A lot of Nigerians do not know that Nigeria is a secular state and
they are also not aware that the Constitution of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria does not require that Buhari take his oath of office by
swearing with the Quran. The drafters of the constitution made it
crystal clear that any Nigerian of any faith or no faith can hold any
office.
It would have been very easy for the constitution drafters to include
it in our constitution that the president should be sworn in with the
Quran. But they didn't. In other words, placing a hand on a Quran
while reciting the presidential oath is simply a tradition that is not
backed by the constitution. Meaning, it is absolutely unnecessary.
On Friday May 29, the Constitution requires that Buhari gives this
oath of office: "I, Muhammadu Buhari, do solemnly swear that I will
faithfully execute the office of President of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria, and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and
defend the Constitution." So, why should Buhari swear with a Quran?
Why shouldn't he place his hand on the Nigerian Constitution- the very
document he's promising to "preserve, protect and defend?"
There's is a gargantuan barrier between religion and state and Buhari
should demonstrate that he recognises this fact by taking his oath of
office with his hand on the constitution instead of the Quran. His
loyalty should be to the nation's laws above all else.
A lot of people will argue that Buhari swearing with the Quran ensures
that he adheres to his oath. But let's be truthful to ourselves: We
have seen elected officials swear to uphold the laws of our country
with their hands on the Quran and go on to steal billions of naira and
break laws like crazy. It all comes down to the individual's moral
code, not a few seconds oath.
My objection is not only against the Quran. I would hold the same view
if it were the Bible, the Book of Mormon or any other religious
scripture. The drafters of the constitution made it clear that the
Nigerian Constitution, "shall be the supreme law of the land." It is
the living legacy they bestowed upon us. It is the framework for our
government. And as such, that's the document our president should
place his hand on. It should be clear to us on May 29 that the
president views the Constitution as our nation's alpha and omega. As a
matter of fact, your religion doesn't matter when you are taking a
position in office because religion has nothing to do with running a
country.
I personally think that being sworn in with any kind of religious
testament is a waste of time and useless. A lot of people in the
out-going government were sworn in with the Bible but did they deliver
any of the things they promised the country?
To some people, it doesn't matter whether the president-elect is sworn
in with the Quran. They're probably used to seeing it happen. We just
take it for granted that it is the way things have always been done,
but it doesn't necessarily make it right. In my opinion, any elected
leader in any secular country like ours is voted in to represent
everyone in that country. So why not swear with a document that means
something to everyone, such as the constitution?
Wouldn't that make more sense, instead of swearing with a religious
document that only represents a chunk of the population? Imagine if a
Jujupriest was elected President, would it be okay for him to be sworn
in with 'sango, orunmilaor amadioha' or some other work written about
atheism? Would it be okay for an ogboni president to be sworn in with
the ogboni book of sacred covenant? I am a Catholic and I believe
completely in not swearing with the Bible because there are multiple
religions in the country and swearing with a Bible will not cause the
sacred binding to the truth if the person swearing does not share a
religion with the Bible. The Bible does not have the same meaning to
every person. So it shouldn't be counted as a true binding document.
Finally, we shouldn't also forget that oath taking of any kind is
absolutely forbidden by the Bible: Matthew 5:34-37
--GistReel
No comments:
Post a Comment