Sincere 9gerian: The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Tuesday declared that the recent decision by the Osun State Government to mix up some Muslim students with their Christian counterparts in missionary schools was a ploy to Islamise the state.

In a statement issued in Abuja, the National General-Secretary of CAN, Rev. Musa Asake, said the move by the state Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, was part of a grand plan to systematically silence Christians in the state.

He said if the decision by the state government was not reversed, CAN would be left with no other option than to use legal means to resist such moves.

The CAN further alleged that the plans to Islamise the state was not peculiar to the education sector alone.

It questioned a recent loan purportedly secured by the state government from the Islamic Bank.

He said: “We have been following the events in the state. To get to this point where they are trying to bring some Muslims to mix them with Christian students is a ploy. There is a no pretence about it and we are going to resist it. I totally disagree that the Islamisation of the state is not peculiar to the education sector alone. They've an agenda.

“If you follow the event in that state and the way the governor is going about doing his own things, he has an agenda. Why is he particular about Christian schools? If he really wants to promote education in that state, why can't he build other schools? Why is he particular about Christian schools? We Christians can no longer fold our hands and allow them do what they want.”

Asake further accused the past and present governments of intentionally ignoring the plight of Christians, stressing that Christians had been reduced to second class citizens in their own country.

According to him, “40 years ago, under the supervision of a Christian minority head of state, General Yakubu Gowon, someone, somewhere brought the idea that mission schools should be taken over. Now watch! 40 years later, under the supervision of another Christian minority president, Goodluck Jonathan, almajiri schools have been introduced.

Reacting to CAN’s allegation, the state government said it was puerile and ignoble.

A statement by the governor's spokesman, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, said: “It is most disheartening that the seething distrust and unhealthy rivalry among people of different faiths in Nigeria are the parameters which some people have decided to use to measure the actions of the governor of the state.

"For CAN to allege, once again, that Aregbesola is Islamising the state beats the imagination of every right-thinking people. This is the governor that has, for the first time, ensured fairness among people of all faiths. At least, it is on record that the three religions have at one time or the other accused the governor of promoting one religion over the other.

“What amounts to promoting one religion over the other in the thinking of the zealots is no more than the decision of the administration to allow people practise their faiths without any hindrance.”

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/can-accuses-aregbesola-of-islamising-osun/161107/

Law prince: Merging of Osun schools: A call for tolerance

While still basking in the euphoria of my recent admission into the Nigerian Law School for the next academic session, I woke up to read the Tuesday, October 8, 2013 edition of The PUNCH and to my utter consternation, I was succinctly captivated by the cover page story with a headline that reads, “Christians protest merger of schools by Aregbesola”.

Reading through the position of the protesters under the aegis of Osun Baptist Conference and the effort of the Osun State Government to douse the “tension” made me feel very sorry for our existence as a nation and our inability to see any good in our diversity as a people living together under the name Nigeria.

Religion like ethnicity is a real problem in Nigeria simply because we the people wanted it to be and it has remained a constant factor for the myriad of challenges facing us. We have deliberately decided to attack one another when there are absolutely no reasons to. And where there are reasons, we are ultimately blindfolded by our imaginative thought with a “This religion wants to dominate us” syndrome. The animosity has eaten deep into our fabric so much so that government policies which are hitherto geared towards the betterment of all are immediately seen as an attempt to “Christianise” or “Islamise” the polity. And as followers, we are so immersed in the quagmire of religious insensitivity so much so that extrication may force an innocent mind to think we cannot live together as one nation under God.

I have argued several times that there should be a separation between the Church (Mosque) and the State. A mixture of both is a beautiful recipe for disaster in public policymaking and reaction to such a policy. We must learn as a nation to separate religious matters from core public interests especially in matters of education. It is very important for our religious fathers and leaders to be dispassionate when it comes to matters of equal benefit for all.

The missionaries may have founded many of these schools but as of today, they are funded and regulated by government and its agencies on education. It suffices to conclude that while they appear to bear Muslim or Christian names, their religious inclination does not go beyond the name. It is illogical, insensible and a flagrant disregard of the fundamental human rights as guaranteed by the 1999 constitution (as amended) for any Christian group to deny a Muslim kid the opportunity to attend a Christian named government school simply because she uses a Hijab. Conversely, it is repugnant to the doctrine of natural justice, equity and good conscience for any Muslim group to seek to deny any Christian child the chance to seek for public education as guaranteed by the law in a Muslim named government school for the unreasonable reason that she has refused to use a Hijab or cover her head. We should not reduce our public schools to grounds of intolerance and hatred.

I attended Ansar-ud-Deen Primary School and I was very privileged to have many Christian friends (girls as of then) who never covered their heads and were never chastised as to why they did not. We sat side by side in class, played, joked, ate, drank, fought, studied and learnt together like all children would do. It was at Ansar-ud-Deen I learnt “The Lord’s Prayer” and “The Grace” and till date, I still can recite them in eloquent manner despite being a devout Muslim. We offered both Islamic Religious Knowledge and Christian Religious Knowledge (BK as it was fondly called then) as it was compulsory for all. The general theme of both subjects as we were taught was to inculcate in us the virtues of being good, spirit of brotherhood, neighbourliness, love and respect for differences. We underwent examinations on CRK likewise my colleagues as they did on IRK. I grew up to understand the Christian faith, respect and appreciate the differences. With my friends, we never cared if A was a Christian or a Muslim; we simply enjoyed our friendship and moved on.

Getting to Lagos State University to study Law offered another perfect example. In my 100-level days, it was compulsory for all students to offer Islamic Law irrespective of your religious inclinations. In a class of over 350 students with more than 150 Christians, we all offered Islamic Law in a very interesting and competitive atmosphere. It was a beauty to see Christian and Muslim Law students “argue”, share and compare knowledge on the verses of the Quran and Hadith taught in class. My Christian friends quoted verses of the Quran and argued with eloquence and precision during tutorial classes. We were not surprised to that when the results were released the ratio of high marks revealed that Christians had better ratios than Muslims. To add to the beauty, the lecturer-in-charge happened to be a very conscious Muslim and a one-time leader of Muslims during his time on campus. We all laughed and joked about the result simply because we knew everyone merited the scores they got.

These are the virtues we grew up with. We learnt that in advancing the course of humanity, we only needed to appreciate the difference, learn and respect one another’s belief in an atmosphere filled with love and certainly not the one being promoted in the Nigeria of today by a Muslim towards a Christian and a Christian towards anything that has to do with Muslims. Our country cannot make any meaningful progress if we refuse to eschew this dangerous intolerance and lack of understanding we are deliberately brewing up every now and then.

Private schools funded from private purses can continue to promote individual religions as they deem fit but government schools should be a platform of togetherness of all faiths in order to appreciate the differences and promote inter-faith relations. After all, government schools irrespective of the names they bear, are funded by taxpayers who are both Christians and Muslims.

We owe the kids of today the duty to teach them how to defend, love and respect one another across all ethnic and religious divides after all we are all Nigerians. The government as a matter of urgency should call for dialogue between themselves on the one hand and the Christian/Muslim leaders on the other hand on the reason, to discuss the benefits of the policy and how they intend to keep the “beliefs’ of each founder in line with public policy as it demands.

Our diversity should be a blessing geared towards developmental strides for our nation and not a reason for disintegration. May God bless all our children and make them great personalities for the benefit of Nigeria and humanity as a whole.

Abdul-Aziz Bakare is a prospective Law student at the Nigerian Law School and tweets at @backarray

http://www.punchng.com/opinion/merging-of-osun-schools-a-call-for-tolerance/

dridowu: Honestly am confused about Ogbeni Aregbe policy on education , whoever advise him on that policy may have have advised him wrongly but in my south west religion issue is least of our problem . If i can remeber well, just some days ago they accused him of turning the state to Ifa state , so y ds again ?

Demdem: CAN should kindly shut up.
It's only in Ibo land or parts of the north that this makes sense. In SW, its pure rubbish.
Aregbe is on point.

malc619: CAN has become the mouthpiece of PDP....

Shame on them.

dridowu: Honestly am confused about Ogbeni Aregbe policy on education , whoever advise him on that policy may have have advised him wrongly but in my south west religion issue is least of our problem . If i can remeber well, just some days ago they accused him of turning the state to Ifa state , so y ds again ?

jagabanare:




All the restructuring in educational sector in Osun was based on the outcome of educational summit held in Osun exactly 3months he got to his power. there is nothing hidden at all. just no girl school or boy school only again.

dr dams: Concerning d Ifa saga, my point is dat I shud av introduced a general course on Cultural Studies instead of picking Ifa specifically.
There r plethora of knowledge to b acquired by school children.. This will enhance preservation of our cultural heritage.
Wateva ur religion, it will b shameful if u cant talk about ur background.,
the social studies and yoruba language as subjects are not enough to achieve this objective.
Picking Ifa specifically isnt enough, ther r many gods and other mythological scheme they shud get aquainted with.

But of d truth, in a way, it appears he displays a bias for Islam..

Demdem: CAN should kindly shut up.
It's only in Ibo land or parts of the north that this makes sense. In SW, its pure rubbish.
Aregbe is on point.

dr dams: Concerning d Ifa saga, my point is dat I shud av introduced a general course on Cultural Studies instead of picking Ifa specifically.
There r plethora of knowledge to b acquired by school children.. This will enhance preservation of our cultural heritage.
Wateva ur religion, it will b shameful if u cant talk about ur background.,
the social studies and yoruba language as subjects are not enough to achieve this objective.
Picking Ifa specifically isnt enough, ther r many gods and other mythological scheme they shud get aquainted with.

But of d truth, in a way, it appears he displays a bias for Islam..

$£yi:
CAN has been accusing Aregbe since he became a governor, so it's not new. There was even a time he(Aregbe) was accused of seceding Osun from Nigeria

I think CAN should read this epistle from one sincere and tolerant Nigerian.


This is one of the schools in Osun. A christian government school, that witnessed a total turnaround made by Aregbe.

Salvation Army School, Osogbo, Osun State.

jagabanare:





Oh My God!!! why people act on hear say. the deputy governor, who also serve as commisioner of Education was interviewed on Channel TV sunrise yesterday. she said there is nothing like Ifa study in School, but she mentioned that in opon imo, there is philosophy of Ifa, bible and quaran are also there so as to widen the knowledge of the students. And the deputy governor is a christian with her own constitutional rights.

olabukola: must you bring ibo into this? Is the CAN an ibo man? If this CAN man is a Yoruba man then their is problem somewhere and those of us that are quick to say that religion is non issue in SW should think twice. It might not be now but it's begging to look like it will be in the future. We have to do something to keep it at the level it is now. My 1 cent anyway.

olabukola: must you bring ibo into this? Is the CAN an ibo man? If this CAN man is a Yoruba man then their is problem somewhere and those of us that are quick to say that religion is non issue in SW should think twice. It might not be now but it's begging to look like it will be in the future. We have to do something to keep it at the level it is now. My 1 cent anyway.

cKaiser: CAN has become the official mouthpiece of the PDP

When the schools were in ruins under oyinlola how many of them came to complain

Go on Ogbeni Aregbe

dr dams: He is not from SW

Demdem:

Are u ok?