Politics
AS the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Hassan Kukah, recently expressed worry about what he described as declining diversity and meritocracy in Nigerian universities, particularly his startling revelation that federally owned and funded universities located in the deep North of Nigeria are prohibiting the erection of Christian Churches, the Rights group: HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA, HURIWA, has condemned this unconstitutional practice and has asked that federal allocations from the federation accounts going to such schools should be suspended pending their compliance with the constitutional principles and provisions that specify that Nigeria is not a religious, but a multi-religious sovereign entity.
HURIWA has also condemned as racism and intolerable crime, the act of destruction of a Christian Centre in Ilorin by persons allegedly sent by the Ilorin Emirate Council in Kwara state.
The Rights group said the police should arrest these Islamic extremists and charge them to court for the act of arson and destruction of a Christian worship centre.
Ilorin is in Nigeria and is subject to the laws of Nigeria and not a Shariah entity, but a place governed by constitutional norms.
HURIWA affirmed that the assertion on a national television programme by the respected statesman and Bishop that he found that public universities in the North are not open to the idea of having churches built on their campuses is an unmitigated scandal and brazen disregard to the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of worship, religion, association and movement of Christian members of the university, which must be discontinued or their due allocations from the federation account derivable mainly from revenues accruable from crude oil resources of Christian dominated states in Southern Nigeria and even tobacco and alcohol value added taxes paid by consumers of those products all over the country should be suspended until such a time that those universities in Sokoto, Kano, Katsina and many others in Northern Nigerian comply with the constitutional provisions of freedoms of religion and respect section 10 of the Constitution which said Nigeria has no state religion.
“Why should federal universities build Mosques for Muslims but deny Christians the fundamental constitutional rights to worship their God in an environment of serenity and quietness? This egregious breach of the Grand NORM must never be accepted and it is tragic that several weeks after Bishop Kukah made this finding known to the public even the media, the National Assembly and the President of Nigeria have all pretended like nothing of such was said even at a time that President Tinubu subsidised Muslims pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia with the humongous public fund of N90 billion.
“President Tinubu, who is the Visitor to these federal universities must take transparent steps to correct this anomaly and stop this unconstitutional act of these federal universities located in the North. Why should federal universities in the South, including the South East be seen allowing the building of Mosques whereas the universities in the North are flagrantly breaching the fundamental human rights of a significant sections of their university community?”
Bishop Kukah said this penultimate Thursday when he featured on Arise TV’s ‘The Morning Show’ whereby he expressed dismay over the closure of doors to churches in universities in Northern Nigeria.
The cleric said, “A mosque was constructed in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. I delivered a convocation lecture in Calabar three weeks ago. After my lecture, the Chief Imam of the university came to congratulate me.
“But as I speak to you, Usmanu Dan Fodio University, which is over 40 years old, Bayero University, and other universities in northern Nigeria have decided to close their doors to the possibility of churches being built in the universities across this country.
“All this fanaticism we are seeing is expressed in public life. If students in the university or at the point of their growing up are not allowed to integrate and interrelate, and if churches or mosques cannot be built across this country, then there is a problem.”
He highlighted the pattern of diminishing diversity and meritocracy in Nigerian universities, where ethnic and religious considerations are gaining prominence.
The Bishop stated, “There was a time when Ahmadu Bello University had lecturers from different parts of the world. Now, look at what has happened to our universities across Nigeria. Our universities have become just mere incubators of ethnic jingoism.
“So, I do not know which funded federal university that you will name that has a vice chancellor that is not a local boy.
“So the universities themselves have become playgrounds for the ambitions of the local elite. “The question is: Why should a place of worship be a problem for a university, whether it is for the Muslim students in Calabar or the Christian students in Sokoto?
“I approached the Minister of Education about this. I have a letter from the Nigerian Universities Commission. Universities in northern Nigeria have refused to implement this recommendation,” Bishop Kukah concluded.
HURIWA is therefore asking the National Assembly and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to take action to enable Christian students have their churches built by the schools which also built Mosques. This religious apartheid is absolutely despicable. Just like the unfortunate action of the Ilorin emirate council that banned Christians from setting up a worship centre in Ilorin, this action in Kwara state is absolutely intolerable and disturbing.
A.
-May 20, 2024 @ 12:59 GMT|
Tags: HURIWA Matthew Hassan KUKAH President Bola Ahmed Tinubu
