Religious bias in Nigeria and my pains

By Bashir Adefaka

The same people who accuse the Northerners of “illiteracy” for choosing Islam oriented to Christianity oriented education and who see only Northern Christians as the “educated” against the majority Northern Muslims, are the same ones who hate me to a fault down South for showing seriousness and commitment to my religion as a Muslim.

Yet, if we start telling our stories they want to shut us down from being heard and the missionary oriented Nigerian Press unarguably stand with them on this. It is even worse now that we have a Muslim/Northern President in Buhari. As if their own Christianity is different from that of Professor Yemi Osinbajo, who reportedly acknowledge, “I have been seeing Muslims. Buhari is special.”

My worry: If you persistently marginalise me in the South for being a Muslim, why do you constantly cry on top of your voice against Northern Muslims who don’t even hate you for practicing your christianity but stand against your forceful conversion of their children through your school method? What do you call this? Evangelism or Hypocrisy?

This topic is important because many of our people try to dodge such discuss yet they keep talking on radio, television and on pages of newspapers about injustice. And when I hear them so talking I laugh.

Hear me well my friend, do you know that you are part of Nigerian problem if you fall in the category that I stated above? Why is it that the only christian that is my friend is so for political reason and even at that, to ascend to governorship of my state I must suffer nomination because I am a Muslim in a state that Christians and Muslims now compete almost equally in population? Why is it that in such a state only one or no Muslim at all is fit to be Commissioner in a government that the state Muslim Community was coopted to work to install at election?

You that have cried unfounded Islamisation over a school curriculum simply because government said your christian children must compulsorily study your Christian religion and my own Muslim child must compulsorily study my religion, I want you to place yourselves categorically in the moral and integrity classes of people. I so much feel like not on the same planet with you when I see you appear in this behaviour.

And when we raise this issue you are quick to accuse me of religious bias saying, “You are only talking because you are a Muslim.” You quickly add also that, “We Muslims and Christians in the South West are peaceful because we font fight for religion”. You lied! South West is “peaceful” because either the serious Muslims have tolerated your provocations or the nominal ones there allow you to convert them and their children to Christianity through all the antics and you can’t dispute this.

Okay, why is Prof. Ishaq Akintola not your friend? So much that your media sons and daughters would bring him on TV to rubbish him? Look, South West is not peaceful: the Muslims are only either tolerating your psychological persecutions or are just the victims of conspiracy of silence.

People like you who talk this way are only out to blackmail concerned citizens like me but it is only effort in futility because you will never have peace until you begin to change for better by allowing the constitutionally guaranteed rights to religious practice for all to be enjoyed by Muslims like you enjoy it and you start reorientating your Christian dominated Ngbati Press to follow suit.

Up till now I have not seen a christian come out on the television, radio, and newspaper to openly admit that their christian leaders should apologise to all of us for lying that President Muhammadu Buhari (being Muslim) want to Islamise Nigeria by forcing Islamic Studies on Christian students. Brethren in Christendom, is the impression you are giving us is that your religion or evangelism permits you to heat up the polity by lying to people?

I have not expressed opinion here…I have only stated the pure fact. I have always said it that for Nigeria to truly be better, all these religious biases most glaring by Christians both in the media and public institutions must stop.

And you tell me that I do not talk about what Christians face in the North. But I will quickly reply you by asking whether you ever admitted that Muslims face any dangerous violence in education, housing, living, politics, economy, health, employment, etc in the South before or now. Until Hon. Dr. AbdulHakeem AbdulHakeem AbdulLateef (AbdulHakeem AbuHanifah Ilemobola) AbdulLateef then as lawyer in chamber fought in court, under a Muslim governor of Lagos (Tinubu) the christian dominated civil service had place IRK as option to Mathematics. What is the meaning? Tell us. But you find out that Christians moved from South to build about biggest churches in the midst of core Northerners without stress. (Father Mattew Kukah can bear witness in Sokoto). WHAT THEN IS YOUR AGITATION ABOUT that you won’t allow me my peace for being the Muslim that I am?

You even believe that the North are illiterate because they don’t go to your missionary schools. You need to find out how many Arab doctors, lawyers and scientists attended christian schools to be what they are. There are very many of the professionals in the North. Yet they didn’t attend Christian schools. You talk arrogantly the way you talk because you fail to appreciate that the Muslims were the foundation of knowledge. The Northerners you try hard to denigrate, go and find out the Queen’s Prince that visited Emir of Sokoto as the titled was called at that time, find out the book the Prince found him reading to his surprise (1363 or so). You are loved for your sweet talks or writing, you don’t have monopoly of bias. So, take note!

Good morning Nigeria!

*This piece was picked from the Facebook account of Prince Bashir Adefaka, a Lagos-based journalist,  on Saturday July 29, 2017.