₦airaland Forum

The bill is simply titled, ‘A Bill for a Law to Substitute the Kaduna State Religious Preaching Law, 1984.’ It is the intention of the state government that when it is signed into law, it will be known as ‘The Religious Preaching Law of 2015.’
But with the controversy generated by the bill which has passed the second reading on the floor of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, there are indications that the piece of legislation may not enjoy a smooth passage like previous bills.

Since the provision of the bill became public, umbrella organizations representing the two major religious groups, Christianity and Islam, in the state, whose members will be the target of the proposed law, have reacted to it, with some of them opposing it completely.
The executive arm of the government in Kaduna State has submitted 21 bills to the current Assembly, out of which 13 has been passed into law.
But the bill, which has generated a lot of interest within and outside the country, has proved a hard row to hoe, compelling the state government to hold consultations with major stakeholders.
Both the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Council of Imams and Ulamas in Kaduna State, have expressed various reservations at certain sections of the law.
Last week the state government met with members of the CAN, where it made efforts to explain to them the details of the bill.
Before going into a closed door, the state deputy governor, Barnabas Yusuf Bala, expressed surprise at the magnitude of reactions that trailed the proposal, noting that it had been given all sorts of interpretations.
He said the state government was aware of certain preachers who had even passed what he called a fatwa (a ruling on a point of Islamic law) on the state governor on account of the details of the bill, saying it was time to educate the populace about what it entails.
Sources in the meeting revealed that the CAN officials, after listening to the deputy governor, stuck to their positions on certain aspects of the bill that did not go with the grain of their religious practice and would want them amended.
It was learnt that the deputy governor could not make any conclusive statement on the matter, since the governor was not around and that the two sides decided that dialogue on the issue should be continuous.
The state’s council of Ulamas has equally described the bill as replete with grey areas.
A source in the Kaduna Government House, who spoke with our correspondent in confidence, blamed the controversy on the manner it was handled by the government agency responsible for sensitizing the public on such issues.
He said when the bill was submitted to the House, the Kaduna State Bureau for Religious Affairs did not do proper ground work to educate the people to set the mood for receiving the law, adding that this gave the people the latitude to interpret the law ‘the way they liked.’
Our correspondent confirmed from a reliable source that Governor Nasir El-rufai has not been happy with the reactions to the bill.
But the Kaduna State Government insisted that the bill was only aimed at protecting the state from religious extremism and hate speech.
While hosting the CAN delegation, the deputy governor said the government had a duty to ensure that religious violence no longer threatened the state, stressing that the Kaduna State government was committed to ensuring that religion can be practised in a safe and secure climate.
“We swore to uphold the Constitution which recognizes the freedom of religion and thought as fundamental rights. The same Constitution obliges us to ensure the safe exercise of these rights by legislating in the interest of public safety, public order, public morality or public health, and for the purpose of protecting the rights and freedom of other persons.
“This is not a new law. It has existed since 1984, with amendments in 1987 and 1996. The military governments which created the law were responding to outbreaks of religious violence, such as Maitatsine in 1983 and the riots after the Kafanchan incident of 1987.
“This is the first time that the legislation is passing through a democratic process, with all the transparency that the public hearing and other legislative processes of the House of Assembly entails. Proposing this amendment is a deliberate decision by the government to subject the law to a democratic process, rather than just enforce the provisions of the edict as passed since 1984.
“Kaduna State has a history of religious/sectarian crisis and what this bill seeks to do is not anything new but to learn from the painful experience and discourage the use of religion for violence and division. The bill, by virtue of Section 45(1) of the 1999 Constitution, is in order and does not offend the provisions of the Constitution.
“There is nothing in the bill that suggests any effort to abolish, stop or derogate on the freedom of religion and religious beliefs. It merely seeks to ensure that religious preaching and activities in the state are conducted in ways that do not threaten public order, public safety, and to protect the rights and freedom of other persons.”
What the bill proposes
A copy of the proposed preaching law seen by Daily Trust on Sunday shows that the law, if passed, will regulate the activities of the followers of the two main religions in the state.
According to the document, the regulatory bodies shall be a committee of Jama’atul Nasril-Islam (JNI) with equal representation of Izala and Darika religious groups in the case of Muslims’, a committee set up by the Christian Association of Nigeria in the case of Christians, and an inter-faith ministerial committee to be appointed by the governor.
It further says that the inter-faith ministerial committee will interface between the JNI and CAN committees, in addition to exercising supervisory control over them.
The members will comprise a chairman, to be appointed by the state governor on the recommendation of the Secretary to the State Government; the Special Adviser to the Governor on Internal Security; the most senior official of the government advising the governor on interfaith matters; a member representing JNI and CAN; representative of the Ministry of Justice; and one representative each from the Nigeria Police, the Department of State Security and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps not below the rank of Superintendent of Police or its equivalent.
The committee will have the power to approve licences for issuance to religious preachers by the religious bodies, with such licences covering a period of one year.
The bill also proposes the establishment of committees in all the local governments in the state to screen applications for licences from preachers and make recommendations to the ministerial committee for approval.
On their parts, the local government committees will be responsible for ensuring compliance with the terms of the licences issued and registering accredited preachers of all religious groups and organizations operating in the local government areas.
It also places the responsibility of keeping records of churches and mosques in the state on the shoulders of the JNI and CAN.
Also, the proposed law provided guidelines for the use of cassettes, CDs, Flash drives or any other communication gadgets containing religious recordings from accredited preachers, stating that such materials may only be played inside one’s house, inside entrance porch (zaure), inside the church and any other designated place of worship.
“A person who commits an offence under the provisions of this law shall be liable on conviction to a term of imprisonment not exceeding two years or an option of N250,000 [fine] or both; and have his licence revoked,” the bill states.
It lists offences under the law to include preaching without a valid licence, playing religious cassette or using a loudspeaker for religious purposes after 8pm in public place, using a loudspeaker for religious purposes other than inside a Mosque or Church and the surrounding areas outside the stipulated prayer times and using a loudspeaker in vehicles plying the streets with religious recording.
Other punishable offences under the proposed law are: abusing religious books, inciting disturbance of the public peace, abusing or using any derogatory term in describing any religion and carrying weapons of any description whether concealed or not in places of worship or to any other place with a view to causing religious disturbance.
The bill also seeks to empower Sharia Courts and Customary Courts to try violators summarily and “shall, on conviction, give orders for the forfeiture or destruction of any vehicle, equipment, instrument, gadget or book or other materials carrying any offensive message.”
It’s totally unacceptable - CAN
Reactions to the proposed law have varied according to understanding, perceptions and interpretations of the intent of the bill.
The Secretary of the Kaduna State Chapter of CAN, Reverend Sunday Ibrahim, said the association had decided not to accept the bill.
“We are saying ‘no’ to the bill because there are a lot of issues in the bill that we are not comfortable with. It says a preacher is a person duly licenced by JNI or CAN. The truth is that CAN has no right to licence any preacher because every church and ministry has been registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission.
“The Book of Mark 16:15, says: ‘Go into the world and preach to every creature.’ That is a general call on everyone and as such, everyone is a preacher. We also have the specific call, which has to do with people that are called to be pastors, evangelists, prophets, teachers and the rest of them. These categories of people undergo training with a particular denomination, while they are licensed and ordained by those churches. So, it is not going to work for anyone to say he is going to license them,” Rev. Ibrahim declared.
The CAN secretary explained that the association is made up of five blocs, including the Christian Council of Nigeria (CCN), TEKAN-ECWA, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN), Organization of African Instituted Churches (OAIC),which is the body for white garment churches, then the PPFN made up of The Apostolic, Christ Apostolic churches, while the PFN is made up of other pentecostal churches.
CAN also quarrels with restricting religious activities to particular times. “As Christians, Jesus taught us how to pray always. We do all-night (night vigil), which cannot work based on what the bill is providing,” the secretary said.
He said CAN was also not comfortable with the composition of the committee. “The portion that says: ‘The Sharia Courts and Customary Courts shall have jurisdiction to try violators of this law summarily and shall on conviction give orders for the forfeiture or destruction of any vehicle, equipment, instrument, gadget or book or other material carrying any offensive message.’ The bill did not tell us who is to be prosecuted by which court.
“Furthermore, we discovered that there is no fairness when you say you are summarily prosecuting someone without giving him/her a fair hearing that he/she can appeal. We are also saying that as a church, it is on record that we have never caused any problem in terms of going out to preach. We are well organized; we know those that come in and those that go out. We often have programmes involving preachers from outside the state, but the bill is saying such preachers must get a ‘permit’ before they can come in to preach. Again, this is against the African Charter, as all the African leaders have agreed on that, that there is freedom of association. But this bill will infringe on the constitutional rights of the Christians.”
He said since the 1984 law had not been enforced, the issue of saying it was only amended did not arise.
It’s full of grey areas – Kaduna Ulamas
The chairman of the Council of Imams and Ulamas, Kaduna State Chapter, Sheikh Abubakar Usman Babantune, in his reaction said, it was not possible to establish such an important law that affects religion without consulting Ulamas.
“But the government told us then that the bill is not with them because it has been forwarded to the state House of Assembly. Therefore, the Council of which I’m the leader decided to send a letter to the state House of Assembly demanding to know the situation of the bill. Thanks be to Allah the council met with the lawmakers and they promised to look at it carefully and that there is no way the bill would be passed into law without hearing the position of the Council of Ulamas and what the people think about it.
“This is why presently we cannot say anything with regards to the bill because we have a lot to say about it. First of all, there are many grey areas in the bill which we feel need to be amended.
“Another thing is that after we got a copy of the bill, the council of Ulamas decided to translate the bill into Hausa language for proper understanding, because it was written in English. We distributed the bill to all the Imams and Ulamas that we knew would need it in the state. We told them to read through, after which we all met and set up a committee to study the bill and come up with a solution or advice on the way forward.”
He said the council was not happy with the section that said, an Interfaith ministerial committee shall inter-face between the JNI and CAN and exercise supervisory control over them and be responsible for issuance of licence to preachers.
“That the state governor will establish the state committee and appoint the leader; that the person to chair the committee would be the governor’s adviser on internal security; and that among the members of the committee are representatives of the Ministry of Justice, Nigerian police, DSS, Civil Defence Corps, a member each of JNI and CAN.
“When you look at all those representatives in the committee, only one is representing Muslims - and that is the same as Christians. They now said these are the people that will speak on behalf of preachers in the state. This is only one example out of so many grey areas that we found in the bill,” he said.
He also expressed reservations on the parts of the law banning preaching and the use of loudspeakers after 8pm in places of worship in the state. “This is wrong and there are similar sections in the bill. We will do our best to ensure that they are corrected,” he said.
It’s not a new law – JNI
However, the Kaduna State branch of the JNI, through its chairman, Malam Ja’faru Makarfi, holds a different view.
Speaking to Daily Trust on Sunday in Kaduna, Ja’faru said the proposed bill was not new to the body, adding that the JNI had been regulating public preaching by its Muslim scholars for over five decades.
“We at the JNI have been regulating public preaching since the era of the Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello. When Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi was the governor of Kaduna State, he wanted to propose a bill on preaching and we told him that we already had a bill restricting preaching.
“Unfortunately, the Christian Association of Nigerian (CAN) protested it when Joseph Hayab was the Secretary (you may wish to call him for further information). They even went ahead to make a publication in the New Nigerian Newspaper, saying they will not regulate preaching and the government should let them be,” he said.
The chairman said when the Kaduna State Pilgrims Board was established, the leadership also wanted to put a law in place for public preaching, but the JNI reminded them that there was a law which had been taken to the State House of Assembly but was not passed into law ‘because the Christians opposed it.’
“Now that the present government is trying to regulate public preaching, our position still stands the same; we are solidly behind the regulation of public preaching, because as Muslims, we are taught to follow rules and regulations, a Muslim preacher should not go out in the public and start abusing the citizenry all in the name of preaching,” he said.
It’s illegal to place JNI, CAN above others - Okoye
Human rights lawyer, Festus Okoye, in his reaction described the bill as a direct affront to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“My candid advice is that the bill should be withdrawn, properly aligned and cleaned up before it is represented to the state assembly for passage into law. This is because almost all the provisions of the bill are a direct affront to the constitutional order and this may affect the positives of the bill, including the mischievous positioning and use and misuse of loudspeakers in mosques and churches to the annoyance of others.
He said since the Constitution was the Supreme Law of the land, when it covered a field in relation to an issue, no state assembly was permitted to legislate on and or refine or contradict its provisions.
“They know that Section 38 of the Constitution guarantees that every person shall be entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including freedom to change his religion or belief and freedom (either alone or in a community with others, and in public or in private) to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance.
“This particular bill fails all constitutional tests and cannot for all practical purposes be said to be a bill which when passed into law will be justifiable in a democratic society in the interest of defence, public safety, public order, public morality or public health; or for the purpose of protecting the rights and freedom of other persons.”
He said it is also illegal and unconstitutional to elevate the JNI and the CAN to a preeminent position over and above every other religious group or Association.
“The Jama’atu Nasri Islam (JNI) and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) enjoy the same incidents of registration and incorporation as any other association registered under part B and C of the Companies and Allied Matters Act. They are associations just like any other association recognized by the Constitution and the bill cannot confer them with a special status over and above any other groups similarly registered.
“For the Christian association of Nigeria there is nothing that makes it mandatory that every Christian denomination must belong to the association. As at now, the Catholic Church has suspended its membership of CAN at the national level. What that means is that if it suspends its membership at the state and local government level, it will become a pariah and cannot be issued with license.”
www.dailytrust.com.ng

I support the law because ppl nw use religion to propergate violence and also for disturbance,imagine someone using speaker behind your house from dawn till twilight all in d name of preaching, wic religion does no put community peace as one of it priorities...# I support the bill

We told them of plans to islamiz nigeria,but the educated fools from western parts of the country said its not possible. God will punish them.

Islamization does not mean that Nigerians as a whole will be converted to islam. But Nigeria as a country will become an emirate, ruled by emirs, sutan, and other islamic heads. Christians wake-up!!

the bill must be pass after that apostle Sulaiman should do his worst
noise pollution somebody

futurerex:
Islamization does not mean that Nigerians as a whole will be converted to islam. But Nigeria as a country will become an emirate, ruled by emirs, sutan, and other islamic heads. Christians wake-up!!

don't get heartattack with this Islam hoooo

go check the population of convert Muslims in ebonyi u go crying

Hmmmm I just the observe o

futurerex:
Islamization does not mean that Nigerians as a whole will be converted to islam. But Nigeria as a country will become an emirate, ruled by emirs, sutan, and other islamic heads. Christians wake-up!!

hehehehehe....chai you funny die!!!!!

Skako:
don't get heartattack with this Islam hoooo
go check the population of convert Muslims in ebonyi u go crying

Today what Islam need is Quality not Quantity @Skako

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/south-london-church-fined-over-loud-3am-antidemon-services-a3206721.html

Its somethimg like this he is aiming for