‘THE PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA HAS NO FINAL SAY’: SHARIA LAW CONTROVERSIES AND IMPLICATIONS FOR NIGERIA

Abstract

The unusual response of former President Olusegun Obasanjo (of Nigeria) to the adoption of shariah law in northern Nigeria that it “will soon fizzle out” was as intriguing and philosophical as the formal adoption of shariah law itself. This is against the backdrop of his antecedence in handling burning national matters. The critical issues bordered on whether the adoption of sharia was political or religious since it was through the parliament rather than the mosque. The paper examined the President’s responses against the prevalent political factors and showed that its implications have continued to reverberate in the Nigerian polity. The paper argued that a definite secular or multi-religious status (not a religious state) of the country should be articulated through the gristmill of thorough-bred intellectual and constitutional engagement.