SHARIAH: Ex-Nigerian Minister, Muslim lawyers, Russia-based Yoruba interventionist warn against interference in Muslims religion’s practice

By KEMI KASUMU

And when told about the spread to Ekiti, he asked his interviewer “Are there no Muslims in Ekiti?” He asked. Continuing the former Minister said, “These constitutional, fundamental religious rights are inherent in you as a human being. Whether in Ekiti or anywhere, people have a right to determine under which law they manage their affairs.”

Former Minister of Communications, Barrister Abdur-Raheem Adebayo Shittu, has dismissed the noise and opposition to Shariah panel in the South West of Nigeria as one that is borne out of cheer ignorance.

Shittu was reacting to controversy that greeted the planned establishment of Sharia Panel in Oyo and other states of the South West, which some Yoruba individuals who feel the region is for Isese (occultist) people that must not be allowed to be captured by Hausa-Fulani of Northern Nigeria.

To them, we gathered, Fulani people are hiding under Islam to “brainwash Yoruba Muslims so as to easily capture” Ngbati region, which they said was what the establishment of Shariah Panel in states of the South West wanted to achieve, according to some of the video they are circulating on social media platforms in the land.

In giving credence to the thought of the Yoruba antagonists, in Ekiti where the panel was established, the Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe, reportedly summoned the Chief Imam of Ado Ekiti who is also President General of the League of Imams and Alfas, Edo and Delta, Shaykh Jamiu Bello Kewulere, and ordered the disbandment of the panel.

The DEFENDER, as at the time of filing this report, was yet to ascertain what the Ewi to Shaykh Kewulere and, if he was actually so ordered, whether the Shariah Panel, which the Ewi constitutionally has no power to disband, has been disbanded in Ekiti State.

Some Yoruba activists and media, who should properly guide the vulnerable public about the truth of what is happening and what the law says, chose to also flagrantly oppose the Shariah Panel, citing secularity of the Yoruba Land, a land believe to have a trace to traditional religion and is one of over 250 tribes in the marriage amalgamated Nigeria.

They argued that Sharia states are currently “theatres of war, strife, killings and kidnapping driven by crisis of faith while the Sharia states also have the highest rate of instability in Nigeria.”

They, however, did not state whether Anambra and Ogun states among several Southern Nigeria states where a Catholic bishops and a Celestial church prophet, to site but few examples, were gunned down by insecurity recently are also Sharia states.

Also, they have been countered by Muslim leaders, who said that the panels being proposed or established are mere arbitration panels which would deal with civil matters like marriage, divorce and inheritance, among Muslims.

In the submission of former Minister Adebayo Shittu, in an interview on Africa Independent Television (AIT)’s Focus Nigeria, he stated that it is ignorance and intolerance on the part of South West leaders and civil society activities that are behind the opposition to the Sharia panel establishment, positing that it is none of their business.

Shittu challenged the opponent to state what crisis or inconvenience the operationality of even Sharia courts in Northern Nigeria, particularly in Plateau, Niger and Nasarawa states of many Christians, has caused to anyone.

He punctured the claims of Yoruba activists, who said Sharia is cause of instability in Northern Nigeria, describing them all as simply ignorant and intolerant people, adding that Sharia panels have been in existence in some South West Yoruba states for over a decade, adjudicating on civil matters among Muslims.

The Minister said, “In Yorubaland, whether governors or the so-called Yoruba activists, their problem is ignorance of the constitution of Nigeria.

“Sharia is about fundamental human rights in relation to religion. The constitution guarantees freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

“What is the sense of two Muslims going to get married in the mosque under Sharia Law, when they want to divorce, you ask them to go to a Customary Court which may be completely made up of even Christians, animists or people who do not understand the law under which these people got married.

“Common sense dictates that the law under which you married should be the one to be used in deciding on your divorce,” he submitted.

The anchor, although voiced out his acceptance of the former Minister’s presentation of fact, still proceed to ask if the Sharia Panel was ever in existence before now in the South West and the guest replied him in the affirmative.

According to Shittu, “Let me tell you, Oyo State there has been a Sharia Panel and in Lagos State for more than 10 years. What crisis has it caused to anybody? Has any Christian or non-Muslims been drafted to a Sharia Court?” He asked.

And when told about the spread to Ekiti, he asked his interviewer “Are there no Muslims in Ekiti?” He asked.

Continuing the former Minister said, “These constitutional, fundamental religious rights are inherent in you as a human being. Whether in Ekiti or anywhere, people have a right to determine under which law they manage their affairs.

So, I expect the Muslim community in those states would take the government or people trying to disturb their peace to court. It’s about constitutional rights.”

On whether or not there is matured political approach to this with the matter, Barrister Shittu responded.

“It is the immaturity and intolerance of non-Muslims who hate everything Islam. Otherwise, are there not non-Muslims in the North. Has any Christian in the North been drafted to the Sharia Court?

“How does a Sharia Court in Plateau or in Niger or in Nasarawa where there are many Christians, how has it affected them negatively? How has it created crisis in those states?

“It is cheer intolerance and bigotry on the part of” the antagonists.

And when the anchor tried to provided a face-saving for the anti-Islamic individuals saying “they may not consider it that way”, Shittu maintained his position.

He said, “Whether they consider it that way or not, we have seen that, we can see that because it is none of their business.”

Click the LINK HERE to watch video details of interview 

Other interventionist submissions:

Chairman of Shariah Panel in Lagos State, Barrister Iskilu Lawal, and other Muslim legal practitioners said on Channels Television that there is nothing called secularism in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, saying it is the people that talk of secularism but that the law, those people are apparently ignorant of, talks of it’s recognition of Nigeria as a multi-religious country.

According to the Muslim lawyers, who spoke different from Lagos and Abuja on the television programme, the Nigeria Constitution recognizes the religions of the Nigerian people and grant them the protection to practice same.

In his article contributing to what he sees as the needless debate, published by The DEFENDER and ASHE News on Saturday February 1, 2025, Khabarovsk, Russia-based Orimolagun Obego warned his fellow Yoruba people home to tread softly in their attitudes of incessantly being intolerant and attacking anything connecting to Islam and Muslim.

In the article titled, “SHARIAH: We are not the only tribe living with Muslims in Nigeria and in the world, let us, Yoruba, take caution”, Obego made himself clear saying he was averse to insults going on via Yoruba dominated social media platforms against the leadership of the Muslim Ummah of Nigeria especially the Sultan of Sokoto, who is their leader.

“My attention has just been drawn to some anti-Islam and anti-North campaign activities going on via the social media platforms mainly on Facebook credited to some bloggers of Yoruba Land extractions back home in Nigeria. These campaigns followed a statement issued by the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and signed by its Igbo Deputy National Legal Adviser, Imam Haroun Muhammad Eze Esq, as read in The DEFENDER from my base here in Khabarovsk, Russia.

“Before continuing, let me make myself clear that I am a Yoruba man from Nigeria but good friend of Russia where the ruling class and government do not judge you by your religion, race or colour but care more about your humanity. In Russia, unlike in Nigeria where a section of the people pretend to be the best in religious tolerance and peaceful co-existence, which is a fake claim to suppress certain section of the people, authorities and peoples of the Vladimir Putin-led country treat Muslims and Christians with equal rights without interfering or meddling in the respective religious affairs of one another so long it has evidence in the scripture. So, here in Khabarovsk, I live with my other fellow Nigerians in peace with our host communities of the Soviet Union and I have a duty to caution my Yoruba people back home in Nigeria that it is not a good behaviour to live a life full of hate for others.

“The Islamic Council, which is under the leadership of Sultan of Sokoto as its President General, is by implications saying “Enough of disregards for rights of Muslims, particularly in South West Nigeria”, citing the roars that went on air over the decision of Muslims in the Southern part to use their religious law of Shariah as an arbitration in their within-Ummah affairs, which is in line with the Constitution. Moreso, issuer of the statement is not just Igbo of the South East extractions, he is also a constitutional lawyer that knows the law as regards individual rights of his fellow citizens. No single noise was heard either from South East or South South but South West region that is Yoruba part is the only problem area. It is sad and shameful because Yoruba Land is not the only tribe living with Muslims in Nigeria and in the world.

Feeling uncomfortable that these anti-Islam hate and intolerance continue to occur in a country that is regulated by law and administered by constituted authorities, the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) said ‘Enough of all of that’.

It said, “The most recent development emanated from Ekiti state where the efforts of the Muslim community to set up an Independent Shariah (Arbitration) Panel was met with unwarranted resistance and objections from both political and traditional quarters.

“This is coming barely a few weeks after the announcement on the inauguration of a Shariah panel in Oyo State generated unnecessary anxiety thereby leading to its indefinite postponement.

“The Independent Arbitration Panel, which is a voluntary platform designed solely for the resolution of civil and marital disputes among consenting Muslims, was to fill the inexplicable vacuum created by the failure of the political elite in South-Western Nigeria to establish Shariah Courts, as allowed by the Nigerian Constitution, in South-Western states, despite the huge population of Muslims in the region,” said the NSCIA in the Eze’s statement strengthening its position with evidence of the Constitution on which threshold all Nigerians across ethnic and religious backgrounds stand and lawfully lay their claims to benefits.

“To our greatest surprise, our fellow Yoruba people outside of the Muslim community in the South West region still believe that the media control is still a monopoly that is within their enclave alone, forgetting that with the advent of social media, which they also employ in raining all of these hypocrisies, are now at the disposal of everyone and so they have been making unguarded utterances with which they insult the leadership of the Nigerian Muslim Ummah especially the personality of its arrowhead, the Sultan of Sokoto, His respected Eminence Alhaji (Ambassador, Dr. General) Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, CFR, mni.

“The Sultan, apparently the best friend that any Nigerian, African and global person has had in the last 19 years, is deserving this hate from these Yoruba people for the “offence” of being the leader of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) that issued the Sharia-support statement signed by the Igbo personality that is its deputy national legal adviser. How sensible could that be? We Yoruba people, who lay claim to the Source of Creation and claim to be the most educated tribe in the world that has the West (Americas and Europe), the East (Russia/China/Saudi Arabia/UAE/Israel) among others within it, why are we behaving like Alpha and Omega of the Universe without any of us, mostly the educated, who know the law, science and are well exposed, being able to call us to order?

“As the highest Islamic council in Africa’s most populous country, according to the report by The DEFENDER, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) only exercised its lawful duty within the ambit of the law as it ventilated its concerns about the incessant religious intolerance and flagrant disregard for the rights of Muslims going on in the Southern part of the country, especially in the South West. And that it did in the statement it titled ‘Live and Let Live’, calling on Governors and traditional leaders, especially in the South West, to ensure that the constitutional rights of Muslims in their respective domains are preserved and protected.

“What, under the firmament of any common sense, can any Yoruba man attacking the Sultan’s personality for standing for the Muslim Ummah he leads point to as wrong with the position of the Council? Why are we, Yoruba people, in the marriage called Nigeria always creating the impression that our tribe, which creation is even beyond our imagination, is the only set of creatures created by God Almighty? This idea of taking ethnicity and culture too far to the detriment of many others is something that the Federal Government of Nigeria must now sit down to address. Yoruba politicians in power, lawyers and activists in the civil society organisations must begin to rise up to speak against and condemn these unholy campaigns being launched by their side of the Nigerian tribes if truly their essence in national politics and administration is for the good of the entire country,” he said

“The Islamic Council cannot place where the natural freedom and rights of Muslims or Christians to live by dictates of their religions, which is global knowledge and practice, continues to be a thing of concern especially in the Yoruba part of Nigerian regions anytime Muslims decide anything based on their religion and which is constitutional,” the media report stated. What is so complicated in this for any sensible tribesperson to understand?” Orimolagun Obego, who refused to be part of the unnecessary anti-Islamic offensives, asked.