The rights of religious minorities
By Leo Igwe
RELIGIOUS minorities refer to non-dominant faith or belief groups. These communities lack access to power, face discrimination, persecution and human rights abuses. They have development policies of the religious majorities imposed on them by the state.
In Nigeria, Islam and Christianity constitute the religious majorities. While the Traditional Religion, Jehovah Witness, Brotherhood of the Cross and Star, Bahai Faith, Grail Message, Eckankar, Rosicrucian, Hare Krishna, Mormons, Gordian Religion, Devotees of Guru Maharaji and Satya Sai Baba, Humanism etc are the religious minorities. I want to quickly point out that humanism is categorised as a religious minority not because it is a religion per se, but because it is a life stance informed by religious unbelief.

Again, in some parts of the country, Islam and Christianity are religious minorities. For instance, in South-east and South-south, Islam is a minority faith. While in North-east and North-west, Christianity is in the minority.

Unfortunately, the Nigerian government has refused to acknowledge the existence of minority faiths/beliefs in the country. It continues to conduct its affairs as if these communities do not exist or deserve recognition and respect. Constitutionally, Nigeria has no state religion. Section 10 of the nation's supreme law prohibits the adoption of any religion as state religion. The rights to freedom of religion or belief and to non-discrimination are guaranteed in the constitution. Hence, the Nigerian government ought to be neutral in religious matters. It ought not to discriminate against any religious community whether it is in the majority or minority. The Nigerian government should not extend privileges to any religious group. But in practice this is not the case. The Nigerian government recognises - and in fact has adopted - the two major religions - Islam and Christianity as state religions. It grants them favours and privileges that are not extended to the minority groups. Officially, religious minorities in Nigeria suffer systematic exclusion, discrimination and violation of their rights. And this has caused a lot of tension, division, alienation and conflict. For instance, only Muslim and Christian prayers are allowed at state functions. There has never been an instance in the history of Nigeria where a person that is neither a Christian nor a Muslim is asked to pray or to make an invocation at a state function.

Also, the Nigerian government uses state money to build and maintain mosques and churches across the country. It grants public holidays to Nigerians only on Muslim and Christian feast days. The Nigerian government sponsors and subsidises the pilgrimages of only Christians and Muslims. It allows only the teaching of Christian and Islamic religious education in schools.

In Northern Nigeria - especially in the Muslim majority states - religious minorities are systematically marginalised and disadvantaged. And this has become more pronounced since the adoption of Sharia law. In fact the state implementation of Sharia has legalised the discrimination against minority religious and belief communities. Those who belong to non-Islamic faiths do not enjoy equal rights to life, security of persons, worship, association, freedom of thought and expression, etc with their Muslim counterparts. They are forced to practise their faith or beliefs in private, and to live publicly in line with Islamic norms. Politically, members of religious minorities can vote but they cannot be voted for. They are made to live in a state of political subjugation and second-class citizenship. Nigeria has yet to elect any president or governor that does not belong to the two dominant religions. Members of religious minorities are subjected to the Islamic justice system.

In the Sharia states, many have been tried and convicted in courts to which none of them can ever be appointed a judge. For it is forbidden for a non-Muslim to be a judge under Sharia. Because according to a Koran verse "There is no authority of infidels over the Muslims" (Koran 4:41). In Northern and Southern Nigeria, religious minorities face restrictions in building centres of worship and learning. They are denied access to land or to rented apartments for religious activities. Also religious minorities are targeted during riots and clashes. Because of the mistaken view in Nigeria that every citizen is either a Christian or a Muslim, members of minority religious and belief groups often fall victim during religious uprisings. Many of those killed during the religious clashes in Jos in 2004 and in other cases of religious bloodletting between Christians and Muslims were members of minority faith or belief communities.

Again the government has, in most cases, failed to take action against fanatics from the dominant faiths when they unleash violence against religious minorities in the country. For instance, in 1996, Islamic fanatics beheaded Gideon Akaluka, a Christian trader, in Kano. And in 2007 Muslim pupils burnt their Christian teacher in Gombe State. The governments in these Muslim majority states virtually did nothing to bring to justice those who committed these heinous crimes. The recognition of minority rights is critical to the realisation of a just, peaceful, harmonious and progressive society.

So, the time has come for the Nigerian government to acknowledge the existence of religious minorities and put in place the necessary mechanisms to protect their rights. The government should abolish immediately the official discrimination against these vulnerable groups and stop privileging the dominant religious organisations at the expense of national equity, unity and justice.

Human rights are inherent, universal and inalienable, and therefore should be enjoyed by all individuals whether they belong to dominant or non-dominant faith or belief communities. Moreso, Nigeria is a party to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights and other human rights treaties, which oblige it to respect and ensure the human rights of all individuals within its territory.

According to article 14 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, once these international treaties have been ratified, a state party is bound to carry out its international obligations and may not invoke its domestic law as justification for non-implementation. Thus the Nigerian government is obliged to uphold the human rights of all citizens whether they belong to religious majority or minorities.