This piece was written by singer turned writer (when owu blowed), etcetera:
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 Juju priest was
elected President, would it be okay for him to be sworn in with ‘sango,
orunmila or 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:
“But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for
it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by
Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by
your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you
need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the
evil one.” – Matthew 5:34-37
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