Why Leaders Should Approve Sharia Court In S’West – Oloyede

Professor Ishaq Oloyede, the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), has called on leaders in the South-West to approve the formation of Sharia panels in the region to promote peace and religious harmony.

Oloyede, who also serves as the Secretary-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, made the appeal on Sunday during an interview on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande on Channels Television.

He expressed concern over the lack of awareness surrounding the issue, stressing that Sharia panels have already existed in the region for years.

He said, “I believe that Nigeria is great, and Nigeria will continue to be great, but it requires a lot of rethinking. Recently, people have been talking about Sharia panels in the South-West, and I was just smiling; I was smiling that I had never seen that level of ignorance being displayed.

“Sharia Panel in Oyo State, somebody did a PhD thesis on it in 2007, which means it had been there before 2007. The person who wrote on that appraisal is a professor today in Ibadan. He is Prof Makinde, and the governor coincidentally is Makinde. I don’t know whether they are related.”

Oloyede further discussed the issue of religious tolerance in the South-West, noting that Muslims in the region often feel psychologically burdened by the peace and harmony that characterise their coexistence with other faiths.

He pointed out that while churches are licensed by the government to conduct statutory marriages, Muslims face challenges when it comes to resolving disputes in Islamic marriages.

He explained, “When you have such a situation (of religious tolerance), and you do not continue to monitor what you are doing, you will be living in the past. I’m a Muslim from the South-West. The Muslims from the South-West pay psychologically for the peace and harmony that we are talking about.

“The churches are licensed by the government to conduct marriages that are statutory, and if you have any dispute within your marriage, you go to government-funded high courts for dispute resolution. If there is a dispute in my marriage, where do I go? I don’t have the opportunity because I married according to Islamic rites; I will have to go to a customary court where the customary judge knows next to nothing about my faith, about the laws on the basis on which we got married.

“He would now use customary law to determine Islamic marriage, and the Constitution of Nigeria allows it to say where the state of assembly allows it, there should be Sharia Courts of Appeal.”

Oloyede also highlighted the existence of Sharia Courts of Appeal in other parts of the country, especially in northern Nigeria.

He added, “There have been Sharia Court of Appeal in different parts of the country, particularly in the northern part of Nigeria. When we say there is harmony, it means somebody is suffering in silence, but when the person speaks, they say, ‘Why are you making noise?’”

The call for Sharia panels in the South-West has recently sparked controversy, with Muslim leaders advocating for their right to self-determination, while some non-Muslim groups have raised concerns about the potential implications of these panels.

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