Following the selection and unveiling of Kashim Shettima as the running mate to the All Progressives Congress presidential standard bearer, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, stakeholders have continued to react to the decision of the political party to embrace a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
A professor of Constitutional Law, University of Jos, Nnamdi Aduba, told Saturday PUNCH, that the country faced security risks with the emergence of a same-faith ticket as president and vice-presidential candidates.
He argued that the level of discrimination among tribes and religions in some parts of the country didn’t require leaders of same faith or tribe at the helm of affairs of any leadership position in the country.
He said, “Nigeria is a multi-religious country and it is really not true when people say religion does not matter. It does matter because it is the way of life of the people.
“When you go round Nigeria, you will find out that the attitude to different religions differs. For instance, from observation, I was in Osogbo and Ekiti, I think in those South-West states, because of their level of education and certification, it doesn’t seem to bother them.
“If you go there, you will see in a mosque, a Christian poster will be pasted there, no problem. But when we come to the side of the North, it differs.
“I have lived in the North for the past 43 years and I can tell you that anybody who lives in the North and says that Christian-Christian ticket or Muslim-Muslim ticket doesn’t mean anything, he is dreaming and he is not honest.
“It means a lot with the bitterness between the two groups, the hatred and distrust are something else. I think for a party that is running for a national position to be toying with such is wrong.”
Aduba added, “Crisis happens anytime with just little spark between the different groups. For example, a crisis on religion can just happen in Anambra State, something that did not happen in Plateau State. Before you know it, the crisis will start in Plateau State, and they will just start killing for nothing.
“So for people to say same-faith ticket doesn’t matter, it is the capacity that should be considered. Are you saying the other religion does not have people with the capacity you need?
Lawyer blames Buhari
Meanwhile, a human right lawyer, Malachy Ugwumadu, has blamed the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), for the current political tension in the country.
Ugwummadu, said the lopsided appointments by the President into key agencies and parastatals of government, which had mainly been in favour of a particular religion and tribes, contributed to the current political tension in the country.
He said, “Buhari as the President did not help matters. This is because he kept going on in a way that is always suggesting that you need to be of a particular religious group before you can be part of governance.
“There is nothing that stops Alhaji Bola Tinubu from exercising the kind of discretion he has exercised. What has become a concern is the kind of politics we play in Third World countries.
“Primordial sentiment like religion, ethnicity is a very clannish consideration that has taken the upper hand. Almost three decades, we have crossed this bridge because of what happened on June 12, 1993.
“That was when Nigerians broke the jinx of religious barriers and focused on the real issues which were about the dividends of democracy, cooperation in nation building and development as the cornerstone of democratisation.
“Almost 30 years later, we are back in ways that suggest that we didn’t conquer anything. Those who said the circumstances have changed are not totally wrong, yet a nation must have a way to forge ahead.
“He (Tinubu) says by his political calculation, it must be (Kashim) Shettima and he happens to be a Muslim. Those who are hitting their heads on the wall are insisting that you cannot proceed without being sensitive to the religious condition of the country, I can’t help that debate.”
