Former Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, has labelled critics of the creation of Independent Shariah Panels of Arbitration in the South-West region as ignorant.
The purported establishment of the panels in the region has sparked hot debate with many condemning it, believing it to be a plot to introduce Shariah laws in the South-West.
Also, different Yoruba groups and civil society organizations have kicked against the proposals while the Sultan of Sokoto and President of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar II, argued while making a case for the panel that the initiative is legal, as it is provided for in the 1999 Constitution (as amended) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Section 275).
The Sultan urged the governors and traditional authorities in the southern part of the country to preserve and protect the constitutional rights of Muslims in their respective domains and emphasized that Muslims should be allowed to practise their faith without hindrance, just like other religious groups.
Though the development continues to brew resistance and hostility, Shittu, while speaking on a programme on a television station recently, said the opposition to the initiative was triggered by ignorance and intolerance.
He revealed that such panels have been in existence in some South-West states for over a decade, adjudicating civil matters among Muslims.
He said: “In Yorubaland, whether governors or the so-called Yoruba activists, their problem is ignorance of the constitution of Nigeria.
“Sharia is about fundamental human rights in relation to religion. The constitution guarantees freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.
“What is the sense of two Muslims going to get married in the mosque under Sharia Law, and when they want to divorce, you ask them to go to a Customary Court which may be completely made up of even Christians, animists or people who do not understand the law under which these people got married?
“Common sense dictates that the law under which you married should be the one to be used in deciding on your divorce.
“In Oyo State, there has been a Sharia Panel and in Lagos State for more than 10 years. What crisis has it caused to anybody? Has any Christian or non-Muslims been drafted to a Sharia Court?
“These constitutional religious rights are inherent in you as a human being whether in Ekiti or anywhere, people have a right to determine under which law they manage their affairs.
“I expect the Muslim community in those states would take the government or people trying to disturb their peace to court.”
