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Leo Igwe

Recently President Musa Yar ‘Adua said he would give serious consideration to adopting compulsory religious education in schools. He stated this when a delegation of the Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar 111 including the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Mohammed El Kanemi and representatives of the Emirs of Kano, Katsina, Zaria and the Secretary General of the Council Lateef Adegbite paid him a courtesy visit at the state house. The idea of making religious education compulsory was actually proposed by the Sultan who said it would facilitate “moral regeneration’ in the country and enhance the fight against corruption.
In this piece, I will state why I think this proposal is unhealthy and potentially dangerous for Nigeria . I will also outline briefly what I think is the way out in terms of tackling the moral decay in the society.

Personally, I see no reason why religious instruction should be made mandatory
Because if there is one form of instruction that pervades, permeates and dominates child upbringing, family life, and the entire school and social system in country – it is religious education. At home, schools, churches, mosques, offices and market places – even in taxis and buses – Nigerians are subjected to one form of religious drilling or the other. The first mode of instruction every Nigerian child receives is religious. As a matter of ‘tradition’, children from Islamic families are sent to Quranic schools where they forced to recite and memorize the Koran. Christian infants are enrolled in Sunday schools and catechism classes. Christian and Islam religious knowledge are taught in all state primary and secondary schools. And every child is expected to choose one or the other as an area of study. So, Nigerians are not really lacking in terms of religious instruction. Anyone who visits any of our public schools will marvel at the level of religiosity and proselytizing going on there. So, it is totally unnecessary and unreasonable for anyone to contemplate making religious education compulsory.

Also this proposal has adverse constitutional and human rights implications for Nigeria and Nigerians. The Nigerian constitution - in section 10 – erects a wall separating religion and government. It bars the state from interfering in religious matters. The constitution also recognizes the rights of all Nigerians to freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief including freedom to change one’s religion or belief and freedom to hold no religious belief at all. More importantly, the constitution guarantees the right of every Nigerian citizen not to receive any form of religious instruction that is not in line with the person’s or parent’s faiths or beliefs. So, mandatory religious lessons will be a breach of the constitution and an abuse of the human rights of children and students.

This is not to say that religion should not be taught in our schools. Religious faith is a vital aspect of human culture and society. And students ought to know about it. Students should be taught the history and teachings of different religions – the good and bad aspects-in an objective and balanced manner. Students should learn about religious myths, misconceptions and superstitions. They should not have religion preached to them or imposed on them, against their will and convictions.

Unfortunately, what is going on in our schools in the name of religious education is religious indoctrination and brain washing of infants and youths. And the recurrent incidents of religious crisis and violence including the recent killing of a schoolteacher by muslim students in Gombe state are traceable to this moral disease.

Besides, those proposing to make religious education compulsory have not taught about the feasibility. How will the project be executed? Because in Nigeria whenever we talk about religion, we always think in terms of Christianity and Islam as if these are the only religions or belief systems in the country. When in actual fact, there are millions of Nigerians who do not profess these faiths or who do not have any religion at all. So, will the compulsory religious education take care of the needs of students from all religious and belief backgrounds? I don’t think so.

Again, the idea that compulsory religious education will enhance the moral standards in the society is baseless and untrue. There is absolutely no connection between religious education and moral regeneration of any society. Tell me one society where religion instruction is compulsory and I will show you a society that is morally dysfunctional, disoriented, stagnated and backward. The ongoing crisis in Pakistan, Lebanon and Afghanistan are being fuelled, fomented and orchestrated by products of the compulsory religious-Madrasas schools. At best, the proposal to make religious lessons mandatory will serve as a ‘Trojan horse’, which could eventually destroy Nigeria. Religious extremists, jihadists, crusaders and theocrats would use this as a pretext to hijack public morality and infiltrate our educational system with outdated wisdoms, disabling dogmas and fanatical creeds. We must resist this move. We must strive to protect and preserve the public space, order, education and morality from religious contamination. Particularly we must draw a distinction between religious education and moral education. The two are not really the same. Religious education aims at inculcating religious beliefs and doctrines, including the so-called divinely sanctioned mode of conduct as revealed in the sacred texts. While moral education seeks to inculcate principles of right conduct and good life based on reason, common sense and experience. Religious education is parochial, sectarian, authoritarian, dogmatic, superstitious, mythical, exclusivist, tyrannical, discriminatory and backward. While moral education is universal, open, inclusive, rational, realistic, progressive and forward-looking.

Religious education will not improve the moral standards of the society. It will only enhance the people’s piety, inspiring them to engage in religious bloodletting, suicide bombing and martyrdom. Moral education will enable students to achieve a good, decent, peaceful, productive and meaningful living in spite of their differences and adversities.
So, what we need in our schools – to regenerate our students morally – is moral education not religious education. As a religiously and culturally pluralistic society with a history of religious conflicts and bloodshed, Nigerian schools need a moral education program that stresses the values of liberty, equality, fraternity, tolerance, cooperation, hard work, creativity, critical thinking, search for truth, respect for human rights and care for the environment.

Compulsory religious education will harm our school system and public morality. It will undermine academic freedom, intellectual growth, moral progress, national peace, unity, and development. Mandatory religious instruction will fuel hatred, intolerance and conflicts. It will transform our schools into breeding grounds of religious fanatics and terrorists. Simply put, compulsory religious education cannot be the solution to moral decay and corruption in our schools and society at large. Hence, I urge all people of conscience to oppose this dangerous proposal.

Views expressed herein represent the views of the author. They do not necessarily represent those of Nigerian Views.

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