His Excellency, Gov. Sani Ahmed Yarima
Government House
Gusau
Zamfara State
Federal Republic of Nigeria

Dear Gov. Sani Ahmed Yarima:

I trust that this letter finds you in enviable health and spirit.

As you are well aware, the recent introduction of Sharia law in Zamfara state by you and the state legislature has been vehemently debated across the Nigerian polity and is the bane of assorted anxiety amongst Moslems, Christians and all and sundry. While I offers my acquiescence in principle to the need for you and your subjects to be "good Moslems", I'm not too certain if you are aware of the far-reaching implications of this law which was implemented in your state on October 27, 1999.

I'm certainly drained in gratitude for your assurances aimed at assuaging the angst of Christians and non-Moslems alike. You have stated at every conceivable opportunity that the law is ONLY applicable to Moslems and non-Moslems would not be subjected to it even when a dispute involves a Moslem and a non-Moslem. But as you are engaging in such confabulations, your subjects have since taken it upon themselves to contradict you wholly. Thus, I cannot help but notice that your words do not subscribe to your actions and vice versa.

Gov. Yarima, I believe, I, and millions of other Nigerians who are non-Moslems would be eternally grateful if you could clarify the following so we can comprehensively understand your position on Sharia law and also understand the role of non-Moslems in a Sharia law controlled society such as Zamfara [that is, if it is allowed to stand].

Whereas you assured that non-Moslems would not be affected by the law, then perhaps, you can explain...

why the Methodist Church in central Gusau was demolished by your government and many more churches earmarked for demolition;

why I, as a non-Moslem male cannot board a public bus/taxi with my wife/female companion, girlfriend, [whatever is applicable], sister, mother, a female cousin, daughter, etc, since you said the law would not affect non-Moslems;

why I, as a non-Moslem, cannot drink alcohol if I so desire since you stated that the law would not affect non-Moslems;

why drivers of state owned buses have refused to carry non-Moslem women whose dressing did not meet the Islamic standard for women;

why your subjects have beaten and continue to harass commercial motorcyclists who are not Moslems who carry female passengers on their back seats;

why you are using state funds to buy buses, pay

for the training of Islamic judges, pay for the transportation of the team which you have sent to other northern states to promote your agenda when Christians in the state also have as much right to that state money as anyone else in the state;

why you have embarked and dementedly prosecuting a mission to Islamize northern Nigeria when you stated that this is only for the people of Zamfara and you are giving them what they want. Why don't you confine your campaign then to Zamfara and allow other states to decide for themselves just as the people of Zamfara decided for themselves. Why are you interested in other states adopting Sharia law when your jurisdiction begins and ends in Zamfara. Do you really have a HIDDEN agenda?

why a non-Moslem bank owner in Zamfara can no longer charge interest on loans to non-Moslems when you stated that the law will not affect non-Moslems;

why, you, as governor in the fed. republic and of ALL citizens of Zamfara, both Moslems and Christians has chosen to promote just the Islamic religion and not both the Christian and the Islamic religions. Are you an "Islamic" governor or you are a governor of ALL citizens of Zamfara no matter their faith? Did the people of Zamfara elect you as a RELIGIOUS or a POLITICAL leader?

why you are complaining rancorously that soldiers posted to Zamfara were drinking alcohol when most of the soldiers have made it clear that they are not Moslems and as such the law does not apply to them. Were you serious when you stated that it would not affect non-Moslems? If you were, why are you complaining of the consumption of alcohol by non-Moslems soldiers then?

Why have you made Arabic compulsory for all in school so that even the non-Moslems must take it in other to advance?

Can you understand Gov. Sani Yarima the inherent contradiction of your verses? While you are drumming the chorus that the law will NOT affect non-Moslems, we have clearly seen that non-Moslems are affected and will continue to be affected as evident in the case of youth corpers who have deserted your state in astonishing numbers because they are harassed by zealots to conform even as many of them trek untold miles to work because taxis would no longer take them having not conformed to the Islamic female dress code. These are non-Moslems, governors. Do you still maintain that the law will not affect non-Moslems? Or was that all an unadulterated hoax well guarded in a grandiose endeavor to unleash consternation on a supposed "assured" population of non-Moslems in your state?

A professor of mine once said, "A picture tells a thousand words but the words of a politician tells a thousand lies." If you truly mean what you say then you will allow non-Moslems to drink alcohol, to fornicate if they please, to charge interest on loans, etc. You will ban alcohol only for Moslems and allow others to drink alcohol freely, you will allow non-Moslems to operate nightclubs and parade the streets of Gusau in whatever attire they deem fit. Your words, governor, have truly run amuck and undeserving of trust, even a miniscule thereof.

It behooves me thus, that your haste to implement this law trampled upon all reasonable interjections. You have subjected the people of Zamfara to a most inimical law without due preparation for such drastic changes. In Saudi Arabia, Iran, etc., where such a law is practiced adequate preparations and governmental services are implemented well in advance. In other words, there are jobs for the jobless, there are incentives for young men to get married [in other to avoid fornication]such as money, house, cars, etc., education is free, the social welfare system is impeccable as widows and the poor are cared for. Further, law enforcement officers are handsomely paid, infrastructures are well in place and the society moves as a well-oiled machine. Thus, the temptation to dabble in iniquities is far reduced.

You would agree that there were no such implementations in your state [which is barren and only survives on oil revenues from the south] before the haste to veil the state with Sharia law. Your expedition therefore portends on a number of issues not the least of which is the edged suspicion that you sir, are playing host to a hidden agenda well clouded under the guise of religion.

Could you abreast us as to your whereabouts when Shehu Shagari was in power, when Buhari was in power, when IBB was in power, when Abacha was in power and when Abubakar was in power? Why did you not have this ecumenical revelation when your fellow Moslems were in power? Wouldn't it have been easier to introduce Sharia law when people of your like faith were in power?

The military regimes of Buhari, IBB, Abacha and Abubakar could have easily decreed that Sharia law be imposed, why did you not advocate it at that time? And during the democratic administration of Shagari why didn't the people of Zamfara [who were then part of Sokoto, Shagari's home state] demand it? Why is there an abrupt urge to be "good Moslems" when a southern Christian is in power in 1999? Is there a covert agenda, governor? Who are your sponsors in this religious coup that was so carefully plotted and meticulously executed?

You mentioned that Sharia law is part of the life of a Moslem and that the two are intertwined. Well said then, governor, but are we to conclude that all along you were not a true Moslem since you did not have Sharia law until October 27, 1999? Have you pondered the implications of this law on the education of Zamfara's youths? I trust you are aware governor that Zamfara and much of the north is virtually backward to put it mildly when it comes to education, industry and science. Are you willing to shepherd a movement that will ensure that, especially, of the women flock? I implore you to take a long and hard look at countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, Libya, etc, that have the law in place, they are backward in science and industry and their women are sentenced to a life of marriage and servitude only at the tender age of fifteen. Very few of them enroll in the university. This is the path you have carved for the people of Zamfara, especially the young girls who will be oppressed by the law.

I feign no expertise in Islamic affairs, but suffice me to aver that you sir, a politician, cannot declare Sharia law as such duties fall under the auspices of esteemed clergymen. You are a mere politician, not an authority on Islamic affairs. It is becoming clearer that there is a well-crested conspiracy either with retired military generals who want to create a diversion in order to avoid prosecution for their misdeeds or from foreign governments like Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Libya, Syria, etc., who fear that a Christian president means the erosion of Islam in Nigeria and you sir, has become the conduit.

There is one more point, governor. You are out of line constitutionally. Consider the following articles from the 1999 constitution...

Section 275-(1) of 1999 Constitution states that "There shall be for any state that requires it a Sharia Court of Appeal for that state".

For the avoidance of doubt, and particularly for the purpose of staving off stiff-necked fundamentalists, Section 277-

(1) of the same 1999 Constitution goes further to explain the jurisdiction of the Sharia Court of Appeal thus:

"The Sharia Court of Appeal of a state shall, in addition to such other jurisdiction as may be conferred upon it by the law of the state, exercise such appellate and supervisory jurisdiction in civil proceedings involving questions of Islamic Personal Law which the court is competent to decide in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (2) of this section."

"For the purpose of sub-section (1) of this Section, the Sharia Court of Appeal shall be competent to decide

(a) any question of Islamic personal law regarding a marriage concluded in accordance with that law, including a question relating to the validity or dissolution of such a marriage or a question that depends on such a marriage and relating to family relationship or the guardianship of an infant;

(b) where all the parties to the proceedings are Muslims, any question of Islamic personal law regarding a marriage, including the validity or dissolution of that marriage, or regarding family relationship, a founding or the guardianship of an infant;

(c) any question of Islamic personal law regarding a wife, gift, will or succession where the endower, donor, testator or deceased person is a Muslim;

(d) any question of Islamic personal law regarding an infant, prodigal or person of unsound mind who is a Muslim or the maintenance or the guardianship of a Muslim who is physically or mentally infirm; or

(e) where all the parties to the proceedings, being Muslims, have requested the court that hears the case in the first instance to determine that case in accordance with Islamic personal law, any other question."

Nowhere in the above document are you empowered to declare Sharia law in its entirety, that is to include the criminal aspects. The constitutional argument is very lucid and the unconstitutionality of your declaration leaves much to be desired not to mention incongruent with the federal constitution. May I remind you once again, governor, that you are a politician and not a clergyman. Your constituency would be better served if you confine your actions to your political role. Could you imagine president Obasanjo as a Christian promoting the Christian religion with federal funds above and beyond all others? Could you imagine such a scenario?

I support you in your august bid to achieve spiritual equilibrium, but there are rules to be followed and you, as an elected official who took an oath by the Koran to protect the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria ought to hold the candle up for others to see the light and not to bury it and engage the federal government in a game of arm wrestling.

This has never been about your urge to be "good Moslems" [by all means please be], rather, it has been all about your grossly unorthodox methodology in achieving that pious goal and your outright mulish and bullish encroachment of the rule of law.

I'm afraid your overzealousness and rabid propensities are endangering the lives of many citizens and residents of Zamfara who [without your proper redress of poverty, illiteracy, etc.,] will suffer the brunt of Sharia law, parambulating the streets of Gusau one limbed and becoming instant candidates for handicap parking. You are well on your way to encrusting the motto of Zamfara as "The One Limbed State." Before you play the role of God, you can start by playing a lesser role and provide basic amenities for the people of Zamfara such as electricity, water, security, welfare, education, etc. As it stands now, they have Sharia law but no electricity, no education, no hospitals, no roads, no water and lots of arid space. What a deal.

Governor, I call on you to allow the rule of law to prevail. Your pursuit of a pietistic empire is just a little too lofty and ambitious in a federation sworn to secularity.

I thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Tonye David-West, Jr., Ph.D
Political Scientist
USA