BY ROTIMI FASAN

WHILE it is possible for me to describe Governor Aregbesola’s attitude to religion as one best summed up in the philosophy of ‘Live and let live’, for which reason he gives free expression to his religious beliefs, even in public and with the implicit understanding that other citizens could and, very often, do the same thing, one must also admit that the Governor’s attitude, for the very fact that he is governor, might lead other people to different conclusions as are now being made by opposition elements in and outside the state.

To be sure, the report on which the present opposition criticism of the Ogbeni rests is believed to have originated from the State Security Service, the point is that some people feel rightly (in their opinion) affronted by the Governor’s (again in their opinion) too obviously pro-Islamic ways.

In other words, without deliberately intending to promote one religion above others, Ogbeni Aregbesola’s tendency to give free expression to his religious beliefs might be lending credence to the claims of his critics who read his conduct as subtle endorsement of and an attempt at promoting one religion over and above others.

For one, it is not uncommon for the Governor to precede a speech at public events with copious Islamic recitations. While this might be alienating for many of different religious persuasions who may view it as a not-so-well disguised attempt at proselytising, many more, including adherents of the Governor’s faith, might view it as official endorsement of a particular faith as the religion of the state.

Yet it should be admitted that a conclusion like this is not necessarily inevitable. Which is to say that people need not see the open manner the Governor identifies with his religion as a conscious way to promote his faith over and above others.

Ogbeni Aregbesola is described by those who know him well as a good man with a good heart. He is not known for any kind of flamboyance and it would appear he wants this registered about him. Like the modest man that he is, his motorcade is not preceded by siren-blaring outriders or escort vehicles.

Sartorially, his taste is simple. His wardrobe is made up essentially of African print materials cut in traditional Yoruba styles affordable by many over whom he presides as governor. While it may not make the covers of style magazines and tabloids or get the big thumbs up of the trendiest fashion police, the Governor’s dress style tilts more towards the simple and dignified and, for this reason, classic.

What has been of concern, even to some of his admirers and which the Governor might not hear them say openly, relates to the length of his trousers which, barely touching his ankles, some see as portraying him as member of a particular sect of Islam. Could this be the reason why the news was all over town recently that the Governor planned to change school uniforms?

The length of the Governor’s trousers, like the late Michael Jackson’s, may be a matter of personal taste that has no religious undertones whatsoever. And if it does have some religious undertone, it’s within the Governor’s rights, I presume, to dress as he pleases provided this is not done as ‘in your face’ manner or intended to send a religious message to the unconverted.

Leftist governments are known for their promotion and support of youth groups, cadres and associations usually for doctrinaire or ideological conditioning in leftist principles. Touted as a scheme meant to provide jobs for jobless youths across the State, the Osun State Youth Empowerment Scheme, otherwise known as OYES, falls in the pattern of such leftist organisations, I imagine. Perhaps one such group also is that which accompanies Governor Aregbesola in public.

The particular group I refer to is made up of young men in coloured vests/T-shirts who hang around the Governor as some kind of protective/security outfit in addition to his SSS operatives.

Their role around the Governor is not exactly clear but the closest they come to conventional description is as of personal guards or security. Again what sets them apart is their looks- at least the looks of some of them -with beards or goatee- reminiscent of those of some Islamic police/security outfit like the hisba in some states in the North. When all of this is considered one might get some idea of the criticism that Governor Aregbesola plans to islamise the State. But are allegations like these necessarily true, to say nothing of the accusation that the Governor intends to secede from Nigeria?

Is this not taking politics too far? I believe opposition accusations/fears of secession/islamisation are grossly exaggerated without prejudice to the genuine concerns of those who truly mind the Governor’s open show of religiosity. There is nothing wrong in saying his public recitations quietly rather than the very audible chants, for example.

I personally don’t believe the Governor has hidden religious or treasonable motives for the innovations he has brought to his state which are very commendable in certain respects. At this stage in its cultural, social and religious evolution, it would be impossible for anyone to turn any part of the South-west of Nigeria into an enclave of a particular religion.

The region exhibits a healthy mix of adherents of the various religions, from the indigenous to the Abrahamic, all existing in harmony.

While the South-East is predominantly Christian, the North-West and North-East predominantly Muslim and the Middle Belt predominantly Christian, the South-West has a healthy balance of all. Members of different religions often interact freely and without acrimony as I witnessed at a Christian wake keep attended by Moslems in Ibadan last week.

There is also both respect for and intellectual recognition of the right of others to follow their preferred faith. Adherents of the various religions, who many times are members of the same family or clusters of families, join their kith and kin of other faiths in the observances of their faiths to some agreeable degree.

As I speak, there is an ongoing research that explores the basis of interfaith harmony in the South-West, a phenomenon that contrasts with the situation in other parts of the country where there is serious deficit of such peaceful relations.

The research which covers some major communities in the South-West is being sponsored by the European Research Council and is being conducted by researchers from the University of Birmingham and their counterparts in the Department of History and International Studies in Osun State University, led by Olukoya Ogen, an Associate Professor of History. Research such as this testifies to the ecumenical disposition of the people of the South-West and the impossibility of imposing a particular religion on the people.