Islamic extremism becoming mainstream within the Nigerian government or bureaucracy—especially if institutionalized through judicial subversion of our Constitution to uphold criminal Sharia laws, including blasphemy provisions—is, for me, a red line.
Such a development would be a deal breaker. I would never accept being part of a Nigeria where any form of religious extremism replaces the authority of our Constitution.
I believe strongly in respecting all religions. That respect stems from the basic moral duty to respect fellow human beings, regardless of their beliefs. To insult someone’s religion is, in many ways, to insult the person themselves.
However, that respect has limits.
My obligation is to people, not to their religions. Respect for religion cannot translate into a legal obligation imposed by the state. No religious doctrine—whether Islamic, Christian, or any other—should become law in any part of Nigeria or be enforced through the machinery of government, whether at the federal or state level.
Nigeria is a diverse nation built on a constitutional foundation. Our Constitution is the covenant that binds us together, the contract every Nigerian accepts as the basis of our shared national life.
It is not the power of any individual, religious authority, political group, or government that sustains our union—it is the Constitution.
The day religious extremism supplants the Nigerian Constitution through the authority of the Supreme Court would, in my view, mark the moment when the foundation of the Nigerian Union itself is fundamentally broken.
Published by Chuks Nwachuku
