Beaf:

Somebody please remind me; how many wives does this young progressive man have? How many children (if he himself hasn't lost count)?

This is a laughable statement. How many wives did Gani Fawehimni have?

Ibime:

This is a laughable statement. How many wives did Gani Fawehimni have?

You took this from my mouth! That was exactly what I wanted to say. Or was Gani also not a progressive for marrying more than one wife?

no mind am - Cecilia is also a regressive for being ibru's fifth concurrent wife

Here's a kind advice for Sanusi
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-320985.0.html

Sanusi is allowed to marry his whole village if he likes.

What worries me is this man believes that it is ok for Northern Muslims to continue to impose their religion on non-Muslim residents against the dictates of the constitution.

Someone in the media needs to give the man a second chance to retract this statement by putting the question forward to him (so he will redeem himself).

This worries me too much.

We can only progress as a Nation if we can live side-by-side without anybody bullying the other to obey his religion.

Recently a retired Army Colonels duaghter who herself is Hausa was not allowed to launch her fashion designs in Kano because Shekarua believes his Religion does not permit such.

Who wants to continue to live in a country like this.

This is the kind of attitude Sanusi endorsed and his loyalists like Jarus do not have the courage to state clearly that on that occassion Sanusi got it wrong with that statement.

How will a Nation progress if we can't have an honest debate, listen to each other and admit it and re-adjust when we are wrong.

Turkey is a Muslim majority country but yet a secular state, so is Indonesia (which officially has the highest Muslim population), same goes Malaysia with muslim majority and yet a secular state.

Sanusi did not just endorse illegality, he is also endorsing the very backward kind of Islam which does not believe that others should have the right to live and practice their own understanding of Religion.

This is very troubling and I hope that for the sake of the man Sanusi Lamido Sanusi who wants to be taken seriously in the scheme of things in this country he comes out to retract his statement.

we in nigeria need to improve on our general attitude to other people of other tribes to move forward, we shouldnt see ourselves as igbo yoruba or hausa we shuld c ourselves as nigerians.

Ibime

What do you make of Olu Falae's position on Sanusi's activities with our Banking sector

At least he is more of an Authority in Finance than Wole Soyinka or Gani Fawehinmi (may his soul rest in peace).

@Jarus and the topic poster

Thank you so much for this. I thinks its a good thing that Nigerians get to know how the mind of people occupying sensitive posts work. I have been a critic of Sanusi's actions in the last two months. Believe me that has not changed but reading through his articles has made me respect his person and his intellect.

I am a minority from the North, a non Moslem and I understand and appreciate his view point. It is in tandem with major grass root progressives from the North. What is shocking to me is many people here and elsewhere in Nigeria have this intense dislike for other sections of the country and have been blinded so much that nothing good can come from elsewhere. Interestingly, Sanusi's articles tells us where this is coming from. For some the blunt style of delivering the truth hurts. Well, the more it hurts maybe the closer to the truth Sanusi is.

To me, the most positive thing is that we now know Sanusi; Where he is coming from and his thinking about Nigeria. How many of our leaders have bared their mind thus? Most are middle of the road people bereft of ideology or stand on anything. Which is better?

I still have some issues with the way some aspects of this bailout was carried out sha. But I agree to most of his position on Nigeria

mikeansy:

Ibime

What do you make of Olu Falae's position on Sanusi's activities with our Banking sector

At least he is more of an Authority in Finance than Wole Soyinka or Gani Fawehinmi (may his soul rest in peace).

Olu Falae has never registered in my mind as a stand-out Nigerian. Infact, I should rain curses on him after the failure of his Structural Adjustment Programme. .

Did you make the mistake of saying Olu Falae's criticisms of Sanusi had anything to do with finance? All I read from Olu Falae was "Sanusi is trying to Northernise the banking sector".

I have been thinking as much!



Nigeria Is Blessed.

after carefully and scrutinitically read this publication,i was able to deduce the quality of man in sanusi,i am afraid i am already a sanusism,the guy is not just a leader but a charismatic  and egalitarian leader with his versertility cutting across all aspect of life,even if people are making some propaganda as regards his intentions for the 2011 election stuffs,i believe he can be the Nigerians Barack Obama(the agent of change), nice one jarus

Jarus:

You took this from my mouth! That was exactly what I wanted to say. Or was Gani also not a progressive for marrying more than one wife?

Stop being ridiculous. Gani and Sanusi cannot be mentioned in the same breath, one was governed by the rule of law and giving voice to the plight of the common man; the other see's the World strictly through sharia.
Gani was never responsible for the wrecking of a nascent institution and for goodness sake, was almost 72.

Lets not belittle Gani by comparing him to a clown like Sanusi.

goggs:

@Jarus and the topic poster

Thank you so much for this. I thinks its a good thing that Nigerians get to know how the mind of people occupying sensitive posts work. I have been a critic of Sanusi's actions in the last two months. Believe me that has not changed but reading through his articles has made me respect his person and his intellect.

I am a minority from the North, a non Moslem and I understand and appreciate his view point. It is in tandem with major grass root progressives from the North. What is shocking to me is many people here and elsewhere in Nigeria have this intense dislike for other sections of the country and have been blinded so much that nothing good can come from elsewhere. Interestingly, Sanusi's articles tells us where this is coming from. For some the blunt style of delivering the truth hurts. Well, the more it hurts maybe the closer to the truth Sanusi is.

To me, the most positive thing is that we now know Sanusi; Where he is coming from and his thinking about Nigeria. How many of our leaders have bared their mind thus? Most are middle of the road people bereft of ideology or stand on anything. Which is better?
I still have some issues with the way some aspects of this bailout was carried out sha. But I agree to most of his position on Nigeria

and the worrying thing about it is that, they see nothing wrong with hating the other parts of the country, their culture, their way of life but they think others are tribalist when they bare their mind

Nigerians lets wake and rise above tribal/religous sentiments. Here is a muslim Banker with a degree and knowledge in islamic studies his faith , he writes and contributes to intellectual debates and expresses his opinion on national issues from the perspective of his faith when it comes to religious issues and also from his own perspective when it comes to non religious issues.

The most recent of these articles i guess dates back to 2005 even before he moved to first bank. I find very dusturbing some opinions expressed on this forum especially the ones higholighted by oyb below

Quote
I don't need a soothesayer to tell me that he is an hardcore traditionalist,a tribalist and an islamic extremist


Quote
Yes, as eloquent as a radical iman could be, as tribalistic as a hardcore Fulan-iman who has never travelled outside Katsina/Kano/Kaduna could be.


Quote
The ongoing "sanitisation" of the banking sector is just another front in the Jihad being waged by the Fuanis against the rest of us, including, believe it or not, the Hausas, who they view with the utmost disdain.



Quote
There’s got to be more to talk about than Sharia law, Islam and how magnificent the Hausa man is. There’s no progressive in his blood, and his cradling of Islam so – and not, for example, our blackness – confirms my inclination about Muslims. Many think there religion is the best thing since sliced bread and this is just not the case.


Quote
Sanusi, from his essays, is clearly an individual who, in my view, glorifies Islam, his people, his culture, etc, in a way that is unhealthy for the larger polity.





Quote
. . .Yeah? But some here want us to masturbate at every single one of his sharia emissions.


Quote
His values from his "intellectual" writeups are the values of shariah. If a man holds women to be of such low value that he can amass them like goods (even at his young age), he is of low value to the country.

The CBN is not a sharia establishment.


Quote
. . .Yes, all about sharia by the backdoor.
Somebody please remind me; how many wives does this young progressive man have? How many children (if he himself hasn't lost count)?

The above statements highlighted by oyb points to one direction of uncomfortability with a man that has a strong islamic background.

Ibime position on this issue is of good significance and nice objectivity. Why can people  not judge him based on his perfomance and not his background faith.

Someone talked about him eroding the confidence in the banking sector. How can confidence be based or built on falsehood? How can bank CEO's grant themselves ridiculous loans and award loans of 40 billion plus without collateral. How can bank CEO's forge accounts submitted to CBN? How come Akingbola is in the run if no offence has been committed?

Should Sanusi wait till the banks are distresssed before he acts? A time when innocent depositors would have lost billions and the fat cows ammassed the billions. People forget Savannah bank, Societe general, National bank, and the amonts of money lost in the process.

Sanusi named and shamed several notherners and muslims as well, Rahmaniyyah oil boss is from the sokoto claiphate, Tanzila petroleum is from the north , Aliko is from the north and several others. How is work a nothern agenda? i only wonder

Beaf:

Stop being ridiculous. Gani and Sanusi cannot be mentioned in the same breath, one was governed by the rule of law and giving voice to the plight of the common man; the other see's the World strictly through sharia.
Gani was never responsible for the wrecking of a nascent institution and for goodness sake, was almost 72.

Lets not belittle Gani by comparing him to a clown like Sanusi.

With your few contributiions on this forum - sanusi has more than one wife, sanusi likes sharia

I wonder through what you see the world.

For a man to rise to become the CEO of first bank in such a short time must have some intellect. For him to have wirtten papers at various international and national events he must have some good stuff in the head and surely sees the world through a more wider perspective.

Dis Guy:

and the worrying thing about it is that, they see nothing wrong with hating the other parts of the country, their culture, their way of life but they think others are tribalist when they bare their mind

Bigots pointing their fingers. Lets not get silly and start talking about hating other parts of the country, you sound like someone with a weak mind and a big chip on their shoulder.

I'm sure you will never find any of us promoting a christian Nigeria over a secular one, But you folk have been saying openly that you do not see Nigeria as secular, rather you see it as multi-religious (exactly Sanusi's dangerous point of view).

You are the bigots, making dangerous Boko Haram style arguments against the Nigerian constitution to promote a non-secular state.

Beaf:

the other see's the World strictly through sharia.

Really? Knowledge of one's culture does not denote ignorance of anothers plight.

I think your fear of his culture speaks more about you, than his knowledge of his culture speaks about him.


Check this extract from Sanusis writings on the state of the federation for example:


The Northern Bourgeoisie and the Yoruba Bourgeoisie have conspired to keep the Igbo out of the scheme of things. In the recent transition when the Igbo solidly supported the PDP in the hope of an Ekwueme presidency, the North and South-West treated this as a Biafra agenda. Every rule set for the primaries, every gentleman's agreement was set aside to ensure that Obasanjo, not Ekwueme emerged as the candidate. Things went as far as getting the Federal Government to hurriedly gazette a pardon. Now, with this government, the marginalistion of the Igbo is more complete than ever before. The Igbos have taken all these quietly because, they reason, they brought it upon themselves. But the nation is sitting on a time-bomb.

After the First World War, the victors treated Germany with the same contempt Nigeria is treating Igbos. Two decades later, there was a Second World War, far costlier than the first. Germany was again defeated, but this time, they won a more honourable peace.

Our present political leaders have no sense of History. There is a new Igbo man, who was not born in 1966 and neither knows nor cares about Nzeogwu and Ojukwu. There are Igbo men on the street who were never Biafrans. They were born Nigerians, are Nigerians, but suffer because of actions of earlier generations. They will soon decide that it is better to fight their own war, and may be find an honourable peace, than to remain in this contemptible state in perpetuity.

The Northern Bourgeoisie and the Yoruba Bourgeoisie have exacted their pound of flesh from the Igbos. For one Sardauna, one Tafawa Balewa, one Akintola and one Okotie-Eboh, hundreds of thousands have died and suffered.

Ibime:

Really? Knowledge of one's culture does not denote ignorance of anothers plight.

I[b] think your fear of his culture speaks more about you, than his knowledge of his culture speaks about him.[/b]

Exzactly what i thought about beafs last post.

Ibime:


Check this extract from Sanusis writings on the state of the federation for example:


The Northern Bourgeoisie and the Yoruba Bourgeoisie have conspired to keep the Igbo out of the scheme of things. In the recent transition when the Igbo solidly supported the PDP in the hope of an Ekwueme presidency, the North and South-West treated this as a Biafra agenda. Every rule set for the primaries, every gentleman's agreement was set aside to ensure that Obasanjo, not Ekwueme emerged as the candidate. Things went as far as getting the Federal Government to hurriedly gazette a pardon. Now, with this government, the marginalistion of the Igbo is more complete than ever before. The Igbos have taken all these quietly because, they reason, they brought it upon themselves. But the nation is sitting on a time-bomb.

After the First World War, the victors treated Germany with the same contempt Nigeria is treating Igbos. Two decades later, there was a Second World War, far costlier than the first. Germany was again defeated, but this time, they won a more honourable peace.

Our present political leaders have no sense of History. There is a new Igbo man, who was not born in 1966 and neither knows nor cares about Nzeogwu and Ojukwu. There are Igbo men on the street who were never Biafrans. They were born Nigerians, are Nigerians, but suffer because of actions of earlier generations. They will soon decide that it is better to fight their own war, and may be find an honourable peace, than to remain in this contemptible state in perpetuity.

The Northern Bourgeoisie and the Yoruba Bourgeoisie have exacted their pound of flesh from the Igbos. For one Sardauna, one Tafawa Balewa, one Akintola and one Okotie-Eboh, hundreds of thousands have died and suffered.

Thanks for this extract Iime i wish you blessings and more guidance. I wonder what the anti Sanusi fellas have to say to his harsh truth and reality to the Hausa/fulani and yoruba establishment who have strong resentment to the igbos. Surley a narrow minded person fighting for only notherners dont analyse issue with such honesty.

The Northern Bourgeoisie and the Yoruba Bourgeoisie have conspired to keep the Igbo out of the scheme of things. In the recent transition when the Igbo solidly supported the PDP in the hope of an Ekwueme presidency, the North and South-West treated this as a Biafra agenda. Every rule set for the primaries, every gentleman's agreement was set aside to ensure that Obasanjo, not Ekwueme emerged as the candidate. Things went as far as getting the Federal Government to hurriedly gazette a pardon. Now, with this government, the marginalistion of the Igbo is more complete than ever before. The Igbos have taken all these quietly because, they reason, they brought it upon themselves. But the nation is sitting on a time-bomb.

After the First World War, the victors treated Germany with the same contempt Nigeria is treating Igbos. Two decades later, there was a Second World War, far costlier than the first. Germany was again defeated, but this time, they won a more honourable peace.

Our present political leaders have no sense of History. There is a new Igbo man, who was not born in 1966 and neither knows nor cares about Nzeogwu and Ojukwu. There are Igbo men on the street who were never Biafrans. They were born Nigerians, are Nigerians, but suffer because of actions of earlier generations. They will soon decide that it is better to fight their own war, and may be find an honourable peace, than to remain in this contemptible state in perpetuity.

The Northern Bourgeoisie and the Yoruba Bourgeoisie have exacted their pound of flesh from the Igbos. For one Sardauna, one Tafawa Balewa, one Akintola and one Okotie-Eboh, hundreds of thousands have died and suffered.

Here is a defence of the Igbos by Sanusi, but the those who call him tribalists will not see this. It is only where he defended Hausa/Fulani they will see.

The truth is Sanusi is a man that says it the way it is. He doesn't care whose ox is gored.

Our present political leaders have no sense of History. There is a new Igbo man, who was not born in 1966 and neither knows nor cares about Nzeogwu and Ojukwu

this imaginary Igbo man who doesnt know or care about Ojukwu, is found where exactly? Nairaland? US? Europe? China? MASSOB headquarters?







His whole article is an oversimplification at best.

Why do people like to mis-represent what others are saying

Nobody is afraid of anybody's culture or religion

All we are saying is lets have the choice to live as we choose just like you have chosen to live by the dictates of the Kor'an

I am not interested in Sanusi having anything "nice" to say about my culture or religion

He should only respect the constitution that binds us all together that is all I am interested in.

If we create a Nigeria where every state begins to make laws for everyone as they so wish and according to the strictest of alien religions, Nigeria will suffer. That is the issue.

Ibime:

Really? Knowledge of one's culture does not denote ignorance of anothers plight.

I think your fear of his culture speaks more about you, than his knowledge of his culture speaks about him.

Fear of his culture? I must remind you here that sharia is a set of religious laws not a culture.

Your extract on his views of the Igbo is unfortunate for the parts that you missed out. Perhaps you have not read the full article. What did he end up calling the Igbo people, was it foolish? That is what is most important.
Also, what were the points he outlined as important for a national conference? Was sharia one of them? That is also important.

If anything, that article exposed Sanusi's mind as sharia guided, rather than secular according to the demands of our constitution. It is sensible to be wary of that and that awareness does not equate to fear of his culture.

Going by your guidelines; I might as well admire Evangelist Helen Ukpabio, because she might write a goodish essay and might think Nigeria should not be secular, but be guided by the laws of her church (clearly against the constituition). I condemn her for the same reasons that I condemn Sanusi.

Lets not be ridiculous.

Sanusi studied Islamic studies and commented on religious issues in his personal capacity, and that doesn't make him less good in his primary field. Remember that while writing all these articles and giving these lectures, he was also rising in leaps and bounds in UBA.

How he even had time to write all those things puzzles me, as bankers, we hear, don't have time for their family, not to talk of reading wide and writing on areas completely different from his primary field.

^I don't care how he found time for his sharia writeups. That does not make him a good governor of the CBN.
We all find time for the things that interest us.

Jarus:

Sanusi studied Islamic studies and commented on religious issues in his personal capacity, and that doesn't make him less good in his primary field. Remember that while writing all these articles and giving these lectures, he was also rising in leaps and bounds in UBA.

How he even had time to write all those things puzzles me, as bankers, we hear, don't have time for their family, not to talk of reading wide and writing on areas completely different from his primary field.

Why can't you be bold enough to say what you make of that view relative to the provisions of our constitution

I thought we were having an honest debate

mikeansy:

Why can't you be bold enough to say what you make of that view relative to the provisions of our constitution

I thought we were having an honest debate

You are making an erronous statement here. What constitution? The present one? Dont hang your hat on the present constitution cos its a fraud.

As Sanusi has had his religious right respected with regard to Sharia, he can only be accused of hypocrisy if he does not also canvass for others to have their rights respected by the constitution. He is not in favour of a lopsided constitution that favours only his kinsmen, so whilst he is happy that his religious right is being respected, he is still canvassing for the constitution to be amended so that the rights of Ijaws, Igbos, Efiks, Yorubas etc are respected. If you wanna judge his views by the set-up of the present constitution, then you should forfeit your right to clamour for a new one.

I hope this is the last time you would bring up this inane argument. No one respects the present constitution and it should provide no framework to judge anyones beliefs. The amendment of the constitution that you and I seek that would devolve power to regions and allow resource control would also allow him to practice his sharia. Whilst the Hausa-Fulani in general prefer the status-quo, Sanusi is not part of that. Direct you misdirected anger at the Hausa-Fulani lawmakers rather than Sanusi. Your beef is that they implemented true federalism for themselves without granting it to you. Well Sanusi has never been part of their polity that argued that you should be denied the dividends of federalism.

Jarus:

Sanusi studied Islamic studies and commented on religious issues in his personal capacity, and that doesn't make him less good in his primary field. Remember that while writing all these articles and giving these lectures, he was also rising in leaps and bounds in UBA.

I have requested proof of the above.
What did his risk management do for UBA? (Who got acquired by Elumelu's STB)
What did his 6 months MDship do for FBN.
Where are his economic articles and lectures. And why can't I find them on google or on his wikipedia profile ?
You are still refusing to answer these questions.

Ibime:

You are making an erronous statement here. What constitution? The present one? Dont hang your hat on the present constitution cos its a fraud.

As Sanusi has had his religious right respected with regard to Sharia, he can only be accused of hypocrisy if he does not also canvass for others to have their rights respected by the constitution. He is not in favour of a lopsided constitution that favours only his kinsmen, so whilst he is happy that his religious right is being respected, he is still canvassing for the constitution to be amended so that the rights of Ijaws, Igbos, Efiks, Yorubas etc are amended. If you wanna hold him to the present constitution, then you should forfeit your right to clamour for a new one.

I hope this is the last time you would bring up this inane argument. No one respects the present constitution and it should provide no framework to judge anyones beliefs. The amendment of the constitution that you and I seek that would devolve power to regions and allow resource control would also allow him to practice his sharia. Whilst the Hausa-Fulani in general prefer the status-quo, Sanusi is not part of that. Direct you misdirected anger at the Hausa-Fulani lawmakers rather than Sanusi. Your beef is that they implemented true federalism for themselves without granting it to you. Well Sanusi has never been part of their polity that argued that you should be denied the dividends of federalism.

How can anyone even begin to argue with such shocking a point of view? Are the government and the CBN illegal too?
No wonder you guys keep saying the country is not secular (even though the constitution says so). Shock! Horror!

No one respects the present constitution

why should they.

I read an article written almost 200 years ago, describing some Nigerians and these were almost the exact same words of the author.

Nothing's changed.

the write up was before the creation of Nigeria mind you.

Beaf:


How can anyone even begin to argue with such shocking a point of view? Are the government and the CBN illegal too?
No wonder you guys keep saying the country is not secular. Shock! Horror!

What are you saying here. . . . commot jare! 

No be we dey shout "resource control", "devolution" etc. Is that provided in our constitution?

If it is Niger-Delta case now, you will join me in saying "Phock this unfair constitution!". . . . if it is Sanusi case now, you would say "Sharia is not provided for in our constitution." You either want to stick to this constitution or you dont.

There seems to be a disconnect here.

^I might not like the constitution, but I don't call it illegal. I might ask for changes and improvements or even a re-write; but I wouldn't call it a fraud. Or on what basis do I call myself Nigerian?

Beaf:

^I might not like the constitution, but I don't call it illegal.

What rubbish! The constitution is illegal in so far as the Govt can come and take your land without offering adequate compensation and drilling for oil on it. Go and tell our brothers in the creeks that the constitution is not illegal.

The fact remains, Sanusi has never opposed a change of constitution that would give us fairplay. His right to Sharia is being respected in so much as his people have the political muscle to make it happen regardless of what the constitution says. His hypocisy would be if he resisted devolvement of power to you also.

Funny enough, for those pinning their opposition to Sanusi on Sharia:



http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-476/_nr-341/i.html



"Shariacracy" in Nigeria

A goat thief is punished more severely than a president who misappropriates government funds. The introduction of the Sharia has brought no improvements, Nigerian sociologist and economist Lamido Sanusi insists.

"Nigeria is like a cake: the thieves sit all around it, and the one with the biggest knife gets the biggest piece. The biggest knife is the threat of national unity," Lamido Sanusi, Nigerian sociologist, religion scholar says about his homeland, an important oil-exporting country.

The West African state has always had difficulty holding together a population of 120 million people comprising more than 250 ethnic groups, most of which have their own languages. Rivalries between the Suni Muslim Haussa-Fulla (also known as Haussa-Fulbe and Haussa-Fullani) in the north and the Christian or animist Yoruba who dominate the economically powerful southwest regularly lead to harrowing outbreaks of violence.

After the election victory of President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999, Nigeria returned to democracy after years of military dictatorship. That same year the governors of the northern provinces adapted their legal systems to conform to the Sharia. As in the USA, each state has its own legal system. Soon Islamic law was in force in 12 of Nigeria’s 26 provinces.

Sharia - Symbol of Muslim identity

For Sanusi, the timing was no accident: "Due to the democratization and the election of a non-Muslim head of state, the military circles, who mostly come from the north, lost their political influence" – and needed a new "knife".

"The Sharia is a powerful symbol of Muslim identity. Since the late 90s regional identity has been increasingly emphasized in all Nigeria’s regions. The reason for this is the people’s profound feeling of insecurity caused by poverty, unemployment, escalating crime, corruption, etc."

According to the anti-corruption organization "Transparency International", Nigeria is one of the most corrupt states on earth. Around 200 billion dollars, almost seven times Nigeria's foreign debt, are estimated to have been misappropriated.

The majority of Nigerians are skeptical about the introduction of the Sharia – including the Muslim clergy. Christian fundamentalists hope that the Sharia will prove an effective weapon against alcoholism and prostitution.

Heated arguments on both sides

Opponents and supporters of Islamic law are engaged in heated debates about its function, interpretation and status in multicultural, multireligious Nigeria. Accusations of discrimination are frequent. The issue has long since spread beyond religious circles.

"More and more people are getting drawn into the debate. In a certain respect one can speak of a democratization of the Sharia," Sanusi believes.

Is the former British colony developing into a "Shariacracy"? This term was coined by cultural scholar Ali Mazrui to denote a liberal democratic system in which justice is administered according to the Sharia.

However, it is unclear what relationship exists between state justice and the Sharia in a multireligious state that is part of the international community. The Nigerian constitution acknowledges common law, Sharia, and the national legislation modeled on British law.

However, Nigeria has also signed international agreements in support of human rights. These agreements prohibit such actions as amputating the hands of thieves.

Lack of training for Muslim lawyers

The case of Safiya Hussainis, whom a trail court condemned to death by stoning for adultery, provoked international protests. However, even according to Sharia law, the verdict was a scandal, indicating that Nigerian lawyers are often very poorly trained.

On appeal, Hussaini was acquitted due to grave procedural errors. "In another case, a thief who had been condemned to lose his hand insisted on the punishment against the advice of his lawyers," Sanusi reports.

But shouldn't the state be required to protect a person from himself in a case like that? And can it authorize executioners to amputate its citizens' limbs, or even kill them?

Another contentious issue is the fact that Islamic law is not standardized. "According to the Malikites, an Islamic legal school, common law applies as long as it does not contradict the Koran," Sanusi says. "However, the governors of Nigeria's Muslim provinces come from different regions, which means that they have different approaches to the Sharia."

As he points out, different ideological backgrounds also play a role. Those behind the Islamization of Nigeria include people associated with the Muslim Brothers, while others are influenced by Iran's Islamic revolution. And still different groups try to reconcile western-style liberal democracy with Islam.

Justice, Sharia-style?

Ultimately, future developments in Nigeria will depend largely on whether the introduction of the Sharia will bring what people expect it to – more justice.

"Islam claims to be a religion of justice," explains Sanusi. "Now, according to the Sharia, someone who breaks into someone else's house and steals a goat tethered there is a thief – his hand is amputated.

"However, if the goat thief is a domestic servant who had legal access to the house, the deed is considered an abuse of trust, but not a theft, and it is punished less severely.

"Finally, when this is applied to a legally-elected president who misappropriates millions of dollars in government money, legal experts speak of an abuse of trust, but do not consider it a more serious act of theft.

"Thus, someone who steals someone else’s goat is punished more severely than a president who steals millions of dollars from the state. Is that just?" So far, according to Sanusi, "the introduction of the Sharia has brought no improvements."

Lennart Lehmann