Buhari has no plan to Islamise Nigeria

For those who portray President Muhammadu Buhari as a religious leader who came to Islamise Nigeria, something utterly impossible and impracticable, it should serve well to remind them once again that on the contrary, Buhari is a nationalist and a patriotic leader and has no such intention.

It is pertinent to offer definitions of religion and politics for easy understanding of my presentation here. Religion means a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature and purpose of the universe or creation as a whole. It usually involves devotion and ritual observances and often contains a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs, though every religion has its own tenet or article of faith.

Politics implies exercising or seeking power in government or public affairs of a state, etc, and involves the state and its government or system of government. From the above, religion means containment of moral codes governing human affairs, while politics means seeking power in a government or public affairs of a state. As such, to my understanding, religion is a personal affair, and has nothing to do with government affairs in a secular country like Nigeria. No one can ever Islamize or Christianize this country. The adversaries of PMB know this very well but they are doing it out of envy or seeking relevance.

Those who accuse PMB of false, beguiled and concocted plot to Islamize Nigeria  should note that most of Buhari’s appointees are not Muslims. Even during his days as military head of state, it was so. These acrimonious lots affirmed that the real democracy as national ideology and Sharia as a usurping ideology are responsible for crises in Nigeria. They stated further that the nation is on the throes and paroxysm of Jihad. Without mincing words, let me ask these bigots; since Buhari came to power, has he done anything or said any word which indicate Sharia? Has he called any person to embrace Islam? Has he formed any group to embark on Jihad? Tell us the actions of Buhari or his administration which indicate application of Sharia. These so called elders once said that war and destruction could happen, and that threatens the cohesiveness of the Nigerian state. Well, this can be pretty true, because if PMB’s government is not willing to offer them positions and take them out of irrelevance and isolation, they may resort to instigation and violence. They counted some agitations which are happening presently; e.g. herdsmen/farmers crisis, ethnic conflicts and so on. I ask again, are these agitations or conflicts new? Were they created by PMB or predate his administration?

One said Nigerians should carry weapons to protect themselves because he had lost confidence in our security agencies, especially the army. He accused them unjustifiably of lopsidedness. Even the recent honour bestowed on some Nigerians who happened to be Muslims including late Mashood Abiola and others was described as an attempt to Islamize Nigeria. What a shameless and naïve notion!

We now live in the 21st century, and it is even overdue for us to outgrow this vicious sentiment of religion. If in countries like Ghana, Chad, Niger  Muslims and Christians are living in peace, why is it impossible in Nigeria? We ostensibly and seemingly are the leaders of Africa and are supposed to be exemplary and models to be copied. When Buhari came to power, the oil price was as low as $30. Pipeline vandals held sway, the world economy was in serious recession, our foreign reserve was deflated to an alarming point, our treasury was empty. With all these difficulties and hindrances, PMB has been able to extricate Nigeria from economic entanglement. Compare him to those who led this country when our economy was booming and flourishing vigorously. My compatriots, if we want to get rid of the bush rats invading our economy, do away with the jackals dishonestly scavenging in our houses, protect ourselves from bandits and burglars and if we want to surmount the night invaders who foray our treasury, if we want to cut out the bedbugs and lice sucking our blood, we must cling to Buhari tenaciously.

These unpatriotic lots put Nigeria among the poorest and backward countries where poverty and privation bedevil the people. These unpopular elements know very well that they cannot attack Buhari through any channel except by using religion, that is why they are doing so, for PMB is immune from corruption, myopic sentiment and lack of patriotism. So, religion is the only weapon available for them. Buhari is a nationalist, as seen from how people came out to receive him in all the states he visited, both in the north and south. He is a Nigerian who is devoid of tribalism, sectionalism, regionalism and above all devoid of religious sentiment, as such let us give him a chance to continue to steer this country on the path of sanity. We should not allow anybody to underrate our discernment or treat us as people of low intelligence. Executive pilferage should come to an end.

Prof. Nguru wrote from Nigeria Arabic Village