Kano and Ganduje: Kill in the name of God
It is quite unbelievable that in this 21st century people are still talking about the repulsive and backward act of killing other human beings for religious reasons. Yes, it is very unfortunate that when the rest of the world is moving forward with massive infrastructure and human development, innovative and progressive laws including removing capital punishment from their laws, in Nigeria people are still thinking of beheading a citizen. just for singing against. his religion. Isn’t this disgusting and shameful? It was recently reported that the Governor of Nigeria’s Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, said he would waste no time in signing the death warrant against Citizen Shariff Yahaya Aminu Shariff, a musician who was recently sentenced to death by a Shari court. ‘ah in Kano for alleged blasphemy against the Prophet. Shariff, 22, was arrested, tried and convicted for a song he distributed via WhatsApp in March. And surprisingly, the Kano branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, the Sharia Council and some other sect leaders in the state are reportedly supporting this. Well, thanks for running two different legal systems in one country: one conventional and one religious.
To the extent that we do not support people who deliberately belittle other people’s faith, we also want to say that it is high time that we put all this bigotry and religious correctness aside to face more serious challenges of development and prosperity for our people. Why must we always spend so much time, emotion and resources on things like this when we are not done with the very important things that would improve our society? Just listen to our governor: “The trial has taken place and the law of the land allows the convicted person to appeal within 30 days to the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, as the case may be. You should at least At the end of it, the arrest warrant is presented to me, I won’t waste time signing it. On the other hand, if you don’t appeal within the allotted time, I won’t take a minute to sign the death warrant.” My God! Look at the zeal , the energy that Governor Ganduje is putting into ensuring his willingness to see Citizen Shariff blown off his head. Is he putting the same level of passion and effort into the development of his state? I doubt it. Maybe this convict did it too campaign and voted for him to be governor, hoping for better leadership.
Look at the decaying infrastructure in Kano, the level of extreme poverty, the decline of the famous once flourishing international textile market, the millions of children out of school, the countless young people always restless, the very high crime rate, the lack of cleanliness clean water and waste management, etc. What have you done about it since he took power? Kano, with all the resources and potentials for prosperity, remains one of the most troubled states in Nigeria due to the level of poverty, illiteracy and mismanagement. Now, are you still wondering why it easily ignites with every little scratch? You should do well to get down to business, addressing all of these infrastructure challenges and not eagerly and eagerly waiting to take the life of one of your citizens for trivial reasons. You sure have a lot of work to do before your term ends. Please, you must see that this verdict is not carried out. Nigerians are really tired of wasting human and material resources in the name of religion. Religious fanaticism and extremism are part of what has kept the country in check since independence. You are not expected to run for certain political offices, obtain certain appointments, head certain agencies, reach certain ranks or hold certain military posts or obtain certain government sponsorships if you do not belong to the preferred religion of the powers that be. Unfortunately, the religion that should be a blessing and a tool for positive development has become a curse for Nigeria. As I write, the police are fighting with the Shiite sect in Kaduna state. They once again demand the release of their leader, who has been detained by the authorities for some years. Many lives have already been lost. And this Shiite problem is another bomb waiting to explode in the country. I am afraid that Nigeria will not be able to survive a further insurgency at that level. The insurgency/war in the Northeast, the pastors and the threats of kidnapping are already bleeding and paralyzing the country.
The federal government and appellate courts must do what is necessary immediately to stop these primitive actions that will terribly tarnish our image with the world, especially now that we are trying to court investors. No sane investor or tourist would want to go where people are still amputated or beheaded for religious reasons. We congratulate the human rights groups that have so far lobbied the Kano government to drop this charge. We also call on our legislators to become aware of their responsibilities. It is high time that they make laws to stop all these barbaric actions. They must also immediately see that capital punishment is removed from our laws. Nigeria is one of the few countries that still practices this. Most countries have since discarded it. Look at the UK, our former colonial masters and where we borrow most of our laws from, today celebrating the 55th year of the abolition of the death penalty. The Death Penalty Abolition Act was enacted in 1965 by the UK Parliament. Replaced the death penalty with a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment. Then the United Nations, of which Nigeria is a leading member, has also been pushing for this. It has adopted various motions to fully abolish capital punishment throughout the world.
Religion is simply believing and worshiping something that you believe exists somewhere. Most of the things we are taught in religion are history that we are all waiting to verify after this life. So why should we fight and kill each other for them? Why should we kill and fight for God? Really worth it? There must be total religious freedom. One should be free to practice his faith in the way he feels and believes without hindrance, except when it constitutes a nuisance to society or affects the rights and freedom of other people. It is very wrong to force people to believe what you believe or to punish them because they don’t practice or worship your way. Nigerians still remember and mourn people like Gidoen Akaluka and many others who have been horribly murdered or deprived of their livelihood in all this senseless religious intolerance. His blood still speaks against our land and the perpetrators. Children and families continue to demand justice. Now, how do we hope for prosperity and progress with all this in our hands? Please, we beg our kind Governor His Excellency Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and the good people of Kano not to waste another life in the name of religious or political correctness.
Gabriel is the author of the books: Never again! Move Forward, Power of Midnight Prayer and others https://www.amazon.com/Power-Midnight-Prayer-Gabriel-Agbo/dp/1475273738/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1593877396&sr=8-2