Ishaq Kunle Sanni
The Christians in Nigeria when they have an agenda to marginalise the Muslims on a higher pedestal they start screaming that the Muslims want to Islamise Nigeria.
Ironically what is empirically provable is that Nigerian since the colonial era had been terribly and unabashedly Christianised unapologetically and if any Muslim attempts to point out this marginalisation and Christianisation the propaganda machinery of christendom is put in high gear and the person branded a fanatic and an Islamic bigot.
It is just inordinate Islamophobia at work.
Let me give two examples
When General Gowon for economic reasons took Nigeria to OIC on observer status with the hope of becoming a permanent member Christians shouted foul that Gowon their man was being railroaded to an Islamisation agenda of Nigeria through the back door. The permanent status of Nigeria was scuttled when countries with bigger Christian population who saw the economic advantage of OIC like Gabon and Cameroon became permanent members those who love to hate anything with Islamic connotation were shouting indiscriminately all over the place.
When Nigeria ran into economic doldrum during Babangida’s military interregnum the government a drowning one toyed with the OIC permanent member ship. Christians demonstrated in many parts of Nigeria to corroborate their disdain for the economic cartel. They have no basis except the Islamc appellation.
At the end of the day it was a Christian President, Olusegun Obasanjo aka Aburu Maku, Ebora Owu ( Owu Demon) who was stampeded by another Christian Finance Minister Okonjo Eweala for Nigeria to benefit from the interest free Sukuk of the Islamic Development Bank. Ultimately Islamic Bank was introduced in Nigeria with Jaiz Bank being the pioneer.
Interestingly most of the customers of Jaiz Bank are Ibos who are interested more in the elevation of their business than any primordial religious sentiments. SUKUK Islamic loan had been used to construct roads across the country being traversed by both Muslims and Christians.
So what did the Christians lose by our membership of OIC and establishment of Islamic Banks? Conversely they have gained a lot and their unmasqueraded animosity for anything Islam would not make them acknowledge it.
Young men now are oblivious of periods in our Nation when Islamic festivals were not granted holidays in Nigeria
The colonial carry-over are legion
Our school calendar are tailored towards Christian festivals to allow our Christian overlords have plenty of time to celebrate their festivals.
We have Easter break not less than two weeks. We have Christmas break not less than three weeks. This allows the Christian children socialise and enjoy family affinity with their families a privilege unavailable to their Muslim counterparts.
Most Muslim children cannot travel home to celebrate with their parents because only two days magnanimously allocated by the Federal Government for the Muslim Festivals of Eid el Fitri and Eid el Adha.
HAVE MUSLIMS BECAUSE OF THIS SCREAM CHRISTIANISATION?
Every Sunday, since the colonial era all Government establishments used to close to allow Christians go with their families to church. In 1972 during Gowon era the Seventh Day Adventist who are in microscopic minority persuaded General Gowon to allow them a free Saturday so that they can have a whole day to go to church with their families
Muslims didn’t demonstrate against this or accuse Yakubu Gowon of christianising Nigeria.
We Muslims have been made second class citizens in a country in which we have numerical superiority . Yet some bloody, shameless and unGodly Christian leaders would go abroad to vomit gibberish that christianity through government officialdom is on the path of being completely annihilated in Nigeria.
All the nomenclature or our academic identification in Nigeria is burrowed from the church: CHANCELLOR, PRO-CHANCELLOR, RECTOR, AND PROVOSTS ARE ALL FROM CHRISTIAN LEXICON.
Woe betide a university that names his vice chancellor MUDIR. There would be outcry of Islamisation from our traditional traducers who loves to antagonise anything Islam.
When Lecturers spend seven years of uninterrupted lecturing they don’t go on Jum’at leave, they rather proceed on Sabbatical leave coined after Christian Sabbath day.
The academic gown forced on graduands in our tertiary institutions is styled after the chorister uniform of christendom and only some rebellious Muslims reject it on the day of graduation and wear traditional outfits and they look like outcasts. Ditto for the lawyer and judges official uniform . It took the sacrifice of a heroine Amasa Firdaous who refused to remove her Hijab at the law school and lost one year of graduation before our women are allowed to wear Hijab with their Christian oriented law uniform at our law schools.
What of the symbol of our hospitals? Is it not the Christian cross, the Red Cross that is the blood of Jesus allegedly shed at the Calvary?
Is Nigeria not already terribly Christianised?
It took decades of persuasion, demonstrations and at the end of the day court cases that went to a sweet victory at the supreme Court before our Muslim students are allowed to put on their Hijab.
Ask a Christian which is better for women to dress modestly in Hijab and cover the sensitive part of their bodies like the mother of Jesus Mary and the Catholic Reverend Sisters or accommodate girls who go about in almost absolute nudity and irresponsible and unGodly nakedness. One would have thought Muslims and Christians would synergise in Advocacy towards legalising against this unbridled immorality in our country. But No. Whatever is Islamic, no matter how great and fantastic, Nigerian Christians must shoot it down through the realm of well ochestrated unintelligible antagonism.
CHRISTIAN HYPOCRISY ON THE SO CALLED MUSLIM/MUSLIM TICKET
The Christians know that at best, Tinubu is a nonchalant Muslim who has no pedigree of antagonising Christianity. Most unfortunately some of his pro-Christian antecedents smacks of being stampeded to aid christianity at the inglorious expense of Islam.
He danced to the tune of Christians by returning schools taken away from them by a Christian Head of State, Obasanjo in 1975 after they were adequately compensated.
Can you point to a prominent Christian in Nigeria who would marry a Muslim woman and be magnanimous enough to allow her practice her religion? Tinubu not only allowed the wife to practice Christianity he was part of those who witnessed her investiture as an ordained Pastor of the Redeem. Today the same Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) is the most vociferous in making sure that Tinubu’s ambition to become the President of Nigeria is truncated, irrespective of his wive’s loyalty to christendom. What a pity and height of ingratitude to a husband whose religious neutrality is legendary.
Like many people have said: HOW CAN SOMEBODY WHO CANNOT ISLAMISE HIS WIFE ISLAMISE THE WHOLE OF NIGERIA?
When Tinubu was Governor of Lagos State, there were more Christians in his cabinet than Muslims. What was uppermost in his psyche was their professional competencies, yet, his Muslim compatriots did not look at him with disdain for footnoting them in the Affairs of Lagos State. They are only proud that a Muslim, no matter his nonchalance to religiosity is doing them proud in taking Lagos to an unprecedented height never achieved by his predecessors.
Tinubu left and they fought a battle against him that Muslims were dominating the Gubernatorial spectrum of Lagos State. They undemocratically imposed a Christian Ambode and later Sanwoolu the present Governor of the state.
Is this the man who would Islamise Nigeria?
The Christians are experts when it comes to exploring propaganda to achieve an aim or shout the Muslims to a position of surrender!
Most of the hysteria against Muslim/Muslim ticket is from Yorubaland. Yet in Ekiti and Ondo state with though minority Muslim population but substantial enough to be given recognition, it is always a Christian/Christian ticket and the Muslims have always maintained a peace driven taciturnity. Ordinary secretary to the government they are blinded by fatuous Christian bigotry not to dash the Muslim population.
In Benue and Plateau it is always a Christian/Christian ticket without qualms or feeling of guilt.
The new Governor in waiting in Osun Ademola Adeleke went to the achieves for his Muslim name, Nurudeen and even used it to coin his political slogan Imole which is NUR in Arabic . This was to bamboozle the Muslims who are in numerical superiority in Osun state in general and Ede his home town in particular.
But the next day after he won the election, his first port of call was the church where he did what he knows how to do best – dance to Christian songs. The honeymoon with Islam seems over. He has pooled a wool over the face of the undescerning Muslims!
On Monday when he was interviewed on Channels teevee, he said his name is Ademola Nurudeen Adeleke because his father was a Muslim and his mother a Christian. May be he is practising Chrislam, time would tell.
Certainly and I say without any fear of being contradicted that the Christians are suffering from collective amnesia. When Yakubu Gowon was in power the Naval Chief, a Christian Vice Admiral Joseph Akinwale Wey was the number two in that Government. Later, Chief Obafemi Awolowo was released from prison and made the vice chairman of the Federal Executive Council. He was also a Christian. No Muslim cried foul.
ISLAMISATION NOW
If Islamisation is Tinubu’s pairing with Shettima to lead Nigeria to the promised land let it be in in 2023. Heavens will not fall.
It is time we abandon Saturday and Sunday as our free days of the week
If adopting Friday and Saturday which actually was the Biblical day recommended for resting which Christians have abandoned for Sunday to be in absolute conformity with the worship of the Sun god through Emperor Ceasars imposition, let the Islamisation commence tomorrow.
If the President who looks tired and would have wished tomorrow is 29th of May 2023 does not have the courage to do it out of political timidity, let Muslim States in the North like Jigawa Kano, Bauchi and Borno to mention but a few go ahead and give us free Friday to go for Jum’ah on Friday with our families as Christians do on Saturdays and Sundays.
Let us scrap all Christianity vestiges in our national life which Christians take for granted.
Muslims should no longer be second class citizens in this country. Our school holidays should no longer.be Easter break or Christmas break or we chose Eid el Fitri break and Eidel Adha break as well. What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
Our sea ports that is always closed only on Christmas day should also be çlosed on Eid el Kabir days for equity.
Cross should be removed as symbol of health from our hospitals. Let it be replaced with crescent. Let us get neutral appellations for the heads of our tertiary institutions or change VC to Mudeer.
There should be nothing like Sabbatical leave. It could be changed to Research or working leave.
The so called Common Law is Christian Law and that is within its legislative confine. Polygamy is an anathema in our so called Common Like, that in all intent and purposes Christian. Lord Campbell, a British jurist attested to this truism when she said common law is mostly Christian biblical laws. So we should have Shari’ah Supreme Court where Allah’s divine law would be adjudicated at the highest level.
First of January is a Public Holiday. It has a Christian antecedent but the first of Muharram is not a nationally recognised holiday, though some states in the country, including Kano, Oyo, and Osun that have institutionalised 1st of Muharram as public holiday.
Let it be National even if some Christians as usual will cry to high heavens: ISLAMISATION. They are professional anti-Islam, barbarians and noise makers
Let the Islamisation be done with those at the corridors of power closing their ears to the cacophonic shouting of those who think Muslim should play the second fiddle in a country in which they have an overwhelming and incontrovertible majority.