Kwara is known as the state of harmony but recent disquiet between Christian and Muslim groups over issues of governance raises fears about a brewing crisis, reports Hammed Shittu of THISDAY

Kwara with the sobriquet, State of Harmony, has remained one of the peaceful states in the country. The state, with its capital in Ilorin, harbours various ethnic nationalities like Hausa, Fulani, Igbo, Yoruba among others. And irrespective of their religious inclinations, they have been living together peacefully since the state was created in 1967.

This peaceful co-existence that exists in the state has equally made many people from all walks of life that came to the state for one business or the other to maintain permanent residences, and through their business activities, also contribute to the economic development of the state.

But recent events might have threatened all that as the two main religions in the state, Christianity and Islam, engaged in war of words over issues of governance.

The Christians, under the aegis of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), kick-started a debate over governance in the state with particular reference to the representations in both elective and appointive offices, alleging that christians were being marginalised in the day to day running of the affairs of the state government.

The group at a press conference held in Ilorin recently said Christians would henceforth not participate in the Kwara State Committee for Religious Matters unless its grieviances were addressed by the appropriate authorities.
The association alleged that appointments at every level in the state were skewed in favour of Muslims.

    The State Chairman of CAN, Rev James Folaranmi, at the press conference, threatened that within the next seven days, "if the requests were not attended to, other actions may follow."

Reeling out statistics to support his allegation, the CAN chair alleged that "out of 146 key political appointments in the state, there are only 29 Christians. The same thing goes for the civil service commission. The chairman and his three other members are Muslims. Out of 21 permanent secretaries, there are only seven Christians.

"Even in the teaching service commission, that controls and regulates everything pertaining to education - appointment, transfer, promotion, etc- in schools owned by voluntary agencies including Christian missions, there is no Christian on board. The chairman, the secretary and the first, second and third permanent members are Muslims.

"And this scenario is not due to the dearth of qualified Christians for any of these positions. It goes without saying that in scenario like this, admission will be biased against Christians and that is what our children are currently going through."
CAN also directed its members intending to embark on this year's Christian pilgrimage to Jerusalem to turn down sponsorship offer from the state government.
The association also rejected the state government's request to conduct the ceremonial service for this year's independence celebrations.

Other demands by CAN include immediate stop to what it called the sinister agenda of marginalization of Christians either by design or connivance; a fair share of Christian chairmanship candidates in the October 26, 2013 local government election (the press conference was before the election); a fair representation in the state executive council and board appointments both at state and federal levels; a stop to sinister agenda of marginalization of Christians in the civil service and deliberate denial of employment to Christian job seekers.

Others are the use of merit in the appointment and posting of heads of government-owned schools; depoliticisation of the Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board where Muslims are deciding for the board and using pilgrimage slot for political patronage, allocation of a Christian cemetery, a request that has been pending before the state government since 2009.

Said he: "Appointment of a Christian as Special Adviser on Christian Affairs, Ethics and Moral Issues. The tradition of perpetual appointment of a Muslim as Special Assistant to the governor on Religious Affairs is no longer acceptable to us. That some interest groups whose contributions are not as major and or as sensitive as that of CAN are being considered to have special advisers and assistants to government shows that the Christian community is being taken for granted.

"While it is true that few Christians are in government, they are susceptible to being accused of being sentimental whenever they argue for Christian interest, whereas a Muslim special assistant has always been appointed."

But, a non-governmental organisation in the state called "Muslim Media Watch Group"(MMWG) in a response to CAN, faulted the allegation of marginalisation of Christians in the scheme of governance, urging them not to indulge in any acts capable of threatening the current peaceful co-existence in the state.
The Muslim Media Watch Group enjoined the leadership of CAN to demonstrate religious tolerance, maturity and objectivity in its approach to issues bordering on religious matters.

MMWG in a statement issued in Ilorin signed by its state Coordinator, Alhaji Ibrahim Abdullahi, described CAN's allegations as "baseless, ill-conceived and smacks of religious bigotry".

It pointed out that, "in a state predominant with high Muslim population of not less than 80 per cent, out of four key government functionaries, only one is a Muslim and Muslims need be praised for religious tolerance and brotherhood in tolerating such an imbalance.

The group reminded Christians that religion had never been the basis of considering people for appointment or political office in the state, rather competence, capability, loyalty and participation in active political activities have been the yardsticks of making appointments.

The group added,"It is also laughable to say that Muslims and Christians in Kwara or in Ilorin Emirate are 50-50 in terms of population.

"We hasten to correct the erroneous impression and state unequivocally that out of 16 local government areas in the state, only two have higher christian population than Muslims - these are Ekiti and Oke-Ero local governments. All the other 14 local governments are predominantly Muslim dominated local governments".

It added that, "since the creation of Kwara State in 1967, Kwara State official diary had always reflected the fact that Kwara has 87 per cent Muslim population, 7 per cent Christian and 6 per cent others."

The group therefore said,"There is no gain saying the fact that political appointments are not religious appointment and they must reflect the geopolitical spread of the state's composition which Kwara state government follows as a policy to the letter.

"If equity, fairness and equality is the basis of party patronage and consideration of appointment, no local government should be ignored because of its high Muslim populations; doing so would be tantamount to injustice", it added.

Reacting to the allegations raised by the state chapter of CAN, the State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, during his monthly Radio/Television programme in Ilorin recently tagged ‘Governor Explains,' said appointment into political offices in the state was purely on the basis of local government areas and not religion, "and will never be on religion".

Asked what his reaction was to allegations levelled by CAN, the governor adjusted his sitting position, and began reeling out his relationship with Christians in the state long before he was appointed commissioner and later governor.

"To start with, my better half is a devoted Christian. I have a number of relatives and friends who are very committed Christians. Kwara remains one united entity determined to explore our religious diversity to build a formidable, prosperous state. It was unfortunate such insinuation emanated from CAN whose members are highly patriotic. Don't forget that we are peopled by Nupe, Yoruba, Hausa, Fulani and Baruten and other ethnic nationalities and we have the responsibility of making everybody feel part and parcel of the state," he said.

"Appointment into civil service or any organ of government in the state is largely on the three Senatorial district basis; every council area is carried along. We should not allow ourselves to be reduced to the level of checking whether or not one is a Muslim or a Christian; all that is important is who qualifies and able to do the job and with particular reference to the Senatorial district and local government areas.

"In Kwara South, for instance, you find families where same siblings are of the two denominations. Where do we stand there? Since when did we begin to appoint people based on religion? I come from Share, a predominantly Muslim environment, but when we wanted to appoint a Permanent Secretary, the person who was deemed qualified is a Christian. We appointed him to the position and nobody complained. We need to grow up beyond religious or ethnic sentiments," the governor explained, pointing out that most political appointments were drawn from the list sent to the party by their people in the 16 local governments and often not a sole decision of government.

After series of meetings with the state government, the rising tension between both religious groups was doused. Although, it was not attributed to the disquiet between the two religions, Governor Abdulfatai has sacked his cabinet and relieved all his aides of their appointments. Keen observers of the politics of the state are of the view that new appointments may begin to reflect the religious diversity of the state while local governments, senatorial districts and party loyalty would still remain the primary determinants.