WASHINGTON (Islam Online) - Nigerian Muslims are pressing ahead with plans to implement Islamic Sharia (law) in the north of the country despite opposition from Christian groups over its introduction in Zamfara state.
Muslim leaders on Thursday agreed to hold a national seminar on Sharia to resolve the controversy surrounding the issue. The leaders, belonging to the umbrella organisation for Muslims in Nigeria, Jammat ul Nasrul Islam, have the strong backing of young Sharia enthusiasts, the driving force behind the movement.
Opposition to the imposition of Sharia in Nigeria's Zamfara state intensified as Christians protested against the law throughout the country on Wednesday.
Led by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the protesters also criticised Nigeria's membership in the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC). CAN Chairman Rev. Ayo Ladigbolu said in Ibadan that the imposition of Sharia in Zamfara was a move to secede from Nigeria and create a new republic. Ladigbolu criticized Nigeria's membership in the OIC, saying it was "unexplainable" as the country consists of various cultures and religions.
In the capital of the southern state of Imo, bishops, members of the clergy and common Christians walked in a procession around the city along with CAN leaders. The procession was led by a cross-bearing young man.
A CAN leader said that Christians were fleeing from Zamfara State, and the only way to solve the problem was to reinstate the secular constitution.
Zamfara state is in northern Nigeria has a majority Muslim population. Christians, who mainly inhabit the south of the country, are strongly opposed to the imposition of Sharia. They believe that it will destabilize Nigeria.
The minority Christian population in Zamfara is particularly unhappy with the introduction of Sharia, saying that it threatens their way of life. Many Christians claim that the move to introduce Sharia is illegal. According to them, under the constitution, Sharia courts can only rule on family matters and that there is no provision for implementing an Islamic public penal code.
Nigerian President Olusgun Obasanjo, who has generally kept quiet over the issue, has been quoted as calling the move "unconstitutional." Obasanjo is a devout Christian.
Sharia was introduced in Zamfara state on the 27th of October by Governor Alhaji Ahmed Yerima Sani who urged other Muslim majority states in the north to do the same. He stressed that "without Sharia law the Islamic faith has no value." More than half the states in the north sent representatives to the introduction celebrations in Zamfara capital Gusau, an indication of their tacit support for the move.
Opposition to Sharia has grown considerably in the past one month, with some disgruntled elements demanding the imposition of a state of emergency in Zamfara. A number of politicians have expressed their discomfort at the prospects of increased Arab and Muslim world influence in the northern region.
Governor Sani disclosed that his administration decided to send officials to Saudi Arabia and Sudan to obtain materials for use by Sharia courts in Zamfara. The study of Arabic has been made compulsory in the state and the Islamic Development Bank has reportedly given a loan of $500 million to Zamfara.
In an attempt to allay opposition's fears over Sharia, Deputy Governor Alhaji Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi assured non-Muslims in the state that they no harm will come to them, saying the Islamic laws would only be applied to Muslims.
The state is also trying to develop an understanding with the military over the issue. Speaking to a visiting delegation of the military to Zamfara, Shinkafi appealed to them to appreciate the position of the government and people of Zamfara on the issue. Many of Nigeria's military dictators have been either from the north or northern-backed.
The introduction of Sharia has started a debate over the rights of Nigeria's federated states. The country, divided along ethnic, tribal, cultural and religious lines, is sometimes called the Balkans of Africa.
The federal system governing Nigeria since 1947 seeks to balance power between the country's major ethnic groups: the mainly Muslim Hausa and Fulani in the north, the mainly Christian Yoruba in the south and west, and the mainly Christian Ibo in the east.
Roughly 53 percent of Nigerians live in the north. More than 46 percent live in the south, and the remaining population resides in Abuja, the new federal capital.
During British colonial rule, northern and southern Nigeria were treated as two separate administrative units.
The country of about 110 million people has a history of secessionist movements. States wanting a looser federation are taking this opportunity to demand more autonomy. Even in the southern Lagos state, with a Christian majority, the speaker of the assembly, Dr.Olorunnimbe Mamora, declared that "The introduction of Sharia law by Zamfara state government has validated the quest for a restructured federation that will guarantee the practice of true federalism."
"I would commend the governor (Ahmed Sani) for confronting an issue which people would run away from," he added.
He said the issue has highlighted the need for convening a Sovereign National Conference, adding that under a truly federal structure, each state should have its own constitution.
On Monday, the Lagos state assembly passed a motion demanding that a Sovereign National Conference be convened to discuss issue of states autonomy and the federation.
So it seems that as the Sharia movement is gaining momentum, a different Nigeria is being formed.
