The indices that were a pointer to the inevitability of 1966 coup were not this debasing as it is now.
That a sitting president would gather Muslim clerics from around the country for an endorsement, having it in mind that it is a Muslim-Muslim ticket, in a religiously plural country, vis-a-vis a secular state enshrined in the Nigerian constitution. This is an aberration. This is despicable. This is desperation in a gargantuan industrial scale.
Nigeria is not a theocracy. Section 10 of the 1999 Constitution is clear: The Government of the Federation or of a State shall not adopt any religion as State Religion. Yet we now watch the highest office in the land openly court one faith for political survival.
In 1966, the indices were tribal and regional imbalance. Today, the index is faith. When a president trades the unity of 200 million people for the applause of a hall of clerics, he tells 100 million others: “You do not count.”
This is not strategy. This is surrender. Surrender of statesmanship for stomach politics. Surrender of nation-building for bloc-voting.
Religion should comfort the people, not conquer them. Clerics should counsel power, not coronate it. The moment the state begins to shop for divine endorsement as campaign material, democracy dies a little.
We survived 1966 because some people chose country over creed. We will survive 2027 only if we reject this new debasement.
Nigeria’s plurality is not a weakness. It is our strength. To weaponize it for votes is to set fire to the house we all live in.
God help Nigeria.
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bcradle@ymail.com