₦airaland Forum

Current estimates put the Christian and Muslim population in Nigeria at almost par, though some estimates give a slight edge to Muslims in the country. While the north is predominantly Muslim, the south is predominantly Christian. Yet, these broad categories ignore significant populations of both faiths across both sections of the country. For instance, the Middle Belt and parts of the North East have significant Christian populations, while the Southwest has significant Muslim population. The balance of the faiths has encouraged a balancing act in the choice of political leaders but there are fears that if current projections are right Christians will have a hard time leading this country in future.

According to the Pew Research Center, Nigeria’s delicate population balance between Christians and Muslims will tip significantly over the coming years. It predicts that by 2060, some 40 years away, 60.5 percent of the country’s projected population of 283.2 million people will be Muslims, while Christians will make up just about 37 percent. Four years ago in 2015, Muslims made up 50 percent as against 48.1 percent for Christians.

The implication of the large shift in the population is significant in political terms, especially for Nigeria where political leadership at the national level and in several states have been coloured by partisan interests such as religion and ethnicity. In the country’s history there have only been four heads of state/presidents who were Christians and seven Muslim heads of state/presidents. The Christian heads of state and presidents were General Aguiyi Ironsi, General Yakubu Gowon, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Dr Goodluck Jonathan. The Muslim leaders have been General Murtala Muhammed, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, General Ibrahim Babangida, General Sani Abacha, General Abdusalam Abubakar, President Umar Musa Yar’Adua and President Muhammadu Buhari.

While all of the military heads of state came through coup d’états facilitated by their positions in the military, the political leaders have emerged through an unwritten understanding that power should rotate between the north and south and between Muslim and Christian to breed inclusiveness and cohesion. So far that principle has held at the national level. Given the ethnic and religious mix at the national level and in many states, there has been a deliberate attempt to balance the leadership between the two faiths such that there is a Christian deputy when a Muslim is president and vice versa. This assures most people that at the highest lwvel of decision-making they are represented. This has been the practice over the years but at no time is it more necessary than now when the country is buffeted on all sides by conflicts and cries of partisanship. Yet, the signal from certain quarters raise fears and call us to vigilance.

In the last general election the Kaduna State Governor Nasir el Rufai went against the grain of this basic understanding to present a Muslim-Muslim ticket, which eventually won the election in a state with a significant Christian population. While the governor called his decision an informed one based on competence, many people saw it as pushing the envelope too much. In the words of Femi Fani-Kayode when governor’s decision was made November last year: “It is wrong, divisive, dangerous, provocative and insulting for Nasir el-Rufai to field a Muslim/Muslim ticket in the governorship election in a state like Kaduna in which 50 percent of the people are Christians and in which thousands of Christians were butchered over the last three years.”

Indeed, we have had cases in the past, like the famous ticket of the Social Democratic Party in 1993 which had both Muslims – Chief MKO Abiola and Alhaji Baba Gana Kingibe – on the ballot, and which is generally believed to have won the annulled election. But Nigeria has drifted terribly in recent years because of nepotism in government and the reality that political leaders have exploited their leadership positions to apportion favours on partisan parameters, including religion. A clear case in point is in the distribution of the local governments across the country, which has seen less populated dominant Muslim states with more local governments than states in the south with significant Christian population. These were largely enabled by the military governments but they have come to stay as immutable facts of the Nigerian reality, perpetuating a culture of discrimination against Christians.

A second reality of the adverse effect of sectional dominance is the nepotism that has attended the federal administration such that the key security agencies are all headed by Muslims. This has led to cries of sectionalism and, in some cases, pogroms, from minorities and Christians. Over the last few years, criminals working in tandem with herdsmen have terrorized communities across the Christian states, especially in the north, burning churches, razing villages and something akin to religious cleansing. These security challenges have raised fears of exclusion across sections not in power.

President Buhari has already kicked off his second term in office, which will run till 2023, by which time the presidency should go to the south and to the Christian faith. Already, permutations are afoot in both the ruling All Progressives Congress and opposition Peoples Democratic Party on the succession. Christians must insist on their due right, despite the obvious undercurrent to raise the ‘competence’ argument as a smokescreen to continue the tradition of nepotism and sectional dominance. Balancing the presidency and political offices are central to guaranteeing inclusion in Nigeria. The country is too fragile, with widespread insecurity, reports of ethnic and religious cleansing and partisanship to disregard the zoning principle and religious sensibilities. The recently released 2019 Fragile States Index ranks Nigeria as the 14th most fragile state in the world, with a score of 98.5 out of a maximum 120 points, even much worse than Mali.

Insecurity and marginalization of ethnic and religious groups have not helped. There are fears that more crises will come if equity takes a flight in the sharing of political offices. For the first time since the return to democracy the heads of the two arms – Senate and House of Representatives – are Muslims. Senator Ahmed Lawan was anointed by the leadership of the APC as Senate President and Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila as Speaker. These fears have been raised by different political and pressure groups because it will mean that for the first time Muslims will occupy three of the four leading political offices at the federal level, with the vice president being the only non-Muslim. Added to the fact that the Chief Justice of Nigeria is also a Muslim and key military and intelligence agencies are led by Muslims, the possibility of further tension and cries of marginalization are not far fetched. This permissiveness must not set the tone for the presidency in 2023. Christians must insist on a shift not just in the geopolitical origin of the next president but on a Christian president.

Zikeyi is the pastor of the Ultimate Power Ministry based in Abraka, Delta State.

Source: https://www.thecable.ng/the-case-for-a-christian-president-in-2023

Mods: seun, lalasticlala , mynd44

Freeman59:
2.3m? I doubt that you're serious about Selling this whip

How much sir? I want to buy from you if you have, exactly like this, 2011, bought brandnew abd used for less than a year.


Cos 2003/06 is sold for over 1.5m

pmc01:
Looks nice, but I no get that kain money.

All the best bro

Thanks bro

Still available as I type, don't know the next minutes

This is toyota corolla 2011 model.
It's registered but let's call it tokunbo because it's so neatly used , I bet it's neater than most tokunbos.
This car is in perfect condition, it's buy and drive.
Uber/bolt certified.
AC? Hey God, it's freezing, and engine sooo sound.
Call now for inspection, inspection? Just pay and take this car home self.
09013086010
08085730575
PRICE IS 2.3M
Slightly negotiable

Location: Palmgroove-Onipanu, Lagos

shawn55ng:
1m cash.

1.1m last

aladesanmi:
First body or repainted

First

berrystunn:
No price?

1.3M

This car is good for uber or taxify, and it's in a good shape.

The AC is chilling and the engine is sound.

If not that it's registered I can call it Tokunbo, that's how is neat the car is.

Inside is neat and the body is also neat.

In short, it's buy and drive.

Come with your mechanic
Price: 1.3M
Slightly negotiable

09013086010

By Odidi Omoaka

It is reasonable to conclude that whenever the All Progressives Congress (APC) holds up the mirror to look at itself, the image that comes up is that of a once-in-an-age progressive entity created to remedy our national defects. Hard evidence, however, declines to support this distorted image. By 11 June, if the ruling party’s desire comes to fruition, the control of three arms of the country’s government will be in the hands of Muslims, the first time since the return to democratic rule in 1999. President Muhammadu Buhari is already the leader of the Executive arm. The Judiciary has Justice Tanko Mohammed in place as the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), following the chicanery that ousted Justice Walter Onnoghen, a Southern Christian, as CJN. The President of the Federal Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, and Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Adamu Abdu-Kafarati, like the CJN, are both Muslims.

The Senate, should things pan out as the APC has them planned, will have Senator Ahmed Lawan as President, with a strong possibility that his deputy will be Kabiru Gaya, who has been everything but coy about his ambition. The House of Representatives, by APC’s design, is expected to produce Femi Gbajabiamila, a Muslim, as Speaker. The Gbajabiamila camp has already settled for Idris Wase, a Muslim from the North-Central zone, as Deputy Speaker. The design is similar to the APC adopted in 2015, which had the same candidates for both positions. But it was outwitted by Senator Bukola Saraki and Hon. Aminu Dogara, who halted the plan for Muslim headship of the two chambers by restoring religious balance.

What this indicates, uncomplicatedly, is that the APC views Nigerian Christians, especially those in the South, as children of a lesser god, who deserve no more than political crumbs. Hints that the APC was designed as a special purpose vehicle to foist an Islamic domination agenda on Nigeria were there from when it emerged in 2013 as a fusion of disparate and desperate political interests.

It could not have been otherwise. The party’s totem, General Muhammadu Buhari (now President), is a die-hard Sharia advocate who, justifiably, also merits that tag of a sectional champion. Early in 2014, an Islamic cleric, Ambassador Yusuf Garba, likened the APC to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and accused it of harbouring plans to Islamise Nigeria. Garba, a member of a group named Religious Equity Promotion Council (REPC), arrived at his position just by looking at the APC Interim National Executive Committee, which was chock-full with Muslims.

Appointed as National Chairman was Chief Bisi Akande, Aminu Bello Masari as Deputy National Chairman, Tijani Musa Tumsah as National Secretary, Nasir el-Rufai as Deputy National Secretary and Lai Mohammed as National Publicity Secretary. The party also appointed Sadiya Umar Faruq as National Treasurer, Shaibu Musa as National Financial Secretary, Abubakar Lado as National Youth Leader, Muiz Banire as National Legal Adviser, Bala Jubrin as Deputy National Auditor and Sharia Ikeazor (a convert to Islam) as National Woman Leader.



The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and other groups, particularly the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), also warned that hints of bias in favour of Islam carry the potential to uncouple the country, as they were bound to reboot sectarian tensions. Their voices were, however, drowned out by the powerful APC propaganda machine, abetted by undiscerning Nigerians and power-seeking desperadoes.

Further hints of the APC’s indifference to the country’s religious plurality manifested after General Buhari had emerged as presidential candidate and was shopping for a Southern running mate. It emerged that the party was considering Tinubu to run on a Muslim-Muslim ticket with Buhari, news of which provoked widespread disapproval, including from former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The APC back-tracked, picking Yemi Osinbajo, a Pentecostal pastor, and momentarily selling itself as a thoughtful entity.

But old habits are notoriously tough to shake. Following its victory in the presidential election, the APC rebooted its agenda-with Buhari at the wheel. Among his first appointments, even while it took him six months to constitute a cabinet, were Lawal Daura, a retired officer recalled to head the Department of State Security (DSS); Hammid Ali, a retired Army officer as Comptroller-General of Customs; and Abba Kyari as Chief of Staff. The agenda proceeded with the appointment of Ibrahim K Idris, an Assistant Inspector-General of Police, to replace Solomon Arase as Inspector-General of Police. That particular appointment induced, in one fell swoop, the retirement of 21 Deputy Inspectors-General of Police and Assistant Inspectors-General of Police, who were Idris’ seniors. It equally manifested in the President’s decision to replace Dr. Ibe Kachikwu as Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) with Dr. Miakanti Baru, a Northern Muslim; and refusal to appoint, in substantive capacity, Mr. Matthew Seiyefa, as DSS Director-General, after serving in acting capacity when Daura was sacked by the Vice President. Instead, Buhari appointed Yusuf Magaji Bichi, a Muslim from Kano State. The same pattern could be seen in the replacement of Kemi Adeosun, a Yoruba Christian, who resigned as Minister of Finance. Her replacement turned out to be Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, who was said to have been the candidate of Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State. As such, it was not much of surprise when el-Rufai, with breathtaking insensitivity to the tinder-box religious situation in Kaduna State, settled for a Muslim running-mate, a decision he said had the approval of President Buhari with whom he consulted.

Bad as the situation is, there is a huge chance that it could get worse. Much worse, especially for Southern Christians. The conduct of the APC in the last four years does not inspire hope that the next four will drip with sensitivity to religious or sectional balance. By 2023, Nigerians will have another chance to elect a president. There is very little, if any, chance of Buhari’s successor being a Christian or Southerner. Rumoured to be keen on the job is el-Rufai, whose indifference to the plight of Christians in his state has seen communities explode with violence, one after the other, like firecrackers on a string. Tinubu, the Southerner, who is allegedly being pressured to run, is a Muslim. The APC, it is safe to assume, will not hand its presidential ticket to a Christian, Northern or Southern. It is not wired to be balanced in anything it does. The chances of a Christian emerging Nigeria’s president in the near future, I believe, are wafer-thin. The Northern political/religious establishment is ceaseless in saying politics is a numbers game. A recent study released by the US fact tank, Pew Research Centre, projects that Nigeria will be home to 9.5 per cent of the global Muslim population by 2060. As at 2015, it stood at 5.1 per cent. The projection is that local Muslim population would have grown from a little over 90million (50 per cent) in 2015 to 283.1million (60.5 per cent). Conversely, the Christian population (86.6million in 2015) is projected to climb to 174.2million in 2060. While the 2015 figure (48.1 per cent of local population) gave Nigeria 3.8 per cent of the global Christian population, the projected 2060 figure will have Nigerian Christians making up 37.2 per cent of local population and 5.7 per cent of global Christian population. Islam continues to spread globally. Figures show that 31 per cent of children born worldwide between 2010 and 2015 were Muslim and babies born to Muslims, whose faith allows polygamy, are expected to outnumber those born to Christians by 2035. In Northern Nigeria, non-Muslims have been known to convert or risk being frozen out of socio-political benefits. These conditions are to the advantage of religious supremacists such as the APC and reduce the possibility of a Christian Nigerian president.

A public affairs analyst, Omoaka writes from Abuja and can be reached through


Source:
https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/apc-what-kind-of-party-is-it-really.html

Seun
Mynd44
Dominique
Lalasticlala

By ODIDI OMOAKA

It is reasonable to conclude that whenever the All Progressives Congress (APC) holds up the mirror to look at itself, the image that comes up is that of a once-in-an-age progressive entity created to remedy our national defects. Hard evidence, however, declines to support this distorted image. By 11 June, if the ruling party’s desire comes to fruition, the control of three arms of the country’s government will be in the hands of Muslims, the first time since the return to democratic rule in 1999.

President Muhammadu Buhari is already the leader of the Executive arm. The Judiciary has Justice Tanko Mohammed in place as the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), following the chicanery that ousted Justice Walter Onnoghen, a Southern Christian, as CJN. The President of the Federal Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, and Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Adamu Abdu-Kafarati, like the CJN, are both Muslims.

The Senate, should things pan out as the APC has them planned, will have Senator Ahmed Lawan as President, with a strong possibility that his deputy will be Kabiru Gaya, who has been everything but coy about his ambition. The House of Representatives, by APC’s design, is expected to produce Femi Gbajabiamila, a Muslim, as Speaker. The Gbajabiamila camp has already settled for Idris Wase, a Muslim from the North-Central zone, as Deputy Speaker. The design is similar to the APC adopted in 2015, which had the same candidates for both positions. But it was outwitted by Senator Bukola Saraki and Hon. Aminu Dogara, who halted the plan for Muslim headship of the two chambers by restoring religious balance.

What this indicates, uncomplicatedly, is that the APC views Nigerian Christians, especially those in the South, as children of a lesser god, who deserve no more than political crumbs. Hints that the APC was designed as a special purpose vehicle to foist an Islamic domination agenda on Nigeria were there from when it emerged in 2013 as a fusion of disparate and desperate political interests.

It could not have been otherwise. The party’s totem, General Muhammadu Buhari (now President), is a die-hard Sharia advocate who, justifiably, also merits that tag of a sectional champion. Early in 2014, an Islamic cleric, Ambassador Yusuf Garba, likened the APC to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and accused it of harbouring plans to Islamise Nigeria. Garba, a member of a group named Religious Equity Promotion Council (REPC), arrived at his position just by looking at the APC Interim National Executive Committee, which was chock-full with Muslims.

Appointed as National Chairman was Chief Bisi Akande, Aminu Bello Masari as Deputy National Chairman, Tijani Musa Tumsah as National Secretary, Nasir el-Rufai as Deputy National Secretary and Lai Mohammed as National Publicity Secretary. The party also appointed Sadiya Umar Faruq as National Treasurer, Shaibu Musa as National Financial Secretary, Abubakar Lado as National Youth Leader, Muiz Banire as National Legal Adviser, Bala Jubrin as Deputy National Auditor and Sharia Ikeazor (a convert to Islam) as National Woman Leader.

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and other groups, particularly the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), also warned that hints of bias in favour of Islam carry the potential to uncouple the country, as they were bound to reboot sectarian tensions. Their voices were, however, drowned out by the powerful APC propaganda machine, abetted by undiscerning Nigerians and power-seeking desperadoes.

Further hints of the APC’s indifference to the country’s religious plurality manifested after General Buhari had emerged as presidential candidate and was shopping for a Southern running mate. It emerged that the party was considering Tinubu to run on a Muslim-Muslim ticket with Buhari, news of which provoked widespread disapproval, including from former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The APC back-tracked, picking Yemi Osinbajo, a Pentecostal pastor, and momentarily selling itself as a thoughtful entity.

But old habits are notoriously tough to shake. Following its victory in the presidential election, the APC rebooted its agenda-with Buhari at the wheel. Among his first appointments, even while it took him six months to constitute a cabinet, were Lawal Daura, a retired officer recalled to head the Department of State Security (DSS); Hammid Ali, a retired Army officer as Comptroller-General of Customs; and Abba Kyari as Chief of Staff. The agenda proceeded with the appointment of Ibrahim K Idris, an Assistant Inspector-General of Police, to replace Solomon Arase as Inspector-General of Police. That particular appointment induced, in one fell swoop, the retirement of 21 Deputy Inspectors-General of Police and Assistant Inspectors-General of Police, who were Idris’ seniors. It equally manifested in the President’s decision to replace Dr. Ibe Kachikwu as Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) with Dr. Miakanti Baru, a Northern Muslim; and refusal to appoint, in substantive capacity, Mr. Matthew Seiyefa, as DSS Director-General, after serving in acting capacity when Daura was sacked by the Vice President. Instead, Buhari appointed Yusuf Magaji Bichi, a Muslim from Kano State. The same pattern could be seen in the replacement of Kemi Adeosun, a Yoruba Christian, who resigned as Minister of Finance. Her replacement turned out to be Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, who was said to have been the candidate of Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State. As such, it was not much of surprise when el-Rufai, with breathtaking insensitivity to the tinder-box religious situation in Kaduna State, settled for a Muslim running-mate, a decision he said had the approval of President Buhari with whom he consulted.

Bad as the situation is, there is a huge chance that it could get worse. Much worse, especially for Southern Christians. The conduct of the APC in the last four years does not inspire hope that the next four will drip with sensitivity to religious or sectional balance. By 2023, Nigerians will have another chance to elect a president. There is very little, if any, chance of Buhari’s successor being a Christian or Southerner. Rumoured to be keen on the job is el-Rufai, whose indifference to the plight of Christians in his state has seen communities explode with violence, one after the other, like firecrackers on a string. Tinubu, the Southerner, who is allegedly being pressured to run, is a Muslim. The APC, it is safe to assume, will not hand its presidential ticket to a Christian, Northern or Southern. It is not wired to be balanced in anything it does. The chances of a Christian emerging Nigeria’s president in the near future, I believe, are wafer-thin. The Northern political/religious establishment is ceaseless in saying politics is a numbers game. A recent study released by the US fact tank, Pew Research Centre, projects that Nigeria will be home to 9.5 per cent of the global Muslim population by 2060. As at 2015, it stood at 5.1 per cent. The projection is that local Muslim population would have grown from a little over 90million (50 per cent) in 2015 to 283.1million (60.5 per cent). Conversely, the Christian population (86.6million in 2015) is projected to climb to 174.2million in 2060. While the 2015 figure (48.1 per cent of local population) gave Nigeria 3.8 per cent of the global Christian population, the projected 2060 figure will have Nigerian Christians making up 37.2 per cent of local population and 5.7 per cent of global Christian population. Islam continues to spread globally. Figures show that 31 per cent of children born worldwide between 2010 and 2015 were Muslim and babies born to Muslims, whose faith allow polygamy, are expected to outnumber those born to Christians by 2035. In Northern Nigeria, non-Muslims have been known to convert or risk being frozen out of socio-political benefits. These conditions are to the advantage of religious supremacists such as the APC and reduce the possibility of a Christian Nigerian president.


Source: https://www.thecable.ng/apc-party-of-the-muslim-by-the-muslim-for-the-muslim

Mod: lalasticlala , mynd44, Dominique