In reaction to a statement made at the weekend by the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) which clamoured explicitly for a Christian governor as his successor in 2015, the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN, asked some thought-provoking rhetoric questions. He was quoted as saying “What will the preference for governor of one faith over the other even benefit us? Will it give one religion roads that other faiths cannot use? Will it give them schools that children from other faiths cannot attend or will it bring water that only one faith can drink?”
The PFN had based its agitation on the fact that only Muslims have been the governors of the state since return to democracy in 1999 and called for redress as if there is anything specifically wrong with the status quo.
To start with, I don’t know and may be somebody would tell me the qualitative difference between a pious Christian and devout Muslim or the difference between a spirit-filled child of God and god-fearing servant of Allah. To me one is as good as the other and either would make a good leader.
In Yorubaland, a typical family is, on average, equally populated by people of the two major faiths, and in some instances, a sprinkle of traditional faith practitioners and we have all lived in harmony. With utmost respect, it appears to me that the position of PFN has the tendency of drawing back our civilisation in this part of the world. Yoruba people are sophisticated and culturally advanced, having sociologically evolved through the centuries to the point that certain frivolities have ceased to be part of their socio-cultural realities.
True we are very religious but we are not fanatical about it – a development which underscores the fact the greatest number of inter-faith marriages are among the Yoruba. Really, I fail to see the point in insisting that a person of particular faith should be preferred for election into public office for the purpose of balancing. Balancing what? What logic inheres in insisting on a person of particular faith? What if the person becomes an apostate after being elected on the platform of his faith? Are we going to impeach him immediately for this spiritual volte face or endure his “apostasy” for the next four years?
For avoidance of doubt, I am a Christian, but it is immaterial to me if the next ten successive governors of Lagos State are Muslims. What matters is how credible honest, morally upright and responsible the candidate is. I want a person of vision, sincerity, hard-work, integrity, not necessarily a Christian, as a governor.
Somebody may argue in opposition that our constitution itself recognises right to religion and guarantees freedom from discrimination on the basis of religion, among other grounds. Beautifully said!
But the truth is that what the 1999 Constitution guarantees is freedom from discrimination on the basis of religion and not affirmative action on religious ground. These are two different things. Freedom from discrimination operates to bar situations when a person is denied his entitlement or rightful position on the ground of his religious conviction.
Affirmative action on the other is a policy of deliberate reservation of some posts, offices or benefits to some group considered underprivileged or discriminated against. There is no basis for affirmative action on the ground of religion in our law. Both Senator Bola Tinubu and the incumbent governor Fashola are Muslims, so what? Lagosians voted for them because they believed in them. Incidentally, the wives of these two eminent men, Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu and Mrs. Abimbola Emmanuella Fashola respectively are Christians, should we then insist that the next two First Ladies must be Muslims in order to balance the equation? When will we stop trivializing the art of governance?
Ironically, the PFN in its communiqué signed by its chairman, Pastor Alex Bamgbola, stated among other thing that “the Christian community has ardently and unreservedly supported our immediate past and present governors because of our satisfactory convictions of their commitment to the delivery of the dividends of democracy.” Now the pertinent question is if the past office holders, though Muslims, have been adjudged to have performed well, as the communiqué stated, why the inexorable insistence on Christian governor?
The agitation for a Christian governor may also be faulted on other grounds.
Now, If we say we want a Christian governor, which Christian are we talking about? Is it a member of Deeper Christian Life Ministry, with his puritanical doctrine, a Pentecostal Christian, firmly rooted in the doctrine of trinity and belief in hellfire or Jehovah witness who believes neither in trinity nor in hell fire, or a Seventh Day Adventist who insists Sabbath must be observed on Saturday and never on Sunday? Or maybe the post should be rotated among these diverse sects whenever it is the Christians’ turn to produce the governor!
But wait, why should only the Muslim and the Christians monopolise the rotation, how about the traditional worshippers? Methink they too should have a shot at the coveted seat, whatever is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Perhaps they too would have to rotate it among different worshipers of the deities in the pantheon.
How about starting with Sango adherents, then Ogun devotees would have their own slot and give the baton to Sonponno faithful who would also have the worshippers of Orisa Oko queuing up behind them! Where will all these take us? What one is really saying is that we should not unnecessarily endanger the spirit of religious tolerance God has given us in this part of the world by making unnecessary invidious agitations capable of driving wedges into the extant fault lines rather than bridging the gap.
KAYODE KETEFE
