igala and some Edo groups.

ndu_chucks:

@koruji, how is the thread devisive? Did you read the original post at all or you are an onijogbon by nature? Controversial issues do not have to be wept under the carpet and not discussed because certain people may be emotionally unstable.

I ask again, just as in the first post: No religious or ethnic bashing please - lets make this a nice academic exercise.

ndu_chucks:

Sharia courts have been in existence in Northern Nigeria for as long as I can remember. There were certainly Sharia courts in the area as early as the 60's.  Christians and Moslems lived side by side without religious fracases until recently when certain elements tried to politicise religion in the area.

Moslem vs Christian conflicts have been quite minimal in the South West. Why is this so?  There may be some lessons to be learnt from this observation.  By the way, do we have Sharia courts anywhere in the South West? If not, would the Moslems from the area, care to explain why this is OK by them?

ndu_chucks:

@Koruji, please take a chill pill and relax. Religion does not seem to be a devisive issue in the South West as many posters have posited. By the way, are you going to create an upheaval from the comfort of your living room watching the Philadelphia Eagles coast to the super bowl? I doubt if you are in the trenches in Nigeria. Enjoy your weekend.
Thanks.

jason123:

The reason is already stated above, " the cultural bond is stronger than the religious bond"
Secondly, there is no sharia court in the SW. The reason is that, muslims in the SW are moderate muslims. They also tolerate the christains and vis-versa. Infact, religion is not a big deal in the SW.

ndu_chucks:

@koruji, how is the thread devisive? Did you read the original post at all or you are an onijogbon by nature? Controversial issues do not have to be wept under the carpet and not discussed because certain people may be emotionally unstable. 

I ask again, just as in the first post: No religious or ethnic bashing please - lets make this a nice academic exercise.

ndu_chucks:

@jason123, please clarify you position that the reason why sharia courts do not exist in the SW (or why only a handful exists) is because SW muslims are moderates. You seem to be implying that the Muslims of other areas that have Sharia courts are extremists? If so, that is completely wrong. I told you that Sharia courts have existed all over the North since at least the 60s and there were  no issues until certain elements tried to politicise religion in the area.  I hope you are not suggesting that SW muslims are fake muslims.  I await you second try on the reasons why Sharia courts are not present in the SW. Thanks.

ndu_chucks:


@koruji, your contributions are appreciated, but expect to be vigorously challenged    I was a Cowboy fan, back in the days. The Eagles don't have a very good team, they are lucky that the cowboys are currently rebuilding their team and the fact that the dog lover is their quarterback.

ndu_chucks:

@jason123, please clarify you position that the reason why sharia courts do not exist in the SW (or why only a handful exists) is because SW muslims are moderates. You seem to be implying that the Muslims of other areas that have Sharia courts are extremists? If so, that is completely wrong. I told you that Sharia courts have existed all over the North since at least the 60s and there were  no issues until certain elements tried to politicise religion in the area.  I hope you are not suggesting that SW muslims are fake muslims.  I await you second try on the reasons why Sharia courts are not present in the SW. Thanks.

jason123:

They are moderates, in the sense that, they do not veiw their christian brothers as infidels etc. They do not impose religion on their children (for example, I was thought the quran by my father but when i decided to be a christian, he did not stop me). They do not kill eachother in the name of justice. . . etc. I can go on and on.

@ bolded
This is the problem yoruba muslims have with northern muslim. The brutality of sharia is unfamilar to the yorubas and they do not practice it but instead, norther muslim say they are fake muslims and that is the problem.
Islam is a religion of peace but coupled with Sharia law, it becomes something else . I personally view most northern moslems as hypocrites! why? If a thief is caught in a sharia state, his hand is cut off isn't it? but have you or any northern muslim not stolen before? have you or any northern muslim not had sex before marriage? But because you are not caught, you remain "holy". Well, GOD sees all and thats the difference. Yoruba muslims would not take justice into their hands.

I am waiting for your reply. You might even clarify somethings to me.

ndu_chucks:

First let me commend you for your brutal honestly, one cannot call you a hypocrite. I must say that I’m a bit surprised that you chose to use Sharia as practiced by certain extremists as a benchmark, rather than siting the practice as implemented in the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. You of all people, as a Moslem, should know that the extremists represent the minority who should not be allowed to hijack the religion.

You probably should have stated that the Yoruba Muslims have a problem with those extremists in the North and elsewhere, instead of stating that the Yoruba Muslims have a problem with Northern Muslims. That generalization of yours is quite unfair. Sharia courts have been in place since the 60’s in the North and more hands have been cut off in the past 15 years than the prior 40 years (in a lame attempt to make life difficult for OBJ, I might add). In fact, no hands were cut off anywhere in the North between 1950 and 1990. Were the Northern Muslims hypocrites during that period as well?

As for the bit about Yoruba Muslims not taking the law into their hands, please go to any SW market and invite a couple of people to shout ole or thief, and see if you’ll be lynched by only non Muslims. Your generalizations are a bit excessive. Care to restate your position?

ikeyman00:

@@@@@@@@@@

these thread is hoax!!

complete nonesense!!!

this is the question that should be directed to the abokis and malam vampires on desperse out there

until this idots recognise they are africa, 2; nigeria they will never know

nothing to learn from yoruba

cuz as a christain right in Nigeria i can tell u there are lots and lots of divisions that ones sees other differently u know

the fact im a roman catholic doesnt make me closer to a jehova witttness man u feel me

but then like they say culture goes first cuz that is who u are

so no need to dance in owambe style right here

Katsumoto:
It is a divisive thread in that the intention is to introduce religion in to political thinking in the South West when it is a known fact that Yorubas are bound by culture rather than religion.

Katsumoto:

Is it compulsory for Sharia courts to be in the South-West? What is the point of this debate?