KADUNA PREACHING BILL: RESOLVING THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONTROVERSY (I)

Permit me to begin this legal discourse by expressing unreserved gratitude to the Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Governor of Kaduna State, Samuel Aruwan, for furnishing me with the electronic copy of the Kaduna State Religious Preaching Bill 2016 which is currently before the Kaduna State House of Assembly for consideration.

Aruwan commendably exuded responsibility by granting my request for a copy of the bill within 24 hours of request. On his own volition, he equally forwarded copies of the Regulation of Religious Preaching Edict No. 7 of 1984 and the Regulation of Religious Preaching (Amendment) Edicts No. 1 of 1987 and No. 6 of 1996 respectively, which according to him, are the precursors to the 2016 bill. Such admirable responsiveness to the public and sense of duty is a rarity in the contemporary Nigerian public service.

I need to caution that this piece may be suitable for people who are impatient with scholarship and intellection. Readers should kindly indulge the detailed and long narrative nature of this essay. It is irresistible given the serious nature of the subject matter.

Before dissecting the Kaduna State Religious Preaching Bill 2016 (hereafter referred to as ‘the Bill’), it is imperative to examine the history and substance of the Regulation of Religious Preaching Edict No. 7 of 1984 (subsequently referred to as, the 1984 Edict’) and the amendments made thereto in 1987 and 1996.

The 1984 Edict was promulgated by the then Military Governor of Kaduna State, Air-Commodore Usman Muazu, on July 17, 1984 following the Maitatsine riots in some parts of Northern Nigeria at the time. The edict provided among other things, for the mandatory licensing of preachers. It also restricted the playing of religious cassettes to homes, banned the use of abusive language against any person or religious organisation or religious leader. The edict expressly prohibited the playing of tapes containing religious recordings in public places, the use of loudspeakers for religious purposes other than in a Church or Mosque, the abuse of religious books and the use of such expressions as “infidels,” “non-Islamic,” or “pagans” in describing other religious groups.

The penalty for violating the 1984 Edict was two years imprisonment with an option of fine.

On March 9, 1987, the then Military Governor of Kaduna State, Lt. Col. Abubakar Umar, amended the 1984 Edict and expunged the option of fine and extended the term of imprisonment upon conviction to five years.

On November 25, 1996, Lt. Col. Hamid Ibrahim Ali, the military administrator of the state at the time further amended the 1984 Edict by limiting the validity of a preaching licence in Section 7 (c) of the edict to a period not exceeding six months subject to revocation at any time.

For a better appreciation and understanding of the issues under consideration, the contents and provisions of the bill will be reproduced seriatim in all material respects.

The bill has 15 sections. The long title to the Bill states that it is “a Bill for a Law to substitute the Kaduna State Religious Preaching Law, 1984” (the 1984 Edict). Essentially, this implies that the bill is intended to replace the 1984 Edict mutatis mutandis (necessary changes having been made).

Sections 1 and 2 of the bill provide for the citation and commencement clauses. Section 3 is the interpretation section. Section 4 recognises Islam and Christianity as “the two major religions in the State” (sic) and establishes three committees to regulate them. Namely: (a) A committee of Jama’atu Nasir-Islam with equal representation of Izala and Darika religious groups in the case of Muslims; (b) A committee set up by the Christian Association of Nigeria in the case of Christians. (c) The inter-faith ministerial committee to be appointed by the Governor.

The membership of the ministerial committee is stipulated in Section 4 (2) to comprise the following: (i) A Chairman to be appointed by the Governor on the recommendation of the Secretary to the State Government; (ii) The Special Adviser to the Governor on Internal Security; (iii) The most senior adviser to the government advising the Governor on inter-faith matters; (iv) A member representing the Jama’atu Nasir-Islam and the Christian Association of Nigeria; (v) A representative of the Ministry of Justice; and (vi) One representative each from the Nigerian Police, the Department of State Services and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps not below the rank of Superintendent of Police of its equivalent.

Section 5 of the bill mandates committees of the Jama’atu Nasir-Islam and the Christian Association of Nigeria to issue licences to preachers as approved by the ministerial committee. A licence shall be issued for a period not exceeding one year. “A sponsored external preacher shall be issued a permit for the period of the event.” (sic). Section 6 (1) of the bill establishes in each local government area “a committee to screen applications for licences and recommend same to the ministerial for approval. (2) The committee shall consist of the following members:- (a) the Chairman and Co-Chairman each representing; the two major religions to be appointed by the Governor on the recommendation of the Local Government Chairman of the Area (b) a representative of the Police not below the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police; (c) two Muslim, one representing the Izala and Darika religious groups respectively (d) two representative of Christian Association of Nigeria”.

The committee established in each local government area under Section 6 supra (above) is mandated by Section 7 of the bill to “ensure compliance with the terms of the licences so issued, and register accredited preachers of all religious groups and organisations operating in the Local Government Area.” Provided that the permit to be issued to the licensed preachers shall specify the duration or the number of occasions it is to be used.

According to Section 8 of the bill, “The Kaduna chapter of the Jamaátu Nasil Islam and the Christian Association of Nigeria shall have and keep records of the Churches and Mosques including the data of all its preachers in the state.”

By Section 9 of the bill, “All cassettes, CDs, flash drives or any other communication gadgets containing religious recordings from accredited preachers may be played in the following places only:- (a) inside one’s house; (b) inside entrance porch (Zaure) (c) inside the Church; (d)inside the Mosque and (e) any other designated place of worship.” Any cassette containing religious recording in which abusive language is used against any person or religious organisation or religious leaders (past or present) is prohibited in the state by virtue of Section 10 of the bill.

Section 11 of the bill provides that members of the ministerial committee may be paid such allowances as may be determined by the governor.

Notably, Section 12 of the bill creates various offences thus: “A person shall be guilty of an offence who, in contravention of this law; (a) preaches without a valid licence; (b) plays religious cassette or uses a loudspeaker for religious purpose after 8pm in a public place; (c) uses a loudspeaker for religious purpose other than inside a Mosque or Church and the surrounding arrears outside the stipulated prayer times; (d) uses a loudspeaker in vehicles plying the streets with religious recording; (e) abuses religious books; (f) incites disturbance of the public peace (g) abuses or uses any derogatory term in describing any religion: or (h) carries weapons of any description whether concealed or not in places of worship or to any other place with a view to causing religious disturbance shall be guilty of an offences.”

Section 13 is the punishment section which states that “A person who commits an offence under the provision of this law shall be liable on conviction to a term of imprisonment not exceeding two years or a fine of two hundred thousand naira or both; and have his licences revoked.”

Section 14 of the bill vest jurisdiction in the sharia courts and customary courts to try violators of the proposed law summarily and shall, on conviction give order for the forfeiture or destruction of any vehicle, equipment, instrument, gadget or book or other material carrying any offensive message.

Lastly, the Kaduna State Regulation of Religious Preaching Edit No. 7 of 1984 is repealed by Section 15 of the bill.

BY INIBEHE EFFION

Let truth be told, is this bill the only problem that Kaduna state has? Why El rufai bend in passing this bill at all cost? El rufai, mene mene, tekel

post too long..

ProfessorPeter:
Let truth be told, is this bill the only problem that Kaduna state has? Why El rufai bend in passing this bill at all cost? El rufai, mene mene, tekel

Of course not, but by signing this bill into law, one of the problems is gone. Even though, the law gas been in existence in the state since 1984, it's not new, but modified.
Problems should be solve one after d other. However, did u even read through the bill? If not, don't complain. Read thru and make an addition or subtraction, and not criticize the whole bill. This is done in other developed/developing countries. It gives the govt, the statistical data needed for development.

Varagous:
post too long..

It's a bill! If u are too lazy to read, that's ur cup of tea. The White guy that said the best place to hide things for black people is inside book, was damn correct.

KallyJ:


It's a bill! If u are too lazy to read, that's ur cup of tea. The White guy that said the best place to hide things for black people is inside book, was damn correct.

going by your responses so far . it's so obvious you are bias and the side of the divide you are . the reason why I had to point this out is because I can't really trust that what you put up there is the entire bill, or that everything was rightly stated without modifications.
that being said based on the bill u posted:

asking preachers to obtain license to me is an infringement on the freedom of religion and freedom of association. we all know who this affect.

8pm time boundary is going to prevent people who intend to stay all night in worshiping or praying from doing so. take for example, evente like Experience (a musical concert in Lagos) that won't happen in Kaduna. but this same rule will not stop star trek or any other secular night shows. will he also ban night clubs? I guess no. so why stop people from going about their worship

I'm still waiting for that part of this bill that will stop Muslims from blocking major roads during jumAat and special prayers. they spread mat on the road and block it entirely, that's the order of the day . any road near mosque are blocked during jumaa, in most places, if governor Helrufai want to regulate anything. he should start from this


the two courts in charge are SHARIA court and customary court. hope u can spot the bias.

Firstly, the OP is defending the bill in progress claiming legal prescendence from a military promulgated decree that is at variance with the 1999 constitution that guatrantees religious freedom.


If Buhari is to sponsor a bill today similar to his since revoked and buried Decree 4 that was meant to stifle the press does that make it in anyway applicable within our current democratic setting?

Secondly and most importantly, this bill contravenes Nigeria's claim to being a secular state.

The defenders of this bill some how use Nigeria's secularists claim to justify regulating religious activities.

This is totally bullsh1t as secularism does not mean regulating religious activities but one which allows for total freedom of religious activities as long as it doesn't contravene existing laws and rights of others.

This bill is meant to do the opposite of a seculatized state!

We must not be fooled as this bill clearly targets the Christian and Shiite religion and their followers.

One poster here on nairaland in another similar thread had the audacity to claim the bill was in no way designed for Christians but for the Shiites.

This same poster got several positive reviews from other posters by the number of likes he got.

The Sunni Muslims have succeeded in degrading the minority Shiites in the north as a breed of vagabond criminal heretics .

This same Sunni Ummah have yet to condemn the Sunni Terrorist Boko Haram which by the way (Boko Haram) have since entered into an alliance with the barbaric criminal syndicate ISIS which is also Sunni.

In my honest opinion if there is any religious group that needs to be regulated or banned it is the Sunni proclaiming faction of Islam which is responsible for virtually all terrorist groups and acts.

Do not be fooled by the OP and article as it is another propaganda by Sunni Islamic north to wage war on the church, Christiandom and every other non Sunni Muslim religion .

KallyJ:


It's a bill! If u are too lazy to read, that's ur cup of tea. The White guy that said the best place to hide things for black people is inside book, was damn correct.

You are defending nonsense and have failed woefully to present this bill as the right way to go.

If you like insult other posters for rejecting your weak ass Taqiyya

If this bill is meant to tackle noise pollution, then why not pass a noise pollution bill?

Are churches the only sources of noise pollution?


If this bill wants to tackle hate speech then the likes of el rufai know very well the sources of radicalization in the north and it isn't churches!

The bill is pushing for state regulation for religious clerics by promulgating a licensing regime to be overseen by the kaduna state govt, how feasible is that? And who will arrest offending non liscenced preachers? Is it the police or Hisbah brigade?

If in future this bill comes to pass and the govt clamps down on erring clerics which court of law can convict offenders knowing fully well that any conviction by the kaduna judiciary will be quickly overturned by higher courts ?

This bill is a pure waste of time and resources and it's feasibility as a law is hindered by its inability to be fully enforced and uphelld!

So why waste time flogging a dead horse?

sainty2k3:


going by your responses so far . it's so obvious you are bias and the side of the divide you are . the reason why I had to point this out is because I can't really trust that what you put up there is the entire bill, or that everything was rightly stated without modifications.
that being said based on the bill u posted:

asking preachers to obtain license to me is an infringement on the freedom of religion and freedom of association. we all know who this affect.

8pm time boundary is going to prevent people who intend to stay all night in worshiping or praying from doing so. take for example, evente like Experience (a musical concert in Lagos) that won't happen in Kaduna. but this same rule will not stop star trek or any other secular night shows. will he also ban night clubs? I guess no. so why stop people from going about their worship

I'm still waiting for that part of this bill that will stop Muslims from blocking major roads during jumAat and special prayers. they spread mat on the road and block it entirely, that's the order of the day . any road near mosque are blocked during jumaa, in most places, if governor Helrufai want to regulate anything. he should start from this


the two courts in charge are SHARIA court and customary court. hope u can spot the bias.

God bless you for stating the obvious. How does this religious bill feed millions of almajiri roaming the street of Kaduna?

ProfessorPeter:
Let truth be told, is this bill the only problem that Kaduna state has? Why El rufai bend in passing this bill at all cost? El rufai, mene mene, tekel

And you're a Prof? smh

Varagous:
post too long..

Not for ladies .
And again that your lips go fit swallow my own oooo.,