Most Rev.Josiah Idowu-Fearon is the Anglican Bishop of Kaduna Diocese.? The clergy, with a PhD in Islamic studies and strong interest in Christian-Muslim relationship, is not happy with the level of insecurity in the country. The founder of the Kaduna-based Centre for the study of Islam and Christianity recently barred his mind on a number of burning national issues with Correspondent MIDAT JOSEPH.
How would you describe the year 2011?
First and foremost, we want to thank God that in spite of all the violence and crises in the country, we are still together as a nation. I honestly had high hopes in at the beginning of January 2011 but was disappointed along the line with the way things went in the country in the later part of the year.
I have been proved right, because, if PDP had not created this problem for us, this question of zoning or not zoning, we will not have had the kind of crisis we are facing today. It became worse with the post-election protest. The problem that followed the presidential election result became overwhelming.
However, I believe 2011 will go down as a year Nigerians would never forget, particularly those in my field, those of us who believe that religion-whether Christian or Islam, should be a unifying factor.
We feel disappointed in the way our politicians have hijacked and manipulated religion in order to win elections. That is why we have crises today in this country. So, 2011 was a very bad year politically.
Economically, we have more youths on the street today without jobs and yet we see so much wealth in Nigeria. So, there is this imbalance; it is sad. I am hoping that in 2012, this government will take time to put things right in order to save this country from avoidable problems.
I am hoping that Mr. President would have the courage to implement what we have suggested in that Sheik Lemu Report, because the killing and destruction of property should stop.
But the Federal Government has declared a state of emergency in those trouble spots
The state of emergency is not enough. There are people who have been fingered behind these crises that we are facing and the government should have the courage to prosecute them. The young boys they are parading on television are not the real people. Their mentors and patrons are the ones who should be unmasked and dealt with to serve as a deterrent to potential trouble-makers. We want to know the source of the millions they use in attacking other Nigerians.
Who is giving them the large sum of money and why?
For me, the best solution is to create jobs and also ensure that the people who had been identified are properly tried and punished. I am not a false prophet, but I want to say that until this government takes very serious action on those re
sponsible for the crises in the country, the problems will continue.
Unless government does that, people would continue to vent their anger and that is why we are having the reprisal killings. We spent so much money on security, which is not necessarily. The victims of the last post-election violence are still languishing in their respective refugee camps. Nothing has been done to improve their lot. It is not fair at all. Government should settle them.
If, you do that the people would be the one that would fight for this government against Boko Haram.
What is the way out of the many crises?
All those who have been affected, I am not even talking about those who lost their loved ones because you can never compensate adequately for life, but those who are still alive whose business have been ruin, whose homes were destroyed because they went to vote, I think the government should compensate them without further delay.
All these Fulani people whose cows were destroyed and the other non-Fulani whose property were destroyed,? should be given some form of assistance to go back to their business. The government should do everything humanly possible to give succor to the affected persons and all Nigerians as a matter of policy. Let the people know that the government cares. Those who are causing trouble should be publicly tried and jailed, as the law stipulates. The treatment of crimes with impunity is responsible for the hike in crime rate in Nigeria.
The Boko Haram menace
We know Boko Haram has always been in the north. Unfortunately, the Boko Haram I knew as a child while growing up, has now become a politically-motivated Boko Haram. Politicians have hijacked the group, arming and using them for political purposes.
Then, there is the religious Boko Haram, that one, I fight them, those who insist, we must have Shari’a in the remaining 12th Northern states. Look, I have said this several times, Sharia’a is not new in the north; Sharia’a is not new in Nigeria. The first constitution that was drafted for Nigeria made allowances for Shari’a, the civil aspect of Shari’a. So any Nigerian who is saying Sharia is foreign in Nigeria does not know history and he is a trouble maker, he wants to use religion to divide us. Even the Yoruba people as far back as 18 century asked for Shari’a.?
So to me, nobody should say Shari’a is new. However, what is new is the insistence on having the criminal aspect of Shari’a to be at par with the constitution of the country. That one, no northern person, even the Muslims themselves know that the implementation of Shari’a is not possible in Nigeria. The former Chief justice of Nigeria said it all. To implement full Shari’a there has to be welfare for everybody and we don’t have it here. Let nobody fool us in the north; we can’t take it.
The situation in the North cannot accept full implementation of Shari’a. We are all against these group of Boko Haram. They are only trying to heat up the polity and bring division between Christians and Muslims in the North. And we will fight it; we will not allow it by speaking out with one voice. We are out for this. No Muslims is in support of bombing and killings of people. This is not Islam, I know I’m a Christian, but I studied Islam.
What does Islam teach?
Islam does not support the bombings, maiming and killing of innocent people in the name of Jihad. This is not Jihad, but a manipulation of religion for selfish reasons. What is their motive? That is why we are saying that the government should get the patrons of the groups.
Should the President dialogue with Boko Haram sect?
Yes, people who are saying no dialogue with the group, do not love this country. If they loved Mr. President they would have encouraged him to get to know the sect members, sit down with them and dialogue with them to know what their grievances are and how to address them. Obasanjo had started the process and I believe it should continue for the sake of peace and security in this country.
Do you support the removal of fuel subsidy?
Nigerians do not have confidence in the government they elect, and so when government says we want to this or that, they simply do not trust the administration.
The government has also not done enough to explain most of its actions and policies to the people. They should show clearly how these things will impact on the people so that they can support such policies. Nigerians don’t even know how much the country earns monthly, how it is spent and on what and cannot therefore feel the impact of government. If they have not been feeling the impact of government before now, how much pain are they going to pass through when subsidy is removed? There is simply no trust; the credibility of this government is at stake.
Secondly, transparency is not part of governance in Nigeria. There is no transparency and money is just spent without accountability by those in position of leadership. Why should it be so in Nigeria when we are saying we are fighting corruption? Nobody is checking the governors who are spending whatever they like in the name of security vote and so on.?
Thirdly, we hear that even this subsidy is not true.? For me, the whole idea behind the removal of fuel subsidy is good, so many things would be done, but nobody trusts this government, because they believe nothing would change even with the hike in prices of petroleum products by the government. They suspect that the money from the subsidy will not be used to benefit the majority of Nigerians. So, it is now the responsibility of this government to assure us that these things would work.
What really is Nigeria’s problem?
Greed is the biggest problem facing the country. A typical Nigerian is not satisfied with what they have. They want to show that they have arrived by showing off what they eat and what they have. You see a small boy driving a big jeep and has no job, where did he get the money from? You see a civil servant building a mansion and he earns N50000 a month, how did he get the money? We talk about bunkering; who are the people behind bunkering? Nigerians are not satisfied with the little they have; everybody wants to be a big man. And until our attitude changes, we begin to live as faithful Muslims and good Christians we would never get out of the mess.
What is your prayer for 2012?
My earnest prayer is that the Christians and Muslims should not allow fear to control our lives. We must be bold as Muslims, we must bold as Christians to say look, and Nigeria belongs to Christian and Muslims.
We must not allow a few violent people to drive fear into us. We should be bold and courageous enough to challenge them and be able to work together to bring about peace and development in the country. It is wrong to say that the Northern Muslims are against this government.? I have not seen any traditional ruler or any Sheik coming to say we support Boko Haram. They have all been condemning it.