The Sultan And The 22 Religious Bodies: Distortion Of
Law And Facts
By
Ibrahim Muhammad
Abdulrahman
trustconsult2@gmail.com
Like always, no day passes in Nigeria without Nigerians having an
issue to discuss, be it on ethnicity, religion, and politics or on
all. Only that despite the many issues on our tables to discuss
today, ranging from recession, Ondo and Edo primaries and the
pending gubernatorial elections, arrest of the 2 BokoHaram members
captured by the Nigerian army in Yobe state, the economic saboteurs
arrested by the DSS in the southern part of the country and many
more headline worthy news, a coalition of 22 Christian groups deemed
it wise to take the spot light and divert all attentions from our
political happenings to religious frivolities. These groups, as
opined by a facebook friend, cannot unite for a good reason such as
using the tithes given them in the interest of the less privileged
and the poor in their various churches, but here they are,
voluntarily and mischievously without an atom of shame, distorting a
fact that is glaringly clear for all to understand with the
intention of fanning the already existing embers of discord.
According to Thisday newspaper of 7th September, 2016 “in a
statement issued by the chairman of NCEF Mr. Solomon Asemota (SAN),
on behalf of the coalition, he stated that it was “very improper for
the head of the Islamic faith in Nigeria to announce, declare or
extend public holidays”. This statement is in reaction to the
Sultan’s announcement which was reported on 3rd September, 2016 by
Dailytrust newspaper which reads thus: “The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji
Sa'ad Abubakar III, has announced Monday, Sept. 12 as the
Eid-El-Kabir Day, 1437 AH. Dailytrust further reported that ' The
Sultan and President, Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA),
……declared Saturday, Sept. 3, as the first day of Zulhijja, 1437
AH.…Therefore, Monday, Sept.12, which will be equivalent to 10th
Zulhijja, and will be marked as this year's Eid el-Kabir, it added.
What actually the Sultan as the president, Supreme council for
Islamic Affairs announced was the Eid-el-Kabir day, an act that the
coalition of the 22 Christian bodies and its chairman Mr. Solomon
Asemota (SAN), did not cite where the law abhors let alone assume
the position of an opposition by dragging the name of a religion
into the dirty game of politics. Like the announcement above, what
the Sultan declared was the first day of zulhijja and not public
holiday as the ‘religious’ groups want us to believe.
To make the position of the law clear, section 1 of the Public
Holidays Act, 1979 has conspicuously provided thus: “The days
mentioned in the Schedule to this Act shall be kept as public
holidays throughout Nigeria” below is the schedule referred to in
section 1 above.
Schedule
1. New Year's Day
2. Good Friday
3. Easter Monday
4. Workers' Day (1st May).
5. National Day (1st October).
6. Christmas Day
7. Such day as the Minister may declare to be a public holiday in
celebration of the Muslim festival of Id el Fitr.
8. Such day as the Minister may declare to be a public holiday in
celebration of the Muslim festival of Id el Kabir.
9. Such day as the Minister may declare to be a public holiday in
celebration of the birthday of the Prophet Muhammed (Id el Maulud).
(2) Subject to section 1 of this Act and subsection (1) of this
section, the Governor of a State may by public notice appoint a
special day to be kept as a public holiday in the State concerned or
in any part thereof, and any day so appointed shall be kept as a
public holiday.
(3) In this section 'public holiday' includes part of a day and any
day declared as a work-free day.
3. The Minister for Internal Affairs (hereinafter referred to as
"the Minister") may by public notice, when it appears to him in any
special case that in any year it is inexpedient that a day appointed
by section 1 of this Act to be kept as a public holiday should be
kept as a public holiday, declare that such day shall not be kept as
a public holiday and may appoint such other day as he may think fit
to be kept as a public holiday instead of such day, and thereupon
the day appointed shall be submitted for the day in such year
appointed by this Act.
In view of the above provisions of the law, the announcement and the
declaration made by the sultan are in no way in collision with the
Public Holidays Act. This is for the simple fact that the Sultan did
not assume the powers conferred on the president, the minister of
internal affairs or any other appropriate authority vested with same
for that matter.
As for the desperate move to mislead Nigerians by spreading false
and distorted facts, the groups said: “This kind of anomalous
development has not been taken place in Nigeria until the advent of
the Buhari’s administration which has gone to great length to deepen
religious divide and tension in Nigeria” I rather a traditionalist
dare other religious leaders in this country by making such a
statement, but not a group of religious leaders under whose watch
the immediate past president turned Nigeria into Christian state
where he issued serious government policies from the church on
Sundays. Where were these 22 groups when the previous government’s
almost won election by fanning embers of chaos via promoting
discords based on ethnic and religious lines?
The Sultan did not declare any day a holiday, he did not announce
any public holiday and the 22 groups are either responding to the
sultan out of ignorance or mischief.
The only anomalous development in Nigeria since the advent of the
Buhari’s administration which has gone to great length to deepen
religious divide and tension in Nigeria is shameless opposition-like
behavior of some self-centered religious and ethnic leaders.
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