Last week, the Kano State Hisbah Board confirmed the arrest of eight young ladies and four men for eating in the daytime during Ramadan. This, according to the Hisbah Board Director General, Dr. Aliyu Musa Kibiya, proves conclusively that these young people were not observing the fast. “We will investigate and if they have cogent reasons we will release them. Those found wanting will however be enlightened and even prosecuted if need be,” said Kibiya. “Fasting is compulsory for healthy, adult Muslims in the month of Ramadan except for the travellers, menstruating women or old people.”
The arrest brings to fore the way religion is being used to regulate the lives of poor people, especially in Kano where ‘offences’ like stylish haircuts or playing certain music could result in jail terms. I am not advocating for Muslims to avoid observing Ramadan. The issue here is that enforcing religious observance by government is always problematic, especially when there may be an unfair class dimension to it. But while Kano may be notorious for the way religion has been hijacked by politicians who themselves are no paragons of virtue, it is not the only state where Hisbah is in operation. In the past 21 years since the former Zamfara State Governor, Ahmed Sani Yerima, introduced ‘Sharia’ in the North, we have seen a discernible pattern. From Jangebe whose hand was amputated for stealing a goat to others who have been publicly flogged and stoned, what has become clear is that the Nigerian version of ‘Sharia’ is designed to punish only a certain class of people.
However, at about the same period when Kano Hisbah operatives were chasing some poor fellows for buying food on the street (rich people eat within the confines of their houses), the Bauchi Hisbah was pledging to conduct a headcount of commercial sex workers in the state with a view to obtaining accurate data on these vulnerable citizens. During a sensitisation workshop organised for them, the Permanent Commissioner in charge of Hisbah and Sharia implementation, Aminu Balarabe-Isah, said that information generated from the exercise would help in coming up with policies and programmes targeted at discouraging these commercial sex workers from continuing with their dangerous trade. He also expressed the readiness of the state government to organise mass marriages for those among them who could find suitors.
Much more importantly, Balarabe-Isah disclosed that the state would grant seed capital to these women to start small scale businesses. He further explained that investigations conducted by his agency indicated that most of the sex workers took to prostitution as a result of illiteracy, poverty or maltreatment meted on them by their step-mothers. Hafsatu Azare, who spoke on behalf of the sex workers, assured the Hisbah Commissioner that they were willing to quit the trade if the state government would empower them as promised, describing their condition as pathetic.
I commend Governor Bala Mohammed for this Hisbah initiative that shows how a responsive (and responsible) government can deal with social problems. I understand that Bauchi Hisbah was created during the era of Adamu Muazu who also participated in the Yerima-led ‘Sharia’ in the North, essentially to avoid backlash from vocal Muslim clerics. It was Muazu who established the Sharia Commission under which Hisbah operates in the state. Before then, beer parlors and brothels openly operated in the state with patronage across ethnic and religious divides but most were forced to close or go underground. In Bauchi today, like in many northern cities, there are still areas where brothels and bars continue to operate, even if clandestinely.
Rather than be hypocritical about the problem, because these areas also harbour criminals, Governor Mohammed has decided to address both the security risks associated with allowing them to operate unchecked and the socio-cultural problems of engaging in such vices. The governor and his wife are reportedly involved in empowerment programmes that target these vulnerable women who sometimes resort to sex work for survival. Many of them are divorcees and Bauchi indigenes, others are from the neighbouring states.
Despite the virtual collapse of the moral frame of our society, religion is still an important issue and our politicians understand this. Unfortunately they too often exploit it selfishly, using both Christianity and Islam. This then explains why, in their bid for 2023, some politicians in the South-west are already going to the Atlantic Ocean to pray with a female deity seated inside the water and declaring ‘Wa ri ogo re lo’ (you will continue to shine) at the expense of the people. And by releasing such videos, they are also aware that it plays well with their poor supporters who would then see “the hands of God” in whatever manipulations to secure power.
Nigerian politicians understand this game very well because it works for them. When, for instance, Isa Pantami was preaching his sermons of intolerance, he knew what he was doing. He was playing to his audience at the time and he gained the popularity he coveted as a ‘respected Imam’. But now that he is in a position of power as Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Pantami is reminding us that his views have since changed. That may well be true. But the problem remains that the young men and women who listened to his intemperate sermons were not aware at the time that their Imam lacked the courage of conviction, and they may have been running with what he told them to our collective detriment.
In a well-oiled campaign, Pantami has deployed media stormtroopers who are selling the dubious line that his travail is due to the enforcement of the Nigerian Identity Number (NIN) enrolment for all Nigerian citizens and residents. As much as I am indifferent to whatever happens to him, pertinent questions remain: Should someone known to have expressed extreme religious views be allowed to continue as a member of the Federal Executive Council in a country where the issue of faith can be emotive and divisive? Especially at a time of widespread ethno-religious suspicion and mistrust? President Muhammadu Buhari surely has a decision to make.
But back to the issue of manipulation of religion. In October 2014, I was privileged to speak on the place of faith in our national life at an annual Islamic conference in Lagos. Incidentally, when I received the invitation from Dr Disu Kamor, Executive Chairman of Muslim Public Affairs Centre (MPAC), I suspected that somebody did not do due diligence so I sent a reply that in case MPAC members were not aware, I am a Christian. The organisers got back to me that they were aware of the faith I profess and that I was deliberately chosen as guest speaker for their annual conference. That experience taught me a lesson in tolerance and it is a testimony to the faith of MPAC members who are respected professionals and successful people. Interested readers can find my presentation, ‘Between Faith and Fanaticism in Nigeria’, on my web portal (Between Faith and Fanaticism in Nigeria (olusegunadeniyi.com)
Meanwhile, a nuanced understanding of the interconnection between religious and cultural values, according to the World Economic Forum, “can help cast light on the dynamic ways in which religion both shapes and is shaped by society.” That is the enduring lesson from what Bauchi Hisbah has demonstrated. Empowering vulnerable women like commercial sex workers is not only the right thing to do in order to eliminate poverty and create a better society, it is also politically rewarding. Women, as attested by many politicians, come out to vote on election day. Much more importantly, within the cultural setting of the North today, investment in women empowerment will ultimately help in addressing many of the social problems confronting the country.
While it has been argued that religion is neither a poison pill nor a silver bullet for resolving the contadictions in any society, understanding its significance is also crucial in countries like ours. Problem arises when religion becomes a tool for manipulation, division (including between social classes) and politics. That is what we must change in Nigeria. Which is why I find what the Bauchi Hisbah is doing with the commercial sex workers rather commendable. The lesson it teaches is that where there are thinking leaders, policies and programmes that are anchored on faith can also lead to significant social change.
Credit: Olusegun Adeniyi