COLUMN
By ’Tunji Ajibade
Religious champions are out again threatening fire and more fire if someone who bears the names of their religion is not on the presidential tickets of political parties in Nigeria. Some even say the absence of such a name will cause destruction and I wonder what kind of destruction, by whom, and to whom? This kind of threat shouldn’t be left unattended. I had questioned in previous series on what basis these people made their claims. Is it based on the reality that Nigerians have become tired of people who bear names that make them appear to belong to one religion or the other but the work of their hands is anything but religious?
Are the claims of these religious entities based on the reality that many Nigerians have realised that religious bodies only tend to want to have someone who bears the name of their religion because of the bragging rights it gives them, the symbolic value, and nothing more? Moreover, are the threats issued by these religious bodies based on any opinion poll that their threats are actually the view of most Nigerians across different religions? We know that there is no such opinion poll. Yet these entities claim they will make Nigerians to not vote for a party. In fact, if anyone puts their ears to the ground, they will know that there is a divided house. Some of their members will vote for the political party they belong to no matter the tickets it flies.
Whoever puts their ears down would hear it among members of these faiths those who say religious missions should drop that talk about leadership being the right of people of a particular religion. Why? Those who can offer quality leadership aren’t limited to one religion alone. They are found in all religions. It is concerning that once the election cycle is on, these religious entities come into the political space to grandstand, dividing our people along religious lines, and sometimes one would wish these religious bodies grandstand on the core of their calling. One would wish they really come on strong on ensuring that all mankind are godly. If they do, the people who bear the names of different faiths and who are in leadership positions won’t be looting the treasury as they do. Instead, we’ve heard religious bodies state that they shouldn’t be blamed for the acts of such people. And one wonders what is left of their job if that is all that they can say regarding the societal malaise. For by making this kind of assertion they are saying that religion lacks the power to rein in a man’s excesses. Meanwhile, people who conduct themselves well would say boldly that their religion is the number one influence.
Note that in the off-season of election cycles religious entities say things that contradict their wish to have one who bears their names on the presidential ticket. One needs to pay close attention to them in order to notice such contradictions. For instance, did anyone listen to some criticise Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in the past seven years? They say he has not been doing anything for the religion he belongs to. You ask: How? Of course, he’s expected to get to office and stoke the embers of division among Nigerians along religious lines in the name of speaking up for one religion, as though that is what anyone who leads all people irrespective of their religion should do. That is the man members of a faith jubilantly applauded into office in 2015. What did they expect him to get there and do? Join them to cause division among Nigerians on the basis of religion as they perennially do? If that is the expectation of members of a particular religion of people in leadership positions, then they have no reason to make the kinds of threats they make now. Because no member of their religion will get into the presidency and divide Nigerians along religious lines. It would be unbecoming of any leader. These religious bodies are dividing our people. Those same people are the ones with the right to go to the polling stations and select who they want, and no one should instigate them otherwise.
The other day, one religious leader was heard saying northerners who voted under the flag of the APC went contrary to the dictates of their religion. He said they did by voting for a person that he claimed was ill. One then asks: So, is the person the first presidential candidate to be ill in Nigeria? This religious leader forgot that Umar Musa Yardua was abroad, having medical check-up at the time party leaders such as the then President Olusegun Obasanjo were campaigning for him at political rallies in 2007. There was even one occasion Obasanjo called Yardua on phone at a rally and put the phone on speakers for all to hear. “Umar, they say you are dead, are you dead?” Obasanjo had asked the PDP presidential candidate at the time. Now that the zoning took presidential candidacy to another party of the country, this religious leader is claiming northerners went against dictate of religion by selecting a person he said was ill.
This same religious leader didn’t stop there. He said he questioned the kind of Islam the APC candidate practices. Would any Nigerian believe that? This religious leader questions the kind of Islam a presidential candidate practices. Nigerians are comfortable with people who are members of their religion. They have no problem. But this religious leader questions a member of the same religion with him who happens to be APC presidential candidate basically because the person isn’t from his part of the country. What is this religious leader trying to achieve if not chaos, division. This is the kind of damage different religious bodies and their members are doing to our nation and it should concern well- meaning Nigerians. Groups have the right to state their view on any matter, including the kind of ticket they think political parties should have. It’s their right. But when they get to the point of threatening to cause more division among Nigerians, those who see it differently must speak up as well. It’s our country.
There is no doubt that divisive elements must be present in any nation. Such are tearing the United States of America apart at the moment with their divisive messages that have left that nation divided more than ever in its history. But many Americans are rising to the challenge. They insist that was not the original America the founding fathers had in mind. So they mobilise the people as much as they can basically to ensure those with the mindset of keeping America united and great are sent into political offices. Note that most of those who do this are ordinary Americans who don’t want the American dream to die due to the activities of racists and religious extremists. They are up all the time on the streets, at doorways, at rallies, calling on the people to not allow divisive elements to destroy America. In Nigeria, ordinary people will have to do the same and help the few leaders who are committed to the unity and progress of this nation.
That the president, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) is not for division but unity is clear from the comment he made right from the inception of his administration. Knowing the trouble religionists would use the fact of the religion he belonged to cause among Nigerians, he said he belonged to everybody, but he belonged to nobody. In the event, the religionists who went about claiming he would turn members of every other religion to his religion had since been proved wrong. But such people have not stopped. In the current election cycle they have taken up their trade again, issuing threats regarding the possibility of a presidency that has members of one religion in it. Do most Nigerians agree with them? One should think this should be tested at the polls proper.
Nigerians have seen enough of how religion of the occupier of a political office hasn’t made any difference to their social and economic well being. Isn’t it interesting that in a recent local government poll in Kaduna State, for instance, members of both religions threw out a party and its candidate who used religion to confuse people but have no tangible achievements to show? The people, across religions, massively voted for a member of another faith whom they felt would be sensitive and responsive to their plights. The same is what Nigerians across faiths should make to happen in 2023. One would want to believe that no matter the ticket the two major political party present, our people will vote. They will, hoping for a season of good leadership that attends to their needs, not candidates of religious groups that will make a mess of the place and generally frustrate Nigerians. APC in particular should select the VP they feel will win them votes. Nigerians will decide the rest, not divisive religionists who may be increasingly losing their moral authority without realising it.
tunjioa@yahoo.com
