Osun State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Sunday Akere, in this interview with TUNDE ODESOLA, clears the air on the allegation that Governor Rauf Aregbesola has an Islamisation agenda
There are fears that Governor Rauf Aregbesola is planning to Islamise Osun. What is your take on this?
No statement is farther from the truth than this. Religion is a very personal, sentimental and volatile issue. So, we must be mindful of the way we use it. The State of Osun is one of the most peaceful states in the nation and we want it to remain so. Osun, like other states of the South-West, is highly heterogeneous in terms of people of diverse religious beliefs. We have people who worship all forms of gods like Ogun, Sango, Obatala, Iyemoja, Esu, etc. We also have the major dominant religions, Christianity and Islam. In all these diverse forms of worship, the Yoruba have co-existed for years without any religious upheavals. The region has never witnessed any religious crisis owing to the accommodative, tolerant and reasonable nature of the Yoruba. The State of Osun, as the ancestral source of all Yoruba is, for obvious reasons, very rich in culture and tradition.
It, therefore, takes an administration knowledgeable in the appreciation of religion, culture and tradition to correlate the divergence in various religions, cultures and traditions existing within the Osun geopolitical space. I need to state all these in order for everyone to appreciate our understanding of the issues at hand.
The state government is not at war with anybody or group over religious matters. Nigeria is a secular state and the state government, has from its inception, abided by the secularity the constitution confers on the nation. Religion, though a very personal enterprise, is a vehicle for social integration, unity and peace. Its improper handling could lead to strife. It is absolutely wrong to accuse Governor Aregbesola of Islamising Osun when his administration is the first in the history of Osun to give the people an elaborate celebration at Christmas and New Year with complete fireworks which was of international standards. No government in the history of Osun has ever decorated the streets and medians at Christmas and New Year as Aregbesola administration has done. The state government offers free rail service at Christmas, New Year and Easter. The government does this during Muslim festivals. The state government is currently building a 250, 000-seater crusade centre for Christians of all denominations. The centre is called Open Heaven Arena. It is located in Odo-Iju community near Ibodi, Ilesa.
The Aregbesola administration has been accused of fixing state functions for Sunday mornings when Christians are to be in church. How true is this?
The first time a state function was fixed for Sunday morning was in 2011 when we got wind that the then Governor of Oyo State, Adebayo Alao-Akala, was going to announce the turning of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, to Oyo State University. We got wind of the information on Saturday evening and Akala was going to do the announcement on Monday. You can see we had no time on our hands to deal with the situation than to convene an urgent stakeholders’ meeting for Sunday. This pre-emptive action was what saved Ladoke Akintola University, Ogbomoso, from being taken over by the Akala administration. If Akala had made the pronouncement on a Monday, only God knows what would have become of the university today.
It is easy to unmake but not easy to make. Our belief that LAUTECH is a joint patrimonial legacy between Osun and Oyo states still remains unshaken. LAUTECH students, parents, lecturers, workers and other stakeholders of Osun origin attended the proactive function held at Government Technical College, Osogbo. The state government was applauded for taking the bold step to ensure that Oyo, under the Peoples Democratic Party leadership of Alao-Akala, did not appropriate LAUTECH to Oyo State. If we had failed to nip the move by Alao-Akala in the bud and allowed him to take away LAUTECH, which was co-funded by Osun and Oyo states from inception till date, posterity would not forgive us. I think our action was appropriate. The second time a function was fixed for Sunday morning was when Muslims marked their New Year and that was not a state function. It was a religious function organised by Osun Muslims and the governor was only a guest.
These were the two incidents which I can remember when functions were fixed for Sundays. The first function was done in the overall interest of the state and it was exigent, the other was not a state function.
There is also the accusation that the change of the state’s appellation from “State of the Living Spring” to “State of the Virtuous” is part of the planned islamisation of the state.
I think there is more to our state than springs. Everybody knows Osun is synonymous with rivers and springs. I think the celebration of the people of Osun as being virtuous is better. I think we should learn to celebrate virtues. The change of the name is not, in the least, done to spite Christians, anyway. I am a Christian. It is a reflection of the government’s commitment and passion to breathe a new lease of life to the state and give the people a new meaning, hope and joy. We want to be able to look back in years to come and see that we have been able to change the stereotypic belief that the black man is incapable of leadership; that the black man cannot achieve anything and that the black man has no place in modern existence. This is what is firing our zeal and zest to passionately develop our people and place Osun on the roadmap of developed states, where rule of law, equity, justice and peace abound. We won’t look back. Our phenomenal achievements in infrastructural developments in all communities of the state speak volume for us.
The declaration of Hijra holiday by the state government has also been criticised by several people.
There are misconceptions which need clarification. Muslims in the state came to the government with a request that they want to be celebrating Hijra as a public holiday. It was not that the government just woke up and declared Hijra. It was a request made by the Muslim community in Osun. The government acted within the ambit of law by declaring as holiday the day Muslims chose for their New Year celebration. It is within the governor’s constitutional powers to declare a public holiday if there is need for it. The Muslim community needed it, they requested and got it. The governor has said that he would be fair to all religions. If traditional religionists make request within the ambit of the law, their request will be met. In the 34-member state executive council, we have 25 Christians, nine Muslims. In the 26-member State House of Assembly, we have 16 Christians and 10 Muslims. Out of the nine House of Representatives members the state has, five are Christians while four are Muslims. Out of the three senators the state has, two are Christians while one is a Muslim.
The visit of the Sultan of Sokoto is also being linked with the Islamisation agenda.
So many traditional rulers and religious leaders have visited Osun since the inception of the Aregbesola administration. They had visited the state before Aregbesola became governor. The visit of the Sultan is a testimony to the fact that Osun, like other states in a federation, could have a handshake across the Niger; this is the partnership, integration and synergy needed between people of federation. This would promote social integration, socio-economic growth through commerce and trade between states. It will promote unity, peaceful existence just as it could curb age-long ethnic suspicions and fears. Aregbesola should be commended for his none discriminatory policies among peoples and religions. I think there is a misunderstanding in the interpretation of the actions of government by Osun CAN. The misunderstanding would be resolved. We are all working in the interest of peace. This is just a slight misunderstanding.
Punch Nigeria
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