Kano and Gantuve: Kill in the name of God

It is quite incredible that in this 21st century people are still talking about the repulsive and retrograde 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 human and infrastructural 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 Kano State in Nigeria, Abdullahi Gantuve, said that 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’a 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 cult leaders in the state are reported to be 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 stop all this religious intolerance and correctness to face more serious challenges of development and prosperity for our people. Why should we always spend so much time, emotion, and resources on things like this when we haven’t finished 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. He should at least At the end of it, the arrest warrant is presented to me, I will not waste time signing it. On the other hand, if you do not appeal within the prescribed period, I will not take a minute to sign the death sentence. “My God! Look at the zeal , the energy that Governor Gantuve is putting into ensuring his willingness to see Citizen Shariff get his head blown off. Is he putting the same level of passion and effort into developing his state? I doubt it. Maybe this damned man did 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 thriving international textile market, the millions of children out of school, the countless restless young people, 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 potentialities 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, address all of these infrastructure challenges, and not eagerly and anxiously wait to take the life of one of your citizens for trivial reasons. I’m sure you have a lot of work to do before your term ends. Please, you must stop this verdict from being 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, lead certain agencies, attain certain ranks or hold certain military positions 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 battling the Shia sect in Kaduna state. They 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 Shia 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 shepherds and the threats of kidnapping are already bleeding and paralyzing the country.

The federal government and the appellate courts must do what is necessary immediately to stop these primitive actions that will terribly tarnish our image in the world, especially now that we are trying to court investors. No investor or tourist in their right mind would want to go where people are still amputated or beheaded for religious reasons. We congratulate the human rights groups that have so far put pressure on the Kano government to drop this charge. We also call on our legislators to be aware of their responsibilities. It is high time that they make laws to stop all these barbaric actions. They must also immediately see capital punishment 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, today celebrates the 55th year since 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 life sentence. Then the United Nations, of which Nigeria is a prominent member, has also been pushing for this. It has adopted various motions to totally 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 complete 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 killed 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 expect prosperity and progress with all this in our hands? Please we beseech our kind Governor His Excellency Abdullahi Umar Gantuve 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