Time to Stop Those Fanning the Embers of Religious War in Yorubaland

There is an urgent need for responsible individuals, religious leaders, government authorities and social-media platforms to discourage deliberate religious provocation in Yorubaland and across Nigeria.

Nigeria is a multi-religious country. Muslims and Christians have lived together for generations, sharing communities, businesses, schools, friendships and family relationships. That peaceful coexistence must not be taken for granted.

It is therefore dangerous when people deliberately insult the religion of others, ridicule their sacred personalities or use provocative language against religious communities simply to attract attention on social media.

The Ghana incident

A recent incident in Ghana has generated discussion on social media. Reports and a circulating video appeared to show a pastor being taken to court in handcuffs following an allegation of blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). During the incident, a Muslim man was reportedly seen slapping the handcuffed pastor at the court premises.

The reported slapping was itself unacceptable. A person who believes his religion has been insulted should seek lawful remedies rather than resort to physical violence. It is therefore understandable if Ghanaian authorities want to investigate the incident and hold the person responsible for the alleged assault accountable.

The important point, however, is that the two issues should not be confused: alleged religious provocation should be addressed according to the law, and alleged physical assault should equally be addressed according to the law.

Ola TV’s comparison

Against this background, Ola TV reportedly shared the video and commented that the incident would have produced a completely different outcome in Nigeria because of the country’s religious sensitivities.

That comparison deserves caution.

Ghana is Ghana, and Nigeria is Nigeria. The two countries have different legal systems, political circumstances and approaches to managing religious disputes. A social-media commentator should therefore avoid presenting one country’s experience as a simple template for another.

More importantly, Nigerians should not be encouraged to believe that religious provocation and physical confrontation are inevitable consequences of religious disagreement.

They are not.

Insulting religion should not become entertainment

The bigger concern is the growing tendency among some social-media personalities to turn religious controversy into entertainment.

There is a legitimate difference between criticism of religion and deliberate religious provocation.

People have the right to question ideas, debate religious doctrines and express disagreement. But deliberately mocking sacred personalities, insulting what millions of people consider holy, or repeatedly provoking a religious community can have consequences far beyond the individual who makes the statement.

In a country with Nigeria’s religious diversity, irresponsible speech can create unnecessary tension between communities.

This applies to everyone.

A Muslim who insults Christianity should be condemned. A Christian who deliberately insults Islam should equally be condemned. Nobody should receive a licence to provoke another religious community simply because the controversy generates views, followers or advertising revenue.

What is happening in Yorubaland?

There is growing concern among some Muslims in parts of Yorubaland about what they perceive as repeated attacks on Islam, Shari’ah and Islamic personalities on social media.

Names such as Korede Adewoyin, Tani Olohun, George Udom and others have been mentioned in public arguments and online controversies involving religious issues. However, specific allegations against individuals should be properly investigated and established before being treated as proven facts.

The principle is bigger than any individual.

Nobody should be permitted to use social media as a platform for deliberately insulting another person’s religion, just as nobody should be permitted to respond to provocation with violence.

The government must apply the law fairly

This is where government has an important responsibility.

Nigeria’s Constitution protects freedom of religion and provides citizens with fundamental rights. Those rights belong to Muslims, Christians and adherents of other faiths alike.

The government therefore has a duty to maintain an environment in which citizens can practise their religions without intimidation, while also ensuring that laws relating to public order, incitement, threats, harassment and cyber-related offences are applied fairly.

If laws exist, they should not be selectively enforced against one group while similar conduct by another group is ignored.

Selective enforcement creates suspicion and destroys public confidence in government institutions.

At the same time, the existence of cybercrime legislation does not mean every offensive religious statement automatically constitutes a criminal offence. Due process, evidence and the specific provisions of the law must determine whether an offence has occurred.

Muslims should choose wisdom over violence

Muslims who feel insulted should not allow anger to dictate their actions.

Islam teaches believers to exercise patience, wisdom and restraint. Where a person believes that his religious rights have been violated, the appropriate response is to document the incident and seek lawful redress.

Slapping, attacking or threatening somebody cannot be justified simply because that person has allegedly insulted one’s religion.

The same principle applies to everybody else.

Those who provoke Muslims should also understand that deliberately attacking Islam is not a harmless game. Religious freedom means allowing people to practise their faith with dignity, not deliberately provoking them and then blaming them for becoming angry.

Nigeria cannot afford religious confrontation

Nigeria has enough challenges already— insecurity, economic hardship, unemployment, political disagreements and ethnic tensions. The country does not need people deliberately creating religious controversies for social-media traffic.

Those who repeatedly provoke religious communities should ask themselves whether the attention they are seeking is worth the damage their words could cause.

Government officials, traditional rulers, religious leaders and civil-society organisations should also speak up whenever religious intolerance emerges, regardless of the identity of the person responsible.

The message must be consistent:

Do not insult Islam. Do not insult Christianity. Do not insult other people’s faith. And do not respond to provocation with violence.

The time for restraint is now

Yorubaland has a long history of Muslims and Christians living side by side. That heritage should not be sacrificed to social-media quarrels.

Those who deliberately fan the embers of religious conflict must stop. Those who are offended must also refuse to be dragged into violence.

Nigeria needs a culture of mutual respect in which people can disagree without hatred, debate without humiliation and defend their religious beliefs without attacking the dignity of others.

Religious freedom is not a weapon for one group against another. It is a constitutional right that belongs to everyone.

The responsibility of government is to protect that right. The responsibility of citizens is to exercise it responsibly. And the responsibility of social-media commentators is to understand that religious provocation may generate clicks, but it can also generate consequences that no amount of online popularity can control.