<\/i> <\/abbr><\/div><\/span><\/h4>\n
There have been a lot of agitations recently on social media, especially from concerned Christians in Nigeria, about the potential discriminatory impact a bill currently being debated could have on freedom of worship for Christians in Kaduna. Also, the fears extend beyond Kaduna as the bill, if successful, could be replicated in other parts of northern Nigeria (owing to precedence).\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n
<\/p>\n
This bill may be intended for good and may mean no harm. However, all bills (the world over) are subject to strict scrutiny, that involves key stakeholders before they are rolled out for one singular reason – to avoid untoward or unintended consequences. This is because all bills, however, well intentioned, do carry a small but important risk of achieving the very opposite of what they are intended for. Another reason bills are made a subject of public and transparent deliberations is to instil public confidence and ensure the public is not going to be playing “catch-up” to government’s good intentions. In this way, members of the public will feel a sense of responsibility towards the new regulation, a factor that is important for effective enforcement of the bill once it becomes a law,\u00a0as all and sundry would have understood the intentions of the bill: this helps\u00a0to dispels fears, misconceptions and aspersions.<\/span><\/h4>\n
\u00a0 $\"church\"$ <\/a><\/span><\/h4>\n
Whilst it is okay for aggrieved groups to take to social media and raise their concerns about the El-Rufai bill and the dangers it may portend for our young democracy (if\u00a0due process is not adhered to), I am not able to comprehend some of the responses, like cursing from some religious fathers and the likes, that are characteristic of ethnoreligious bigotry and intellectual laziness,\u00a0that are\u00a0rife on social media these days. Such unguarded utterances and actions would only lead to one end: weeping up the wrong kinds of emotion with no positive effect in the long run. A more organised response that will stem the tide while it is yet building\u00a0is by far a better response. What I believe we should be doing now (as a matter of urgency) is for all who are concerned (Christians and Muslims alike) to\u00a0begin to ask some important questions of this controversial Kaduna State government bill\u00a0(such as those outlined below) and making sure, through legal means, that these questions are properly addressed before this bill becomes a law. Some of the questions that needs to be addressed in my opinion include the following:<\/span><\/h4>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
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A clear definition of the contents and provisions of this bill<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
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A clear definition of roles and responsibilities of all parties concerned and any who may be affected by this bill<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
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A clear definition of how the steering committee, as well as members of the so-called council that will supervise how licenses are granted\u00a0would be constituted<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
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A clear definition of\u00a0the composition\u00a0of this steering committee\u00a0(for example\u00a0how many would be Christians and how many will be Muslims)\u00a0should be made known to stakeholders for the purpose of fair and\u00a0equal representation<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
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Who would the steering committee report to in instances where a clear cut decision could not be reached and <\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
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A timeline that is considered long enough to allow for enough public consultations and feedbacks<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n
The list could go on, unending…..<\/span><\/h4>\n
<\/h4>\n
$\"Mallam$ <\/a>
Mallam Nasir El-Rufai (Executive Governor of Kaduna State, Nigeria)<\/p><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n
I believe there are religious bodies in Nigeria that should be saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that all the concerns being expressed currently are properly addressed in order to forestall any potential conflict along religious lines that could ensue from this bill in the future. This could be done by way of engaging qualified professionals who could provide expert advise on the matter at hand.<\/span><\/h4>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n
\n
Rather than waste valuable time and energy, barking up the wrong tree, whilst this bill is “swept through the back doors” and made a law without due process and due consultations,\u00a0I think well-meaning Nigerians (Christians and Muslims) should wake up and demand responsible representations at this very critical point where this bill is yet law. If we fail to do this then we may all find ourselves playing “catch up” to what is no longer a bill but a law in no distant time. One could only imagine the chaos that we will all have to put up with when the damage is done. I say this because given the level of outcry, it is apparent that this bill is either poorly understood\u00a0(more because stakeholders are not properly informed and involved in the process that created this bill) or it is ill intended and those taking to social media outlets could be right after all. There is certainly a problem somewhere that needs to be identified and fixed!<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n
In summary, this bill is both good and bad –\u00a0the way we go about it is what will decide whether we will enjoy the intended good or the unintended negative consequences of this bill. It is high time that leaders at all levels become responsible towards their followers and provide them proper leadership. “A stitch in time saves nine”. I do believe, very strongly, that Kaduna state government as well as leaders of the two big religious groups do owe Nigerians a comprehensive\u00a0explanation (backed with facts) about why they (Nigerians) should have to accept or reject this new bill.<\/span><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There have been a lot of agitations recently on social media, especially from concerned Christians in Nigeria, about the potential discriminatory impact a bill currently being debated could have on freedom of worship for Christians in Kaduna. Also, the fears extend beyond Kaduna as the bill, if successful, could be replicated in other parts of northern Nigeria (owing to precedence).\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":8447,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rollwinabc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8412"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rollwinabc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rollwinabc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rollwinabc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rollwinabc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8412"}],"version-history":[{"count":33,"href":"https:\/\/rollwinabc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8459,"href":"https:\/\/rollwinabc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8412\/revisions\/8459"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rollwinabc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rollwinabc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rollwinabc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rollwinabc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}