A law to deepen peace in Kaduna

Kaduna State is in the cusps of an economic, social, ethical and political renaissance. Governor Nasir el Rufa’i is fervently committed to this mission and in less than one year in office, he is on the verge of meeting the set targets. But Kaduna State is also peculiar; religious sentiments are easily amplified and blown out of proportion, leading to very damning consequences.

This is hardly surprising given the state’s generous population of adherents of both Islam and Christianity. This diversity should be a blessing that could be harnessed for the good of all but over the years, zealots, religious contractors, extremists, crisis profiteers and unscrupulous political and community leaders have for pecuniary or political reasons perfected the nefarious act of using religion to unnecessarily destabilize Kaduna State.

As a child of the 1970s, I recall ever so vividly growing up in both Zaria City and Kaduna metro with the trauma of the several destructive religious upheavals in our dear State. Between 1980 and 2011 alone, over 25 avoidable religious or ethnic-inspired crises led to the loss of thousands of lives and destruction of property worth billions of Naira. Some of those crises include the Kafanchan riots of 1987, the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria riots of 1992, the Kaduna North/Kaduna South and Kafanchan crisis of 1999, the so-called Sharia riots of 2000, another Zaria crisis of 2001, the aborted Miss Nigeria riot of 2002 and the post-election riots of 2011, to name but a few. Sadly, the welcoming Kaduna State instead gained notoriety as a hotbed of religious and ethnic crises.

Successive administrations in Kaduna State used legislation to try to rein in religious extremism. The most far reaching of the legislations was the Regulation of Religious Preaching Edict No. 7 of 1984. It was promulgated by the then Military Governor of Kaduna State, Air-Commodore Usman Mu’azu on 17th July, 1984 following the Maitatsine riots in some parts of Northern Nigeria. The Edict provided for the mandatory licensing of preachers. It also restricted the playing of religious cassettes to homes, banned the use of abusive language against any person, religious organisation or religious leader. It expressly banned the use of loudspeakers for religious purposes other than in a Church or Mosque, the abuse of religious books and the use of such expressions as “infidels,” “non-Islamic” or “pagans” in describing other religious groups. The penalty for violating the 1984 Edict was two years’ imprisonment with an option of fine.

On the 9th of March, 1987 the then Military Governor of Kaduna State, Lt. Col. Abubakar Umar, amended the Edict, expunged the option of fine and extended the term of imprisonment upon conviction to five years. On the 25th of November 1996, Lt. Col. Hamid Ibrahim Ali, the Military Administrator of the State further amended the 1984 Edict by limiting the validity of a preaching license in Section 7 (c) of the Edict to a period not exceeding six months subject to revocation at any time. The Religious Preaching Regulation Bill that is currently before the Kaduna State House of Assembly is a slightly amended version of the same law that has been in existence since 1984. So, why are certain persons going about creating the wrong impression that Governor Nasir el Rufa’i is introducing a new Religious Preaching Regulation law in Kaduna State?

In spite of dogged efforts by mischievous politicians to tar Governor El Rufa’i with the brush of religious extremism, this lie is refusing to stick especially since Islamic clerics have opposed the bill much more than Christian leaders. Religious zealotry is not one of Nasir El Rufai’s weaknesses. As a close aide to the Governor, I can attest to the fact that in seeking to discourage the use of religion for violence and division, Mallam El Rufa’i is merely advancing the administration’s agenda of making Kaduna State a model State in northern Nigeria to showcase peaceful and gainful coexistence. Mallam Nasir el Rufa’i, whom I have worked closely with for more than two decades, will never ever be part of any scheme, plot, programme or legislation targeted at abolishing, abridging or derogating the freedom of religion and religious beliefs as enshrined in our constitution.

Clerics’ initial apprehension about the law was informed by the fact that enough information was not made available to them on time. Political opponents of the Governor were quick to go to town with the falsehood that a new law that would emasculate religion was in the offing. Salient features of the proposed law include the establishment of an inter-faith ministerial committee to regulate the practice of the two main religions, Christianity and Islam.

The law provides for the establishment of a committee of the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) with equal representation of Izala and Darika religious groups for Muslims, and another committee by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). The inter-faith ministerial committee is expected to exercise supervisory control over JNI and CAN with a view to stemming provocative or public hate preaching. under the law, a preacher may be jailed for a period not exceeding two years if he preaches without a valid license or engages in inciting religious teachings and uses derogatory terms in describing any religion. The law also stipulates that a preacher visiting Kaduna from outside the state is expected to obtain a permit to cover the period of his stay. For preachers who are resident in Kaduna State, the license to preach has a life span of one year which may be renewed.

The matter of hateful or provocative preaching was robustly addressed during the JNI’s 2015 annual pre-Ramadan conference in June 2015 in Kaduna when it noted that in spite of repeated calls by the Muslim leadership, some scholars still employed divisive comments during their Tafsir preaching in the month of Ramadan. JNI’s solution to such infringements clearly tallies with the provisions of sections of the new Religious Preaching Regulation Bill that Governor El-Rufa’i is proposing. This position tallies with Governor Nasir El Rufai’s resolve that Kaduna State will no longer be the hotbed of needless religious acrimony or riots.

Sani is special adviser on political affairs to Nasir El Rufa’i, governor of Kaduna state