Y Arowosaye (a Yoruba
name meaning one who has
money to enjoy life), is not a
Christian when she is playing a
prostitute in a brothel. She is a
Christian only on Sundays
when she is singing, dancing,
and making contribution to the
financial well-being of the
church. She is also a Christian
whenever she plays the Good
Samaritan in her daily living.
Similarly, Emmanuel
Christopher is not a Christian
when he is a member of an
armed gang robbing banks and
other victims. He is a Christian
only when he is in the church
on Sunday, participating
actively in activities,
liturgically and otherwise.
The foregoing is the logic of
those who say that the Boko
Haram should not be
associated with Islam; that it is
neither an Islamic
fundamentalist group nor a
sect within the Muslim
community.
My argument is that we should
take collective responsibility
for the emergence of the Boko
Haram. When a group
formented mayhem because of
the Miss World Beauty Contest
shown on the Nigerian
Television Authority (NTA), and
the ban on the Big Brother, did
anybody bother that we were
a democratic and secular
nation? Neither the President
nor the National Assembly
took any step in that direction,
because they were all
Christians and Muslims who did
not really believe in religious
or human freedom, even
though their religions don’t
enjoin force.
The Borno State elders who
asked the federal government
to prevent the Joint Task Force
from attacking the Boko Haram
must know something about
the group.
I don’t know about other
people, but the Yoruba
traditional culture recognises
human freedom, spiritually
and secularly. They say: Bo se
wuni laa se igbagbo eni (you
are free to practise your faith
as you please), to the extent
that ta ba ni egungun baba eni
o jo, ti o ba jo mo, enikan kii
muni sii (if your father’s
masquerade should dance and
you fail to display it, nobody
will arrest you - it is not a
punishable offence). Hence, no
well-cultured Yoruba will fight
anybody on ground of
religious beliefs. Likewise at
the secular level.
The Yorubas say: Bo se wu
olowo nii lo owo re (a person
spends his or her money as he
or she pleases). Thus, both
democracy and secularity
(otherwise called religious
freedom) has been part and
parcel of Yoruba culture from
time immemorial. In spite of
Christian-Muslim rivalry,
Yoruba- land is still relatively
peaceful. Of course, here or
there, occasionally, the
monster raises its ugly head in
relation to some overzealous
Christians and Muslims who
have lost touch with their
Yoruba roots.
In conclusion, I enjoin
Christians and Muslims to
repent of formenting religious
crisis in Nigeria. Some people
speak of religious peace in
Ibrahim Shekarau’s Kano. They
forget that there is peace in
the grave even though the
person in it was killed by
armed robbers (in relation to
the Christians who endured
repression and
marginalisation). What do
Christian and Muslim leaders
tell their followers at Sunday
and Qur’anic schools, about
religious peace and harmony,
about state secularity?
What orientation do they give
them? Do they tell them, for
instance: We have other
religious adherents, and we
must see them as our brothers
and sisters, because they are
also children of God? How do
they prepare their followers
for good citizenship in the
Nigerian context?
Dr Pius Oyeniran Abioje,
University of Ilorin.
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