Anyone who burns down his or her father’s house inherits the ashes — An African Proverb

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Without community there is no liberation… but community must not mean a shedding of our differences, not the pathetic pretense that these differences do not exist—Audre Lorde

THE sordid scepter of scapegoatism is very rife in the Nigerian political landscape. Some of the symptoms of this malady include: relentlessly blowing things out of proportion, latching unto imaginary paranoia, and turning an innocuous injunction into an acrimonious debate. The performance of making a mountain out of a molehill is very ubiquitous in the Nigerian political scene. This strategy has become a means for instigating imaginary mayhem. The human capacity to wallow in the sublime and the ridiculous is indeed endless. The cornucopia of bizarre fantasies has reached an unprecedented height in recent times in the State of the Living Spring. Just today, a friend sent me a twisted joke on my “WhatsApp” account: it is three young boys dressed as colorful masquerades going to school in Osun.

Professor  of theology

The caption reads: “Egundele, Egunyomi, and Egundiji set for school in Osun State.” Although I got a good laugh from this caption, it was a solemn reminder of how things can go awry and public schools in Osun can be turned into a circus. In the State of Osun, the ignorance about the hijab is flourishing with a scarlet heat. It feeds on fear, paranoia, and insincerity.

As a professor of theology who has been sojourning in the heart of the Muslim world for the past eight years, I have some insights that can allow me to contribute to the discourse concerning the use of hijab in the public space. I teach at a prestigious American institution in Doha, Qatar where students are not compelled to wear the hijab. Anyone who chooses to wear it does this out of her own volition.

Christians and Hindus in my educational institution do not see this situation as an opportunity to start proclaiming a war of attrition. The present situation in Osun State calls for a sensible and pragmatic solution. Muslim students wearing hijab to school does not warrant a religious crisis. This is a form of religio-cultural identity that should not engender tension, hatred, and violence. Muslims have been doing this in Yorubaland as well as all over the county for a long time. A student wearing the hijab does not in any way possess a power over other students. This is a simple truth. For instance, this is a far cry from a proposal to introduce Islamic dawa (invitation to convert) as part of the educational curriculum in Osun. This will never happen in the State; such an action would be haram.

It is very important to be contextual and pragmatic in dealing with this issue. These two approaches have defined the modus operandi of many nations to this oft-sensitive matter. In life, one single size does not fit all. Different nations have designed creative ways of dealing with the matter without engaging in acrimonious conflicts. Nigeria is a multi-religious nation. There is an enduring legacy of interreligious solidarity in Yorubaland. The seeds of interreligious warfare in Yorubaland will always fall on arid terrains. The seeds will not grow. Islam has flourished in Yorubaland because of the quiet rhythm of piety and practices that Muslims undertake without any pomp and pageantry. Christianity has also thrived in the Yoruba context because of its propensity to read the signs of the times and apply African conditions to faith. Both religious traditions have been shaped by normative religious standards and indigenous sensibilities.

My sojourn in this part of the world has taught me that apart from the Qur’anic injunction in Surat Ahzab 33:59, the use of the hijab can also be understood from the vantage point of a cultural norm or paradigm. Muslims wear the hijab to promote ethical, personal, and cultural decency. They will not experience fire and brimstone if they choose otherwise. This exercise in freewill is never interpreted as a wanton display of innovation, bida. This voluntary action does not shatter or dismantle religious orthodoxy. I can simply say that overheating the polity over such a harmless thing such as the hijab reeks of sinister ulterior motives. It seems to me that the stipulation to encourage Christians in Osun to wear church robes/choir robes to school borders on the ridiculous to say the least.

The Osun State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) cannot equate the wearing of hijab to religious terrorism. This is tantamount to declaring that sleep and death are the same thing. One can say without any equivocation that this is not what the state needs at this point in its historical odyssey. This is an auspicious time to put hands and heads together to safeguard the future of the state. My humble counsel to the formidable people of Osun is to look beyond possible political antics and work for the common good of the state. This is not a time to willfully destroy the foundations upon which the destiny of our children and our collective future would be built. The task of contemplating and re-evaluating the parameters of human wholeness should be a non-negotiable goal for all the stakeholders in the Nigerian project. Embarking or engaging in a doomsday prophecy is only analogous to using a basket to water a plant. It won’t work!

In some parts of Nigeria, interreligious misunderstandings have escalated into violence.  Osun State cannot afford to become a gory theatre of interreligious war. In terms of an intellectual narrative, it is rather serendipitous that the French historian and social critic, René Girard used the concept of scapegoatism to construct his theory concerning the genealogy of violence in many religious traditions. According to him, the lures of mimetic desire drive the human propensity to initiate and celebrate violence. In essence, the cult of scapegoatism provides a robust rationalization for wanton violence and terror. This conscious action allows individuals to unleash their feeling of hostility toward members of their own community.

Let me affirm a simple theological claim that we cannot put God in a box. Both Christianity and Islam are religious traditions on a path to understanding God. The ninety-nine beautiful names of Allah cannot completely describe the full essence and depth of God. The shahadah, (the essential creed of Islam) mentions God without getting into the description of God.

It is only a solemn invitation to experience God’s majesty and mystery. In same token, the Nicene Creed is also a tip of the iceberg concerning God’s infinite grandeur and grace. The story of the incarnation (God becoming human in Jesus Christ) is also a bold testimony to the surprising character of God. It further accentuates the paradoxical nature of the Christian faith. In Kabbalah, Jewish mystical tradition, God is known as ein sof, which means infinity. Our religious quest is laden with wonderful discoveries and realizations. Our limited understanding will forever benefit from positive interreligious conversations, partnerships, and dialogue. An authentic statehood is actualized by the collective will and participation of its citizens. It is never built by simple rhetoric or empty pontifications. A state does not come into being by an abstract deux ex machina. It is not a form of a cargo cult construct that is prevalent in anthropological narratives in which people expect a miraculous change of events. Far from such a perspective, it takes collective trust and dedication to make concrete changes in any given society. This is a process that ultimately culminates in the collective appreciation of all and sundry.

Creative   partnerships

This is obviously an agenda that demands new and creative partnerships between the government and the people. The government needs new parameters for talking and dealing with the people. The government cannot play ostrich and thus forget its covenant with the people. The people on the other hand must develop the power to discern the stark differences between fire and rain. They cannot afford to be misled by vile and toxic political machinations. This is my dream and vision for Osun State, Ipinle Omoluabi. Ultimately, it behooves us to engender imaginative insights for putting this beautiful home in order rather than foster rhetoric and innuendo that may set it on fire. “Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief” (Mark 9:24).

Akintunde E. Akinade, from Edunabon, Ife North, is a Professor of Theology at Georgetown University’s Edmund E. Walsh School of Foreign Service in Qatar. He is an ordained minister in the Anglican Church of Nigeria.