Issues bothering on the state and religion dominated deliberations yesterday, at the National Conference as delegates bicker over which enjoys special privileges between Islam and Christianity, leading an elder statesman, Chief E.K. Clark to call for caution. Yesterday was the third day of debate on the March 17 confab inaugural address by President Goodluck Jonathan. The tone had been set the previous day when Bishop Joseph Bagobiri, a delegate representing the Christian community on the platform of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) at the conference, alleged that the 1999 Constitution favoured Islam at the expense of Christianity. He said Jesus, and the Church did not get any mention in the constitution, whereas Sharia, the Islamic legal code, was mentioned 73 times; Islam, 28 times, and Muslim, 10 times. He added that this gave the impression that Nigeria is an Islamic State. Another Christian delegate, Bishop Emmanuel Bosun, spoke in the same vein. However, Justice Mohammed Argungun, a Muslim, countered them when he was given the floor to speak. He said: "I want to correct one misleading statement. Yesterday, two members of CAN, Bishop Joseph Bagobiri and Emmanuel Bosun made statements concerning the constitution of Nigeria. Up to the Supreme Court level and as a Justice, it was the same Christian laws that we used. To say that the constitution is Islamic is wrong. The Nigerian constitution is a Christian Constitution." Although there were murmurings for and against the submissions of Justice Argungun, another Christian delegate, Mr. Salae Dauda, charged the already heated atmosphere when he spoke. Dauda, from Bauchi State, said Christian minorities in some northern states are subjected to lots of discrimination on account of faith and canvassed a separate geo-political zone for them. Dauda pointedly said, "Sometimes Christians have to go underground in order to worship. In some states in the north, you cannot get a plot of land to build a church. Northern minorities have been so marginalized. We are advocating for the creation of a separate geo-political zone for the minorities in the North." A Muslim delegate from the South East, Professor Obini Ekpe, also lamented discrimination of Muslims in his geo- political zone. Ekpe asked Nigerians to cultivate the spirit of tolerance and respect for the rights of others. The professor of Physics in Ebonyi State University said: "I am an Igbo man. Anything that makes an Igbo man cry makes me cry. I am also a Muslim and anything that makes a Muslim cry makes me cry. We are grossly marginalised. We want to be recognised and given our due rights under the law." Clark had earlier cautioned delegates against heating up the polity and debates at the conference with sectarian matters. The Ijaw leader said: "Whether you are a Northerner or you are a Southerner, let us live together because we are all Nigerians. If we cannot live together, then there is no Nigeria; let us be patriotic and tolerate each other, we have no other country to go to." Clark regretted that "some of us have taken issues of religion too far", adding that "Nigerians had been in existence before some of these religions were brought by some people". He referred delegates to the recent killings of some students in Yobe State by members of the terrorist Boko Haram sect, noting that "those who killed them did not differentiate between Christians and Muslims, therefore, let us tolerate one another". He also charged his colleagues at the National Conference to eschew inciting comments that impede on individual and religious rights, calling them to put hands on deck to find lasting solutions to the country’s woes. The Chief Executive Officer of DAAR Communications, Raymond Aleogho Dokpesi, who is a delegate representing Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria (BON), said: "There is no gainsaying that all the constitutions we have had from 1960 to date and particularly those drafted during the military and post-military era have failed to work for Nigeria." He called on the generality of Nigerians to have a deep look at those things that divide us and come up with clear- cut proposals that will lead to the restructuring and review of the status quo.He made reference to the Republic of South Korea, which during Nigeria’s Second Republic came to the country to borrow money in order to upset salaries, saying that "today, it’s the 12th strongest economy in the world". On his part, former Governor of Ebonyi State, representing South East, Dr. Sam Egwu, said: "we have a structure that is not equitable, we have an unfair system, but I want to say that the root of this problem isthe Nigerian person; I believe that if we had operated this constitution with the mind of our forefathers we would not have been in the stage we are today." Egwu expressed disgust about current situation in the country whereby some political office holders who do not possess more than primary school education earned more than university professors. "Why should government make law through the National Assembly or Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Commission for a primary school holder who is a councillor in a local government area earn more than a graduate or a professor?" he queried. Former President of Trade Union Congress(TUC), Peter Esele, however, caused a stir when he accused people who have held government positions, including Egwu, of contributing to the current rot in the system. "I had to look back when I heard Governor Egwu speaking; the first thing I asked myself is if Egwu is an activist. He was a governor yesterday, he was a Minister of Education yesterday, the universities were shut down and he was shown on national television having a lavish party in this country. As a TUC President, I wrote a letter calling for his sack. We are very busy quoting America and life in Britain and their leaders, but we need to act like their leaders," he said.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Tempers Rise As Delegates Disagree Over Religion
Issues bothering on the state and religion dominated deliberations yesterday, at the National Conference as delegates bicker over which enjoys special privileges between Islam and Christianity, leading an elder statesman, Chief E.K. Clark to call for caution. Yesterday was the third day of debate on the March 17 confab inaugural address by President Goodluck Jonathan. The tone had been set the previous day when Bishop Joseph Bagobiri, a delegate representing the Christian community on the platform of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) at the conference, alleged that the 1999 Constitution favoured Islam at the expense of Christianity. He said Jesus, and the Church did not get any mention in the constitution, whereas Sharia, the Islamic legal code, was mentioned 73 times; Islam, 28 times, and Muslim, 10 times. He added that this gave the impression that Nigeria is an Islamic State. Another Christian delegate, Bishop Emmanuel Bosun, spoke in the same vein. However, Justice Mohammed Argungun, a Muslim, countered them when he was given the floor to speak. He said: "I want to correct one misleading statement. Yesterday, two members of CAN, Bishop Joseph Bagobiri and Emmanuel Bosun made statements concerning the constitution of Nigeria. Up to the Supreme Court level and as a Justice, it was the same Christian laws that we used. To say that the constitution is Islamic is wrong. The Nigerian constitution is a Christian Constitution." Although there were murmurings for and against the submissions of Justice Argungun, another Christian delegate, Mr. Salae Dauda, charged the already heated atmosphere when he spoke. Dauda, from Bauchi State, said Christian minorities in some northern states are subjected to lots of discrimination on account of faith and canvassed a separate geo-political zone for them. Dauda pointedly said, "Sometimes Christians have to go underground in order to worship. In some states in the north, you cannot get a plot of land to build a church. Northern minorities have been so marginalized. We are advocating for the creation of a separate geo-political zone for the minorities in the North." A Muslim delegate from the South East, Professor Obini Ekpe, also lamented discrimination of Muslims in his geo- political zone. Ekpe asked Nigerians to cultivate the spirit of tolerance and respect for the rights of others. The professor of Physics in Ebonyi State University said: "I am an Igbo man. Anything that makes an Igbo man cry makes me cry. I am also a Muslim and anything that makes a Muslim cry makes me cry. We are grossly marginalised. We want to be recognised and given our due rights under the law." Clark had earlier cautioned delegates against heating up the polity and debates at the conference with sectarian matters. The Ijaw leader said: "Whether you are a Northerner or you are a Southerner, let us live together because we are all Nigerians. If we cannot live together, then there is no Nigeria; let us be patriotic and tolerate each other, we have no other country to go to." Clark regretted that "some of us have taken issues of religion too far", adding that "Nigerians had been in existence before some of these religions were brought by some people". He referred delegates to the recent killings of some students in Yobe State by members of the terrorist Boko Haram sect, noting that "those who killed them did not differentiate between Christians and Muslims, therefore, let us tolerate one another". He also charged his colleagues at the National Conference to eschew inciting comments that impede on individual and religious rights, calling them to put hands on deck to find lasting solutions to the country’s woes. The Chief Executive Officer of DAAR Communications, Raymond Aleogho Dokpesi, who is a delegate representing Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria (BON), said: "There is no gainsaying that all the constitutions we have had from 1960 to date and particularly those drafted during the military and post-military era have failed to work for Nigeria." He called on the generality of Nigerians to have a deep look at those things that divide us and come up with clear- cut proposals that will lead to the restructuring and review of the status quo.He made reference to the Republic of South Korea, which during Nigeria’s Second Republic came to the country to borrow money in order to upset salaries, saying that "today, it’s the 12th strongest economy in the world". On his part, former Governor of Ebonyi State, representing South East, Dr. Sam Egwu, said: "we have a structure that is not equitable, we have an unfair system, but I want to say that the root of this problem isthe Nigerian person; I believe that if we had operated this constitution with the mind of our forefathers we would not have been in the stage we are today." Egwu expressed disgust about current situation in the country whereby some political office holders who do not possess more than primary school education earned more than university professors. "Why should government make law through the National Assembly or Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Commission for a primary school holder who is a councillor in a local government area earn more than a graduate or a professor?" he queried. Former President of Trade Union Congress(TUC), Peter Esele, however, caused a stir when he accused people who have held government positions, including Egwu, of contributing to the current rot in the system. "I had to look back when I heard Governor Egwu speaking; the first thing I asked myself is if Egwu is an activist. He was a governor yesterday, he was a Minister of Education yesterday, the universities were shut down and he was shown on national television having a lavish party in this country. As a TUC President, I wrote a letter calling for his sack. We are very busy quoting America and life in Britain and their leaders, but we need to act like their leaders," he said.
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