Nigerian Christians are treated as second class citizens – Oritsejafor Actually, in my opinion, Christians are being treated as second class citizens in virtually every way! Let me give you some examples because if I begin to tell you everything, you will not even have space to publish it. In the education sector, Almajiri schools are being built everywhere in many states of the North. I don’t know how many of such schools, but everybody knows that in 2012, the Federal Government spent N5 billion to construct Almajiri schools. The Almajiri schools are exclusively for Muslim children. There are millions of Christian children who cannot go to those schools. How are we giving those Christian children the same opportunity to be educated? So automatically they have been made second class citizens. Don’t forget that the schools which Christians used their money to build were taken over by government and the same government is using public funds to build special schools for Almajiri Muslims. That shows that Christians are just second class citizens. Government is running all those schools taken from Christians the way they want. Both Christians and Muslim go to those schools but the Almajiri schools are exclusively for Muslim children only. When you go to the judiciary, it is the same story. I read what a lawyer, Mr. Olisa Agbakoba, said in the newspapers recently. He noted that the constitution is being reviewed and there are provisions for Sharia for Nigerian Muslims, there is customary court, what is the provision for Christians? The general courts are shared by both Christians and Muslims. When Christians have very knotty issues that are purely Christian in nature, where will they go to? The regular courts may not have clear solution to such cases. So Agbakoba has come out to say he may sue the Federal Government and the National Assembly. This, to me, is a very interesting move. I just hope that our Muslim brothers will appreciate what I am trying to explain. In the Sharia courts which are funded with public funds, only Muslims are employed there. From the cleaner to the judge, no Christian can be employed in the Sharia court. In the regular courts, there are both Muslims and Christians as well. From the lowest level of the court, to the highest level, they are there. They are the ones that head the Supreme Court and most of the courts with the Sharia court exclusively for them. What is the judicial system for Christians? It is not there, so they are second class. Nigeria Television Authority Go to the government owned media houses and see what is happening there, especially the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA). I don’t know now because some of them retired at a point, but, before their retirement, the seven directors out of eight were Muslims. Turn that around and see what will happen. What do you call that? Second class citizens. A judge in Abuja came out to say Islamic banking is illegal, but he added a caveat by saying that his hands were tight, he could not do anything about it because it was not the right people that came to court. I am still wondering who the right people to come to court are! But the important thing he said was that Islamic banking is illegal. Islamic banking It is illegal but it is functioning at its peak, established and financed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), not Central Bank of Islam. The Governor of the CBN almost seems to be working for a section of the country and nobody can say anything about it. Yet it is something that is supposed to be illegal. What the CBN ought to have done was to have one unified system for non-interest banking, but, instead of doing that, what it did is to specifically come out with a set of guidelines for Islamic banking, saying they had another set of guidelines for others. And who are these others? They are the Christians. It is amazing when you see these things happening. Every area you look at, it is the same story. Admission into tertiary schools Go to higher institutions of higher, especially in the North, there are courses that Christians will never be offered admission to study, that is if you even get admission at all because you are a Christian and that automatically makes you a second class person. Ban on teaching of CRK and preaching on NTA In some northern states, the teaching of Christian Religious Knowledge (CRK) in public schools is prohibited. Why do you allow for the teaching of Islamic studies, but you cannot allow the teaching of CRK? I am puzzled. Let me even go further, if I go to NTA Sokoto today and say here is my money, I want to preach on NTA that is funded with tax payers’ money, they will throw my money away and say you cannot preach Christianity on NTA Sokoto. We know that in some of the northern states, there is an unwritten law that you cannot sell land or building to be used for church or a brothel. So the church and brothel are put on the same level! How do you describe that? In the last 20 years, there is no church in some of these northern states that has Certificate of Occupancy (C of O). This is one Nigeria, but it is like animal farm. Some animals are more equals than others. That is what we are seeing in this wonderful country called Nigeria. Abduction and forceful conversion of Christian girls They can abduct your daughter and forcefully marry her. They literally kidnapped people’s daughters who are Christians and give them out for marriage but they will never allow their daughters to marry Christians. Imagine a pastor going to abduct an Imam’s daughter; do you think we will still have one Nigeria? In some of the northern states, the government spends millions of naira to sponsor Muslims on pilgrimage to Mecca without extending same gesture to Christians who are even indigenes of those states. We are aware that in some of the far northern states, foreigners, who are Muslims from Niger and Chad republics, are more accommodated and are accepted into the scheme of things than Nigerians who are Christians from other states of the federation. Qualified Christian denied ABU VC Chair You recall how a Christian was rejected for appointment as the Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria some years back even when he emerged as the most qualified during the interview for the position. There are so many of these injustices against Christians, we can go on and on. That is why, in my own opinion, Boko Haram is just the latest manifestation of this same process of marginalisation and oppression that had taken place through the years. It has reached a point where it appears like we accept it. I believe that the time has come for us to say NO!, it cannot be that way. This is not because anybody has hatred for anybody. You cannot call standing up for what is right hatred. We all have equal rights as Nigerians; I have a right to ask for my right. That does not mean that I hate somebody. I am only demanding that I should be treated equally and fairly like others. So these are some of the few things that made me see Christians literally as second class citizens in their own country.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Jul 2013 20:57:26 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015