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.