By NASRUDEEN ABBAS
Recent online reports and video commentaries have circulated claims that a group described as “Yoruba Muslim and Christian youths” warned the Sultan against introducing Shari’ah in Yoruba land. The development has sparked heated reactions and raised broader questions about religious rights, freedom of expression, and peaceful coexistence in Nigeria. The question is, these guys who are hiding behind one finger to do call, don’t even know the Sultan of Sokoto by status of the throne and his personality. They tend to insult Shaikh Usman Dan Fodio, may Allah bless his memory, like some brainless including George Udom do, bringing the reformist Jihad of 1804 side by side to equate with the obviously criminal act of terrorism of today. Under a good government, the likes of George Udom and Rita Umeh, social media influencers, should be behind bar by now. They are those who are fond of this, although thinking it is the way to weaken the North and Muslim Ummah to enable their political master win 2026 election without the North and Muslims as they claim. They are left to continue yet the politicians who send them, allegedly, can easily bring up Cybercrime laws when others fight for their right on social media. The law, to them, can only work against the victims while their rights violators are set free because they are sacred cows, even George Udom. What a country!
For decades, the South-West region has been widely regarded as the most religiously tolerant part of the country, where Muslims, Christians, and adherents of traditional beliefs live side by side. Families often include members of different faiths, and interreligious harmony has been a defining feature of social life. It is against this backdrop that recent online agitations have generated concern among some observers.
Critics of the reported statement argue that public campaigns opposing Shari’ah risk infringing on the constitutional rights of Muslims to practice their religion. They maintain that Shari’ah, for adherents of Islam, is not merely a legal framework but an integral part of their religious life. From this perspective, questioning its place in Muslim affairs can be interpreted as questioning the legitimacy of Islamic practice itself.
At the same time, others contend that Nigeria’s constitutional democracy guarantees freedom of speech and the right to public debate on issues of law and governance. They argue that discussions about the application or scope of religious law within a plural society are legitimate, provided they are conducted peacefully and within the bounds of the law.
The controversy has also drawn attention to the role of security agencies such as the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigerian Police, with some calling for vigilance to prevent inflammatory rhetoric from escalating into conflict. Nigeria’s history shows that careless statements—especially in the digital age—can inflame tensions and deepen divisions if not handled responsibly.
Some voices further express a sense of marginalisation, claiming that Muslims, including Hausa-Fulani communities, often face prejudice and suspicion in parts of the country, especially in the South West and South East. Others reject this characterisation, insisting that Yoruba society in particular has long demonstrated accommodation across ethnic and religious lines. How criminalisation or bulling of Muslims and Hausa-Fulani of Nigeria now taking the lead in behavioral culture of some Nigerians is more visible in South West region otherwise known as Yoruba Land is found to be surprising.
Southerners, whose posture and will are ostensibly how to Christianise the Muslim North, now accuse Hausa-Fulani of religious intolerance for refusing their tactical evangelism aimed at converting Muslims to Christianity even in core Northern states of Sokoto, Katsina, Kebbi, Kano, Kaduna and Zamfara states. But questions have been raised without answers: That Bishop Matthew Kukah is Catholic Bishop of the Sokoto Diocese, who is the Chief Imam of Anambra or Imo? Answer is difficult to come.
They claim that the Muslim dominated North is intolerant towards Christians but one of the biggest churches in Nigeria, the Kukah-led Catholic Church or Centre, is located just 5 minutes drive from the Palace of Sultan of Sokoto, Leader of Muslims of Nigeria and number 15 of first 50 most influencial Muslims in the world. In the entire Northern Nigeria, nobody is demolishing church. Christian female students attend public schools even private schools owned by Muslims in those Northern communities but nobody forces them to wear Hijab. Even when issues of mob, which is u Islamic, happened in Sokoto leading to death of Deborah Yakubu who arrogantly blasphemed Holy Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, not only that Sultan was the first to condemn it and called on security agencies to get the culprits arrested and prosecuted. Those demands were effected. During the first coming of His Royal Highness Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II as Emir of Kano, some yandabas we’re said to overreact burning down an old church. The Emir of Kano, an Islamic cleric, scholar and expert in Islamic jurisprudence, kicked, condemned the act, rebuilt the church with his personal money into an ultramodern church and then handed it over to the Kano Christian community. In banks across North, especially Sokoto, no Christian female staff wears hijab. That is the North Yoruba, Igbo and many Southerners hate so much and wrongfully accusing of religious intolerance.
But none of those good characters of the Muslim North is found with either Yoruba of Southern West or Igbo if South East. This is a free-fact. If the people are not agitating for a mosque to be demolished in Lagos or Port Harcourt, they will be claiming Hijab should not be allowed in even public schools or as for Muslim staff in a working place especially banks. The persecution is much and terrifying that a particular publishing press (name withheld) in Ibadan has to sack eight Muslim men for no other offence but that they were found praying one of their afternoon prayers in the expansive company’s premises. Prince Bola Ajibola SAN, May Allah bless his memory, had to pick one of them and offered him automatic employment. These things happened and can be verified. Up till today, Lagos State government has not fully implemented the Supreme Court ruling on Hijab for Muslim female students. They have to play politics implementing it. Any time they like, when ejection is approaching, they issue circular allowing Hijab without clarity. After election, Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN) is left to itself protesting and moving from one office to another for same fundamental rights that even Supreme Court has granted them. No court’s ruling is required in the first place but in Yoruba Land State of Lagos, even when the apex court rules, it means nothing.
Worst and more perplexing is the situation where any Muslim who cries out over the hardship, marginalisation, deprivation and persecution his own Yoruba people in positions of authority make him or her pass through, they tag him or her a religious fanatics or “agbesinlori” (meaning: carrying religion too much on himself or herself). These are the same people who project Hausa-Fulani of Northern Nigeria as religiously intolerant people and, as their lord and savior US President Donald Trump calls it lately, people who commit Christian genocide. And upon this, many Christians and Southerners are very happy.
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Ultimately, the debate highlights deeper national questions: How can Nigeria balance religious freedom with social cohesion? How should disagreements over religious law be addressed in a multi-faith democracy? And what responsibilities do citizens, leaders, and online commentators bear in safeguarding peace?
Under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, many Nigerians continue to call for a stronger commitment to fairness, equal protection under the law, and decisive action against religious intolerance in all its forms. Advocates of national unity stress that no group should feel excluded or targeted, and that the rule of law must protect every citizen equally.
As conversations around Shari’ah and religious rights continue, stakeholders across faiths are urged to engage constructively, avoid provocative language, and uphold the long-standing tradition of coexistence that has defined much of Yoruba land. In a diverse society such as Nigeria, dialogue—not threats or hostility—remains the most reliable path to peace.
Nasrudeen Abbas, a public affairs analyst and freelancer, writes from Port Harcourt.
