News

Nigeria’s Touchy Transition

Christians anticipate next president with mix of reservation and fear.

With the rule of Nigeria’s first Christian president coming to an end, Africa’s most populous country could be facing a make-or-break transition. All the leading contenders for the presidency are Muslims, including Umaru Yar’Adua from the ruling party of current president Olusegun Obasanjo.

So far, all signs point to a peaceful handover following April’s elections. But Kenya-based Nigerian evangelical leader Tokunboh Adeyemo said many Christians have expressed disappointment that Obasanjo, a Baptist, endorsed a Muslim governor from a northern state. He urged Christians to understand the context.

“[Obasanjo] was respecting a gentleman’s agreement,” Adeyemo explained. According to a 1998 memorandum of understanding agreed to by Obasanjo, the Nigerian presidency must alternate between a Christian and a Muslim. Christians, predominant in the south, and Muslims, concentrated in the north, have clashed for decades.

According to Adeyemo, Obasanjo’s heir apparent is “a moderate Muslim, not a fanatic.”

“If [Yar’Adua] wins,” Adeyemo said, “there should be no reason for Christians to fear.”

Still, some do. In Akure, capital of Ondo, a largely rural southern state, Iyabode Okoro worries that a return to Muslim control would marginalize Christians.

“Even now with a Christian president, the persecution is not abated,” said Okoro, who runs the family-focused Christian Heritage Ministries with her husband, Stanley. “We continue to hear of church burnings from time to time and to hear of deprivation of people’s rights because of their faith.”

Okoro said Muslim leaders would not be politically capable of imposing Shari’ah law across all Nigeria. But in some northern states, moves to install Shari’ah over the last few years have contributed to greater restrictions against Christians.

As Obasanjo’s seven-year rule comes to an end, many Christians talk glowingly about his leadership, despite the fact that Nigerian churches helped to thwart a constitutional amendment to allow him a third term. Many did not expect his civil rule to last.

“Many prophets of doom said that democracy would not work in Nigeria and that military dictatorship would soon take over,” Adeyemo recalled. “He has proven them wrong.”

Obasanjo also curtailed the national influence of northern Muslims, an ever-urgent concern for Christians, Adeyemo said. “He put an end to the hegemony of the Islamic north that purports that only Muslims can rule.”

Copyright © 2007 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Related Elsewhere:

Christianity Today‘s other articles on Nigeria are available on our site.

Other articles on Nigeria’s upcoming elections include:

Corruption Charges Keep Opposition Figure Off Nigeria Ballot | A leading opposition candidate in Nigeria’s presidential election has been omitted from the official list of candidates, which was released Thursday by the Independent National Electoral Commission. (The New York Times)

Nigerian VP ‘excluded from polls’ | Nigeria’s vice-president cannot run in April’s polls, says The Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec). Inec said candidates indicted for graft, (BBC News)

Nigeria: Atiku: Will He Contest? | Katsina State governor and Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) presidential flagbearer, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, collapsed during a campaign rally and was flown abroad for treatment, prompting rumours that he had died. (The Vanguard, Lagos)

Yar’Adua’s rumoured death made him more popular | Interview with Sankara (Nigerian Tribune)

Where the press adds spice to the polls | The papers are plump with stories on the continuing contest between the president and the popular figure he once chose as his number two. (Mail & Guardian)

Weblog commented on recent Compass Direct reports of teen abductions and forced conversions to Islam.

Also in this issue

The CT archives are a rich treasure of biblical wisdom and insight from our past. Some things we would say differently today, and some stances we've changed. But overall, we're amazed at how relevant so much of this content is. We trust that you'll find it a helpful resource.

Cover Story

Passion Takes It Higher

The Joy of Policy Manuals

News

Cleaning Up La Oroya

The Road to Healing

An End to the Creation/Evolution Wars?

Picture Christ

Declaration of Interdependence

Window into the Bible's Land

Islam's Silent Majority

A Manifold Resurrection

Resurrected Life

Henry Ward Beecher's Life and Times

News

Living with Islamists

Football Family Values

Desire Happens

Throwing Rocks at Israel

Review

Surfing for Spirituality

Relentless Pursuit

Bizzare-istan

News

Quotation Marks

Editorial

'Safe Sex' for the Whole Nation

News

Go Figure

Life, Liberty, and Terrorism

News

News Briefs: April 01, 2007

Learning to Cry for the Culture

News

Global Ultimatum

News

Love Your Muslim as Yourself

Ready to Implode?

News

'Destroy the Christian Religion'

CTI's Modest Dynamic Duo

News

Ireland's Evangelical Moment

News

Passages

Q&A: Albert Mohler

No Exceptions

Religion Sections Deleted

Church Divorce Done Right

View issue

Our Latest

News

As Malibu Burns, Pepperdine Withstands the Fire

University president praises the community’s “calm resilience” as students and staff shelter in place in fireproof buildings.

The Russell Moore Show

My Favorite Books of 2024

Ashley Hales, CT’s editorial director for print, and Russell discuss this year’s reads.

News

The Door Is Now Open to Churches in Nepal

Seventeen years after the former Hindu kingdom became a secular state, Christians have a pathway to legal recognition.

The Holy Family and Mine

Nativity scenes show us the loving parents we all need—and remind me that my own parents estranged me over my faith.

Why Christians Oppose Euthanasia

The immorality of killing the old and ill has never been in question for Christians. Nor is our duty to care for those the world devalues.

China’s Churches Go Deep Rather than Wide at Christmas

In place of large evangelism outreaches, churches try to be more intentional in the face of religious restrictions and theological changes.

Wire Story

Study: Evangelical Churches Aren’t Particularly Political

Even if members are politically active and many leaders are often outspoken about issues and candidates they support, most congregations make great efforts to keep politics out of the church when they gather.

News

Investigation to Look at 82 Years of Missionary School Abuse

Adult alumni “commanded a seat at the table” to negotiate for full inquiry.

Apple PodcastsDown ArrowDown ArrowDown Arrowarrow_left_altLeft ArrowLeft ArrowRight ArrowRight ArrowRight Arrowarrow_up_altUp ArrowUp ArrowAvailable at Amazoncaret-downCloseCloseEmailEmailExpandExpandExternalExternalFacebookfacebook-squareGiftGiftGooglegoogleGoogle KeephamburgerInstagraminstagram-squareLinkLinklinkedin-squareListenListenListenChristianity TodayCT Creative Studio Logologo_orgMegaphoneMenuMenupausePinterestPlayPlayPocketPodcastRSSRSSSaveSaveSaveSearchSearchsearchSpotifyStitcherTelegramTable of ContentsTable of Contentstwitter-squareWhatsAppXYouTubeYouTube