I felt sorry for Godwin Ajeh after reading his lousy piece on the above topic in the Daily Trust on March 26, 2016. If Ajeh accepted that he does not have the full detail of the bill’s content, my question is why would he go through the trouble of writing that lousy piece? Only boot-lickers would support what they knows nothing about just to court favours.
According to T.S. Eliot, “Most of the evil in this world is done by people with good intentions.” Any attempt to muzzle the religious freedom of a people is tantamount to denying same, no matter the intention.
While the government can decide where places of worship should be sited, government cannot decide how or when people should worship, so long as they do not incite faithfuls. In Christianity for instance, all Christians are instructed to preach the gospel, meaning that it is the responsibility of every Christian to preach. Deny one Christian the license to preach would infringe on his right to fulfill this important religious obligation.
We know that in Nigeria and most governments certain laws are made with the aim to witch hunt all, or a segment of the people. What Malam El-Rufai intends to achieve with this laughable bill is yet unknown but the truth be told, it is neither in the interest of any religious faith nor in the interest of peaceful coexistence of the people. At best, this bill will only increase mutual suspicion and the feeling that it is intended to certain religious groups.
What governor El-Rufai should focus on right now is how to improve the standard of living of the people and initiate programmes that will further develop the state rather than controversial bills and programmes that would apparently do no good to the people.
Alexander Madugu, Kaduna.
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