Sharia in Nigeria
And an update on sharia in Nigeria from the Washington Post: In Nigeria's North, a Compromise Between Islamic Law, Secular Culture"Nigeria is officially secular, with its 140 million people nearly evenly divided between Christians and Muslims. Christians predominate in the coastal south and Muslims in the north.
"In 1999, more than a decade of brutal military rule ended with President Olusegun Obasanjo's election, and many in the north began clamoring for Islamic law. In many ways, it was a reaction to general lawlessness and Nigeria's shattered justice system...
"But several factors have prevented Islam from becoming completely dominant...
"Obasanjo, a southerner and a Christian, and others in the federal government declared their opposition to sharia and said they would work to ensure that its implementation wouldn't run afoul of the federation, which gives wide powers to the states. When sharia has clashed with national law, the federal government has won...
"Unlike in some countries in the Middle East, women drive cars and vote. They have unfettered access to state education, although female literacy lags that of males. Women run for elected office, albeit rarely...
"Nigerians say the strictest interpretation of sharia runs counter to their culture. Keeping women behind doors and out of sight, or cloaking them in fabric, is a foreign idea in Nigeria, where women play leading roles in economic life...
"Sharia has also met Nigeria's poverty... A fact of life in Nigeria is that all able hands are put to use, male or female, at whatever jobs can be found..."
Labels: civil society, Nigeria
posted by Ken Wedding @ 8:15 PM
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