By Ikeddy ISIGUZO

TOMES have been written on religion and politics, what the mixture produces, and grave warnings that in some doses, they could inflame passions that are driven by other hungers. There are more reasons to handle them with care – their promotion to enterprises have elicited hungers that are not completely wholesome.

In the past week, two incidents have hinted at governments’ ambitions to have better control of religion from the thoughts that produce messages to the delivery of the messages. Governments at the federal and state levels made these public. They are supposedly doing this for the public on whose behalf they claim to act.

Senate President Obong Godswill Akpabio considers himself eminently qualified to wield into any issue and make whatever he wants out of it. When he was made the Chairman of the Planning Committee of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, that Diocese of Ikot Ekpene hosted, only the organisers knew what they were expecting. The role also had a speaking part. Trust Akpabio to milk it. He did.

Akpabio likened Nigeria’s current struggles to the scaffolding of a great cathedral under construction. “Do not despair when the winds blow strong or the scaffolding shakes. A nation is not raised overnight but stone by stone, prayer by prayer, hand by hand.” The audience included the Apostolic Nuncio, Most Rev. Michael Francis Crotty.

“Let us bind the wounds of division, banish the cynicism of despair, and walk together -Church and State, pulpit and parliament, faith and policy – towards a brighter dawn. Transformation is not the burden of one arm of society, nor the privilege of a select few.”

Is Akpabio following his own preachment in the management of the Senate?

Delivering President Tinubu’s message, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, assured that bold economic reforms were underway to stabilise the economy, attract investment, and ensure inclusivity: “This administration is building a Nigeria that works for all, and no one will be left behind.” People not being left behind has a new meaning or means nothing to the administration that Akume represents.

If you google Niger State, about 324,000 results pop up. If you add Governor Mohammed Umar Bago’s directive that preachers should submit their sermons for approval and register for preaching licences, the search on Niger State produces 1.21 million results. Almost one million people could be searching Niger State on religion, not the its muted agricultural possibilities which push out only 424,000 results when searched. If you stretch the search to disasters, the results pump to 1.64m.

Bago defended his decision on TVC’s Politics on Sunday, by asserting that the government would not allow “anti-people” or “anti-government” sermons. “It’s in that direction. We want to be able to see what they are preaching, hear what they are saying. We are working together with security agencies; the Department of State Services (DSS), the police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and the military,” he added.

“I didn’t ban evangelism… For everyone going to preach a sermon on Friday, he should bring his scriptures for review, and it’s normal. Even in Saudi Arabia, this is done,” the Governor said. It is impressive that the Governor is borrowing the idea from Saudi Arabia. What else should he have learnt from Saudi Arabia?

Has the Governor heard of any of the welfare programmes that Saudi Arabia has for its people? None of them appealed to the Governor who a recent survey revealed that 64 per cent of his State’s residents is multidimensionally poor.

According to Bago, sermon approvals apart, the State will implement a licensing system for preachers. Umar Farooq, head of Niger State Religious Affairs, had earlier stated that clerics must secure licences within two months.

“It is true, the state government has banned preaching. Any preacher who wants to preach must secure a licence between now and the next two months. All they need to do is visit our office, get, and fill out the form. After which, they will have to face a panel that will screen them before they can start preaching,” Farooq added.

How would the Governor and his approval team determine messages that are “anti-people”, and “anti-government”? Is this scheme not for the benefit of the Governor, with the main objective being to curb rising criticisms that the Governor faces in mosques?

With the enormous responsibilities Governors are meant to bear – most recently, including seeing the President off and welcoming him from his numerous foreign trips- where would Bayo find time to vet thousands of weekly messages for the mosques and prayer grounds that dot Niger State?

The concerns are more than the Governor approving messages. These measures seem to align with Bago’s disrespect for free speech, and now freedom of worship. Both are fundamental, constitutional rights.

Deploying scarce state resources and attention to religion in this manner, in a State that has had serial humanitarian emergencies, occasioned by flooding and insecurity, questions the Governor’s priorities.

Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Niger State Chapter, has withdrawn its threat of legal action after clarifications that the Governor’s directive did not affect Christians.

Bago would be remembered for ordering the shut down of a private radio station, asking security agencies to seal off the premises for demolition, and announcing that he had revoked its licence. He accused the station of broadcasting inciting messages.

Akpabio and Bago were not speaking for themselves alone.

Let us watch out for how the scaffolds of Akpabio’s giant cathedral hold as the winds of poor governance thrust them around and how approval of sermons and licensing of preachers would ameliorate poverty in Niger State and create markets for its agricultural products.

Finally…

BANDITS chief negotiator, the cleric, a retired Captain, and former medical officer in the Nigerian Army, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has warned in a Facebook post that any attempt to attack the armed groups could reignite violence in Katsina State.

“Some people who don’t want peace, will provoke them again by attacking them. It’s very important to educate them that they are used by capitalising on their ignorance and zeal to vengeance,” Gumi wrote. His comments came on the heels of a peace meeting held on Sunday in Faskari between residents, local traditional leaders, and a wanted bandit, Ado Alero, alongside dozens of armed herders.

“What brought about this meeting is that one of my boys was arrested. At that time, we were not on good terms with the security operatives. I asked why they arrested him, but they did not give me any explanation,” Alero said.

“I made inquiries from the Faskari Local Government up to the state government. I spoke with the Secretary to the Katsina State Governor, and I also spoke with the then Chairman of Miyetti Allah,” he said.

“We followed due process at the time, but we were unable to secure his release. They never told us why he was arrested, and from there, I left the matter.”

“There will be no peace if security agencies do not also stop killing our people,” a Fulani herder Kwashé Garwa, who was filmed with ammunition strapped to his waist, said. Bandits want peace on their own terms.

WELCOME. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Aren’t you overdue for a French name?

•ISIGUZO is a major commentator on minor issues.