It was earlier this year that Wike first declared Rivers a Christian state, a claim he repeated recently at a church event in Port Harcourt, the state capital. Combative as usual, he said, “I repeat the declaration with authority and I owe nobody an apology; Rivers is a Christian state”.

The governor did not explain whether he was referring to majority of the state’s residents being Christians or to recognising it as state religion. The latter is explicitly forbidden by the 1999 Constitution, while the context in which the statements were made negated his official position that demands neutrality and that he be a father to all residents of the South-South state.

The assertion should also be situated within the sectarian tensions that have wracked Nigeria for decades, resulting in mutual hostility and frequent blood spilling. Evidence of widespread sectarian suspicion surfaced in Rivers in August when a routine demolition of illegal structures led to rumours, later found to be unfounded, that a mosque was targeted. The 1999 Constitution is unambiguous, declaring in Section 10 that “The Government of the Federation or a State shall not adopt any Religion as State Religion”. At the same time, Section 38 reinforces the right of every Nigerian to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. The responsibility of the federal and state governments is to guarantee freedom of worship, including the right not to profess any faith.

Those tempted to cheer Wike today in response to having persistently suffered from exclusionary religious policies from other faiths should pause; two wrongs never make a right. Endorsing injustice today means accepting it later from other actors. Hypocrisy too has been on display; some groups in the North and Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano state, who have been recklessly promoting exclusionary religious policies too, rose to criticise Wike.

The Rivers provocation is however minor when placed alongside the travesty inflicted on Nigerians by successive federal administrations and many state governments. While the Federal Government continues to overtly promote two faiths – Islam and Christianity – to the exclusion of others, including spending large sums on funding pilgrimages, most state governments have spent scarce resources on religious activities, while poverty, insecurity and economic ruin pervade their territories. Twelve northern states have taken this impunity to the limit by introducing penal aspects of Islamic Sharia law, setting up religious vigilantes, segregating citizens and destroying consignments of alcoholic beverages, whose production, distribution and consumption are legitimate means of livelihood.

Intolerance, helped along by elite connivance, has taken a heavy toll on lives, property, the economy and national cohesion. The National Security Tracker, by the think tank, Council of Foreign Relations, recorded 2,037 deaths from sectarian and communal (that often assume sectarian hue) violence in 2018, up from 1,041 killed in 2017. It is a long-running trend, especially in the Northern states where religious intolerance and state partisanship are most brazen. The United States Council on International Religious Freedom said about 10,000 persons perished in attacks and reprisals between Muslims and Christians in the 10 years to 2008.

The World Atlas/World Facts resource defines a secular state as one where the state is kept separate from religion and state does not interfere in religious affairs so long as laws are adhered to. It identifies 96 secular states around the world. Researchers have found a convergence between stability, prosperity and states that actively practice and promote separation of religion and the state. It is no coincidence that the most stable countries ranked on the Fragile States Index 2019 like Finland, Norway, Switzerland and Denmark are decidedly secular states, while the most wretched like Yemen, Somalia and Afghanistan, are failed or failing states riven by violent religious factions and state promotion of religion. Once stable Syria and Iraq, whose respective Baathist parties promoted secular ideals, have since plunged into horrific civil wars made intractable by religious factions where state sectarianism takes centre stage.

Wisely, though their monarchs are, or were, also constitutionally, heads of the Church of England and Church of Norway (until 2017) respectively, the United Kingdom and Norway are scrupulously secular states. The 12 states that have been most unrestrained in promoting religion in Nigeria are also largely the most wretched. A joint report by the UNDP and National Bureau of Statistics ranked Sokoto, Jigawa and Yobe in 2017 as having the highest poverty incidence. The North-East has been laid low by Islamic terrorism for a decade. Though they divert scarce resources to religion, banditry, armed robbery, kidnapping and drug abuse, vices that were once higher in southern states, have rendered swathes of the northern states now inhospitable. The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NBS and the Centre for Research and Information on Substance Abuse reported rising incidence of drug abuse in the northern states, including among women. Insecurity is rampant in Rivers, many youths jobless and infrastructure broken – these deserve Wike’s full attention. State immersion in religion guarantees neither peace nor morality.

There should be a change of focus by state governments to improving the lives of people. Ganduje, who has just unwisely created a ministry of religious affairs, should tackle poverty, drug abuse and rehabilitate the three million child beggars he once said roamed the streets. Wike needs to tame violence in Rivers, while all 36 states, to survive and mop up the millions of their unemployed youths, should devote all energy towards transforming into vibrant economic units.

Politicians should stop the cynical manipulation of religion for political ends, guarantee Nigeria’s secularity and forge an inclusive polity that accommodates and creates equal opportunities for all, irrespective of ethnic nationality or faith.

LabDNA:
Are Sokoto and Zamfara not muslim states? Why are you trying to victimize him for stating the obvious truth?

cornoil:
So Zamfara or Sokoto is not a Muslim State?

Stalwert:




If that is the case, Zamfara and Sokoto should have not been criticized out of your cowardly ineptitude to copy them all these years.

The sweet thing about wike the cultist who bunchers Rivers behaviour which you quickly endorse goes to prove that you will cheer the devil as long as he antagonize Muslims, but guess what, your bloody cultist is only interested in eating undisturbed while pressing unah mumu botton

Stalwert:




If that is the case, Zamfara and Sokoto should have not been criticized out of your cowardly ineptitude to copy them all these years.

The sweet thing about wike the cultist who bunchers Rivers behaviour which you quickly endorse goes to prove that you will cheer the devil as long as he antagonize Muslims, but guess what, your bloody cultist is only interested in eating undisturbed while pressing unah mumu botton

cornoil:
So you opened your gutter mouth to accuse Wike of being a cultist. Wondering the evidence you have on Wike or even others as cultist.

Stalwert:




If that is the case, Zamfara and Sokoto should have not been criticized out of your cowardly ineptitude to copy them all these years.

The sweet thing about wike the cultist who bunchers Rivers behaviour which you quickly endorse goes to prove that you will cheer the devil as long as he antagonize Muslims, but guess what, your bloody cultist is only interested in eating undisturbed while pressing unah mumu botton

ikennamadu1:


You open your yam chopping mouth call wike cultist... You have proof abi.. Lemmi check your profile.... You go pay for this comment..

MelesZenawi:
Punch and Lagos-Ibadan express agenda.

Stop trying to foist una agenda on Wike.

Wike said that Rivers is a Christian state and so be it.


Rivers state is not a Muslim state nor do the state practice any form of Islam...

Stalwert:




If that is the case, Zamfara and Sokoto should have not been criticized out of your cowardly ineptitude to copy them all these years.

The sweet thing about wike the cultist who bunchers Rivers behaviour which you quickly endorse goes to prove that you will cheer the devil as long as he antagonize Muslims, but guess what, your bloody cultist is only interested in eating undisturbed while pressing unah mumu botton

NaMeAboki:
OP was on point until he made the same mistake many others continue to make concerning adoption of Sharia in the 12 northern states.

Let us get this very clear; so far Wike is only governor to declare a particular religion (Christianity) for his state; I repeat, no other other governor has done what Wike did - including those northern who introduced sharia penal code in their states.

There is a big difference between adopting a religious law (alongside others) targeted only at it's adherents (Sharia for Muslims only) against adopting or declaring a particular faith (Christianity) as the blanket and only religion (at the exclusion of others) for a state - as Wike did.

Unfortunately, many Nigerians are being deliberately misled by those opposed to Sharia (CAN, the media etc) into believing otherwise - it is even more unfortunate that many seemingly intelligent folks have been gullible enough to have fallen for this false narrative; including the OP.

backnbeta:
But Zamfara and Kano can be?

For those saying the Sharia governors did not declare their states Islam states, why are Christians not allowed to sell food openly during Ramadan in Kano?
Why seize cartons of alcoholic drinks from the sellers?
The truth is; we are far too divided along religious line...things can't be the same again!

efeski:



Una go just siddon type better nonsense.
Is there a difference between six and half a dozen?
Cos your point of sharia and penal code not equating with a declaration of a Muslim state simply amounts to that

NaMeAboki:


Big lie, food vendors are free to sell their wares at anytime during Ramadan to anyone; whether Muslims or Christians; what you fail to realise is that there are many Muslims exempted from fasting during the said period, e.g. children below puberty, the sick, menstruating women and even travellers.

It would have been disingenuous therefore to ban the sale of food, in view of such ppl; besides, nothing stops a fasting person from buying his food for later consumption at the appropriate time - your allegation is completely false and a figment from your biased imagination.

On the contrary, the ban on sale and consumption of alcohol in the state was NOT enacted UNDER SHARIA law but under conventional law through the State House of Assembly.

This lie is being told by Christians in Nigeria opposed to Sharia and promoted through an obviously biased media; besides, the ban cannot in any way prevent Christians from practising their religion; just as it did not in America when that country also did same in its prohibition years.

NaMeAboki:
OP was on point until he made the same mistake many others continue to make concerning adoption of Sharia in the 12 northern states.

Let us get this very clear; so far Wike is only governor to declare a particular religion (Christianity) for his state; I repeat, no other other governor has done what Wike did - including those northern governors who introduced sharia penal code in their states.

There is a big difference between adopting a religious law (alongside others) targeted only at it's adherents (Sharia for Muslims only) against adopting or declaring a particular faith (Christianity) as the blanket and only religion (at the exclusion of others) for a state - as Wike did.

Unfortunately, many Nigerians are being deliberately misled by those opposed to Sharia (CAN, the media etc) into believing otherwise - it is even more unfortunate that many seemingly intelligent folks have been gullible enough to have fallen for this false narrative; including the OP.