The Christians against Aregbesola
October 17, 2013 by Abimbola Adelakun (aa_adelakun@utexas.edu)
With
a-not-so-subtle-viewpoint, the Christian Association of Nigeria dredges
up the familiar issues of morality, religion, secularism and victimhood
in Osun State. CAN’s nuanced outburst on Monday, contained in its
lengthy press release, indicates a shadow war between it, a Christian
lobby group, and the governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, who is a
Muslim.
Considering how much religious
liberalism exists in South-West Nigeria, the case of CAN and Aregbesola
raises questions of why Osun State and why at this time?
Recently, the Lagos State Government was
reported to have sealed off the Lord’s Chosen Church over charges of
environmental abuse. Governor Babatunde Fashola’s action did not
denigrate into the belittling prattle of
Muslim-governor-versus-Christian-worshippers hyperbolic navel-gazing.
Compare this to CAN’s charges of Islamisation agenda, sponsoring and
glorification of idolatry and, re-classification of public schools in
Osun State by Aregbesola.
Fashola, of course, cannot be easily
tagged with Islamisation bias like Aregbesola; both men are evidently
different. In their self-presentation, Aregbesola’s appearance preempts
your perception of his religious beliefs; Fashola’s subtle. Second is
the admixture of geography and culture: Lagos is cosmopolitan; Osun is
provincial.
Third, Aregbesola tries too hard to
pander to every existing religious belief in Osun State. While doing
this, he knows he must leave room to reassure his Muslim constituency he
is still theirs. This kind of politics is confusing as it is
unimpressive, and that is why his religious demons remain un-exorcised.
Religion in Nigeria, by the way, is
about politics and politics is about contesting spaces. When sects push
for space for their religion to thrive, it is not necessarily about
social equality. The aim is their cut of socio-political relevance and
the capital they can build with it. Their negotiating tool is, of
course, the mammoth crowd that subscribes to these religions. The
politics of Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor as both the President’s spiritual
adviser and Public Address System is a demonstration of this crafty mix.
CAN’s contestation with Aregbesola is buoyed by his madcap educational policies; from indications, they desire to tan his hide.
My preliminary assessment of the
re-classification remedy masquerading as a revamp of the education
sector is that it is meretricious, and does not demonstrate genuine
commitment to resolving the problems of education.
Aregbesola’s inspired carving up of
schools and teachers is not exactly new. He should ask ex-Governor
Rashidi Ladoja who promoted similar wasteful restructuring of schools in
Oyo State when he stimulated policies that divided schools into as many
as five and all of them had to cohabit in the same compound!
Why do governors go for artificial
restructuring while they neglect the real issues of funding, curriculum
content development, continuous teacher retraining among others?
However, CAN and its sense of victimhood
confuses me. They complain Aregbesola has the dual mandate of
Islamising Osun State and glorifying idolatry. How is that possible when
the two are diametrically opposed? Is Islam not as intolerant of idols
as much as Christianity? Unless of course their argument is that
Aregbesola is using idolatry to deflect attention from his “Islamisation
agenda” and, he is promoting “idolatry” so as to claim an equal
opportunity secularism, I do not see the logic in their argument.
Speaking of idolatry, what does CAN mean by classifying traditional religions as idolatrous?
I am at a loss over how to characterise
the bigotry that reeks from CAN’s release. They claim they are “gravely
concerned” about Aregbesola’s love for idolatry and cultism, but why the
paternalism? Are members of CAN so detached from cultural realities
that they see the worship of Ogun or Yemoja as idolatrous
and cultic? Have they actually studied African Traditional Religion and
its philosophies objectively? Or, they are merely parroting what their
colonial forbearers handed down to them?
If CAN desires to see ‘idolatry’, they
should look within its varied sects: crass materialism and the pastor
figure are the idols on the altar people feverishly worship these days
in most ecclesiastical gatherings. They further ask, “Why Ifa in this century?” and I respond, “Why Christianity in the 21st century?”
They even refer to traditional religions
as “ancient idols” as if the existence of Abraham, Isaac and Jesus
Christ is not as old –and possibly predates — the Yoruba pantheon of
gods. CAN’s shocking lack of tact and pernicious attitude towards
others’ faith gives a hollow ring to its redemptive press release.
CAN’s position makes the need for
studying comparative religion right from primary school a must –not only
in Osun State but also in all states of the federation. It will
disabuse ignorant minds that the worship of Ogun is neither
idolatrous nor cultic. Its prejudice against traditional religions shows
its members lack any higher moral ground than the governor whom they
accuse of upsetting social order with his religious overzealousness.
If Aregbesola were a Christian, and he
was fiddling with Islamic institutions, would CAN have stood up to him?
Would it agitate for equality if it were not a beneficiary?
That said, for Aregbesola, I will
restate a position I have made on this page on the issue of Hijab in
public schools: It should not be allowed because it is not only
religious, it is political. Introducing politics to school uniforms
defeats the whole purpose the concept of uniform was introduced in the
first place. Uniforms are a social, class, and religious leveller and
should be rigidly enforced to maintain the discipline of
standardisation.
As to the question of mixing up children
in other schools with the ones in mission schools, well, I understand
CAN’s angst but then, any child should be able to attend any school as
long as it is publicly owned. Both Muslims and Christians pay taxes in
the state, so why discriminate?
Finally, I return to the third reason
for CAN’s restiveness: Aregbesola’s religious pandering upsets. If he is
not putting the Bible and Quran on Opon-Imo, he is advocating Isese Day
for traditional worshippers. At the same time, he is busy throwing his
religion in your face with billboards that announce his private
devotions. And if his religious affront has not annoyed you enough, he
seeks to introduce Ifa into the school curriculum. He does all
these without any coherence or stating where he stands in the whole
affair. This madness without methodology is confusing, like watching a
footballer who insists on playing all positions.
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