Sermon Regulation Not A Solution

Governor Umar Bago of Niger State precocious announced a arguable proposal: clerics successful the authorities would present beryllium required to taxable their sermons to the Ministry of Religious Affairs for support earlier delivering them to their congregations.

According to the governor, the determination is meant to forestall the misuse of spiritual platforms for inciting unrest oregon attacking authorities policies. He cited the illustration of Saudi Arabia, wherever akin regulations are successful place, arsenic justification.

While concerns astir the imaginable maltreatment of the pulpit are valid and not to beryllium dismissed lightly, this projected regularisation raises important law and antiauthoritarian questions. Nigeria, dissimilar Saudi Arabia, is simply a pluralistic democracy—not a spiritual monarchy—and specified a argumentation risks infringing connected the cardinal rights that are protected nether the constitution.

To statesman with, the examination to Saudi Arabia is flawed and inapplicable. Saudi Arabia is an implicit monarchy wherever Islam is the authoritative authorities religion. Its constitution is based connected the Qur’an and the Hadith, and the authorities operates nether strict interpretations of Sharia law.

In contrast, Nigeria is simply a secular state. Section 10 of the 1999 Constitution prohibits the adoption of immoderate religion arsenic a authorities religion. Our governance operation is built upon the antiauthoritarian principles of escaped speech, state of religion, and the regularisation of law—not spiritual orthodoxy.

Moreover, Saudi Arabia’s governmental strategy does not licence the benignant of nationalist dissent oregon governmental disapproval that is allowed and indispensable successful a democracy. Citizens successful specified monarchies often run nether tightly controlled nationalist discourse, and dissent is often criminalised.

The tragic lawsuit of writer Jamal Khashoggi, who was assassinated for expressing captious views of the Saudi government, remains a chilling reminder of the consequences of curbing state of expression.
Nigeria’s constitution, by contrast, enshrines respective rights that safeguard citizens against specified overreach. Section 38 guarantees state of thought, conscience, and religion—including the close to signifier and manifest one’s content successful teaching and preaching. Section 39 protects the state of look and the press, ensuring that Nigerians tin clasp opinions and stock accusation without undue interference. Section 42 prohibits favoritism based connected religion, ethnicity, oregon governmental beliefs, guaranteeing adjacent extortion nether the law.

In principle, the governor’s concerns are not wholly misplaced. Nigeria has experienced instances wherever spiritual rhetoric has been weaponised, peculiarly successful the North, wherever extremist groups similar Boko Haram and ISWAP person utilized distorted interpretations of religion to warrant violence. It is, therefore, understandable that a authorities would privation to forestall immoderate akin misuse of spiritual platforms preemptively.

However, this indispensable beryllium done wrong the model of the instrumentality and antiauthoritarian norms. The immense bulk of clerics successful Nigeria bash not incite violence. Instead, galore enactment arsenic motivation compasses for their communities, and successful immoderate cases, arsenic the lone accordant voices holding authorities accountable. Sermons that question nationalist argumentation oregon item societal injustice are not threats—they bespeak a steadfast ideology wherever divers opinions tin flourish.

Indeed, spiritual leaders, similar citizens, tin criticise authorities policies. So agelong arsenic their commentary does not transverse into hatred code oregon incitement to violence, specified disapproval should beryllium seen arsenic portion of the checks and balances of antiauthoritarian governance. Curbing this close nether the pretext of maintaining nationalist bid is simply a slippery slope that could easy beryllium exploited to soundlessness dissent.

This projected sermon regularisation besides opens the doorway to arbitrary censorship. Who decides what is appropriate? What criteria volition beryllium used? Will it impact each religions arsenic oregon disproportionately interaction circumstantial groups? These questions are applicable and constitutional, highlighting the dangers of a argumentation that grants specified sweeping powers to a authorities bureau implicit spiritual expression.
Governor Bago has, to his credit, taken immoderate commendable steps since assuming office. His bold cultivation reforms, for instance, person revitalised Niger State’s system and positioned it arsenic a imaginable nutrient hub successful the country. These initiatives should beryllium astatine the forefront of his administration—programmes that straight amended the lives of citizens, not policies that hazard alienating them.

Attempting to power sermons is simply a ineligible misstep and a distraction from the pressing governance challenges that request urgent attention—education, healthcare, infrastructure, and security. If the politician is genuinely acrophobic astir harmful rhetoric, a much constructive attack would beryllium to prosecute spiritual leaders successful dialogue, beforehand ...