The Nigeria Broadcast Commission is currently tongue – tied over a letter written by the Sharia Board in Kano (Hisbah) to Cool FM Radio to stop using the term “Black Friday” in Kano stare.
In the rest of Nigeria, only the NBC has the right to regulate the activities of broadcast organisations until the dual ideology in Nigeria brought up Shari’s rule in violation of the joke in the 1999 constitution that any law that is inconsistent with the provisions of the grundnorm shall be null and void.
The Nigerian Broadcast Commission (NBC) has lost its voice as the dual ideology of constitutional order and Sharia code contending in a supposed secular society has seen the Hisbah Board taking over the regulation of broadcast in Kano state.
The NBC Act states that the commission is the only organisation that has the powers to prescribe a code for broadcasters and sanction them.
Last Thursday, the Kano State Hisbah Board, which is tasked with the duty of enforcing Sharia law in the State, wrote a letter to a radio station, 96.9 Cool FM, for using the term “Black Friday”.
Black Friday is the informal name for the Friday that follows Thanksgiving Day in the United States, which is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. The term is known worldwide to mean a day for promotional sales where goods are sold at discounted prices.
However, a letter signed by Principal Executive Officer II, Abubakar Ali, on behalf of the Commander-General, Hisbah stated that Friday is regarded as a holy day in Islam and tagging it as ‘black’ is derogatory and would not be condoned.
The letter titled, ‘Letter of Introduction’ reads in part, “I am directed to write and notify you that the office is in receipt of a complaint for the conduct of ‘Black Friday Sales’ on November 27, 2020.
“Accordingly, we wish to express our concern on the tagging of Friday as ‘Black Friday’ and further inform you that the majority of the inhabitants of Kano State are Muslims that consider Friday as a holy day.
“In view of the foregoing, you are requested to stop calling the day ‘Black Friday’ with immediate effect and note that the Hisbah Corps will be around for surveillance purposes with a view to avoiding the occurrence of any immoral activities as well as maintaining peace, harmony, and stability in the state.”
Nigerians are not in doubt what zealots are capable of doing in situations like this as they have tasted their bitter pills.
Only God knows how the young lady with ThisDay Newspaper, Isioma Madike, is faring now. Her article on Miss World pageant in 2000 led to riots that claimed 200 lives before fatwa (death sentence) was placed on her by Zamfara state Government under Ahmed Yerina who is being mentioned as a likely next leader of the ruling party. She fled the country running for her dear life.
Nigerians are not likely to forget easily the killing of 16 people and the burning of churches in Borno and Katsina as part of the Islamic world rage over a Danish newspaper cartoon in 2OO6 which was considered offensive to Islam.
The violence erupted as the Danish cartoonist whose drawings originally sparked the furore, Kurt Westergaard, used an interview with a British newspaper to defend the right to a free press – and said the Islamic faith provided ‘spiritual ammunition’ for terrorism.
More than two weeks after the controversy began, after-effects are still well felt around the world.
Different stokes for different folks they say. When Mallam Nasir El-Rufai during his war of attrition with Jonathan government in 2012 used Jesus as a toothpick on his notorious Twitter, he did not come under any harm or was he sentence to death outside verbal rebuke by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
The then Secretary of the body, Rev Musa Asake, said in spite of warnings for Mr. El-Rufai to stop such provocative and disrespectful comments that carry chains of implications, the latter had gone ahead to post a response considered insulting to the Christian faith on Twitter when he re-tweeted an analogy that appeared offensive to Jesus Christ.
The former minister who is now a governor said it was intended to be a criticism of Facebook page. Apologising to those that saw the tweet as offensive, he explained that he did not mean the statement to come across as an insult to the Christian faith.
“I must say I am taken aback by the extent of desperate misrepresentation of what was an innocuous attempt to show the godlessness of the Jonathanians to denigrate anyone that dares to ask them to be accountable,” Mr. El-Rufai had said in his reaction.
But the CAN scribe said there was a portion of the response that insulted the Christian faith, pointing out that the association is convinced Mr. El-Rufai is set on a war path with Christians in Nigeria.
“We must state that unlike others, Christians do not shed blood, take life, kill or maim others at the slightest provocation. Nevertheless, we must warn El-Rufai not to take Christians for granted and to inform him that it is with great difficulty that we have had to restrain our youths from taking the law into their hands; which, by extension, means bringing El-Rufai to justice on account of his incitement and insult against the Christian faith.”
The scenarios depicted about firm the major problem with Nigeia which it is running from instead of addressing it and for which it may end up in the ditch if it does not turn back from this senseless trip.
This was the conversation between Francis Fukuyama and his former teacher Samuel Huntington. At the end of the cold war, Fukuyama wrote THE END OF HISRORY AND THE LAST MAN where he painted a glossy illusion of the new world order, but his former teacher, Huntingdon, wrote THE CLASH OF CIVILISATIONS which predicted that the new world would be governed by clashes along cultural and religious lines as it is the era of self – determination. The teacher has been proved right as the word “genocide” has been heard more around the world in the new order than all the years of cold war.
Nigeria can’t continue to deceive itself about “indivisibility” and other jejunity while plunging itself deeper and deeper into the abyss. We wait to see the country it would emulate if it survives these unitary contradictions unaddressed.
……. Nov 27 That Wasn’t In Osun
Tension built up recently in Osun ahead of the November 27th grand finale of the second anniversary of the Osun state Governor, Mr Gboyega Oyetola, as the minister of Interior and former Governor of the state, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, was said to be coming the same day to celebrae 10 years of progressive governance in the the state as if the history of the state started with when he became governor.
I was in secondary school when Chief Bola Ige governed Oyo which Osun was part of and we saw the implementation of the cardinal programmes of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN)
I was the secretary of the Afenifere visitation panel to Osun state in 2001 headed by Chief C O Adebayo and we scored Chief Bisi Akande high in progressive governance within limited resources. Those years don’t make the so-called progressive years.
When opposition to the not well thought out programme mounted, the media aide to the minister told an untruth that the programme was in fulfillment of presidential directive that ministers should go and interact with their constituencies. Did he ask them to go and cause worse situation than ENDSARS in their states?
Another aide of the minister caused so much hysteria sounding war drums of their readiness to crush any opposition to the event.
It was my friend, Tony Iyare, who once wrote that if a Lawrence Anini was given the privilege of writing his epitath it would read like “Here lies Chief Anini, a great and accomplished businessman”.
We cannot forget in a hurry what happened in those eight years of Ogbeni.
I remember this classmate of mine in secondary school who is an official in the State service I ran into about 4 years ago.
As he stopped and greeted, I bent to greet him as he looked so old until he mentioned his name. His ears were the hangers that did not allow his cap to fall off.
I asked him what was amiss and he told me he had not received 11 months salaries!
While the sabre-rattling lasted, the former Governor of the state, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, made the intervention of a statesman.”It is common knowledge that Mr Aregbesola took over from me, and, despite the circumstances of his coming to that office, I did not do anything to undermine his authority throughout his eight years in government. That is the spirit with which I appeal that the Interior Minister (Aregbesola) avoid doing anything that will suggest a plan to make the state ungovernable for Mr Oyetola”
“As a former governor of that state, I plead that we give peace a chance. The state has witnessed enough unnecessary crises in recent weeks coupled with the Coronavirus pandemic which has affected people’s economy and general wellbeing. Our people are suffering; they deserve a respite from all forms of crises as they struggle to make ends meet.
“As leaders of our people, we all have a stake in making Osun State to work for the good of our people who have had to deal with one hardship or the other. We will be seen as doing that when we avoid making the job of the incumbent governor difficult for him. May God help our state and its people in this difficult time.”
That is a mature mind at work and it is good wise counsel prevailed and Osun is not thrown into unnecessary crisis through inward punches.
Credit: Yinka Odumakin, Independent