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From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
An Igbo global group, Ndi Igbo Worldwide Union (NIWU) has warned the Federal Government against being swayed by the recent kick by Islamic leaders from the North on Mr. Riley Moore’s call to repeal Sharia criminal law in Nigeria.
In a statement by the group’s president, Benjamin Nwankwo and secretary, Chief Charles Edemuzo, NIWU said Mr. Moore’s call to repeal Sharia law exposes a bitter truth that the Nigerian state, in its current configuration, is no longer sustainable.
“Nigeria enshrines Sharia in its Constitution and as a ranking member of the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC), cannot simply erase it overnight.
“Any proposal to impose a uniform common law system without first dismantling the 1999 constitution is a non-starter.
“Those pretending otherwise are living in denial. Two legal codes cannot coexist in a serious, modern nation. Nigeria cannot continue to pretend that a common law society can function alongside a full-blown religious legal system.”
The statement urged Northern leaders to make a choice; either to fully embrace an egalitarian common law society where all Nigerians are equal under the law or be allowed to exist as an exclusive, separate Islamic enclave.
“The status quo is dead. The Sharia crisis proves that Nigeria cannot survive as a single, unified state under its current arrangement.
“The nation now faces two stark outcomes: a peaceful referendum establishing a safe-haven in the East for persecuted Judeo-Christian citizens or violence and inevitable fragmentation; a reality no one desires but which history will enforce if the government continues to ignore the structural fault lines.”
NIWU urged Nigeria to learn from history, drawing inference from England, which it said, once guaranteed sanctuary for Protestants fleeing Catholic persecution in France.
“Biafra can serve as a modern-day sanctuary for all citizens fleeing oppression in Northern Nigeria. This is not a threat, it is a historical inevitability.”
The statement called on the National Assembly to move fast and either remove Sharia from the Constitution and preserve peace or ignore the writing on the wall and preside over a fracture of the Nigerian state.
“There is no middle ground. NIWU makes no apology for this frankness. As the Nigeria Jihadists makes no apology for the public lynching of a college student, Deborah Samuel, the kidnapping and forcible slavery of Leah Sharibu, till date and several others.
“The safety, survival and future of Ndi Igbo and all persecuted Nigerians demand clarity. Any attempt to maintain the current imbalance will be recorded as deliberate negligence, with consequences that the architects of such inaction must face,” the statement added.
