CAN Alleges Plot To Islamise Osun

The Osun State government’s reclassification of schools has continued to generate mixed reactions.

The national body of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) accused Governor Rauf Aregbesola of trying to Islamise the state. In a statement in Abuja, CAN’s National General-Secretary Rev. Musa Asake alleged that the reclassification was part of “a grand plan to systematically silence Christians in Osun”.

He said if the decision was not reversed, CAN would do all in its power to resist it. Asake alleged that the plan to Islamise Osun was not peculiar to the education sector. He questioned a loan purportedly taken by the state government from an Islamic bank. Asake said: “We have been following the events in Osun State. The decision to merge Muslim and Christian schools is a ploy. There is no pretence about it and we will resist it. I totally agree that the plot to Islamise Osun is not peculiar to the Education sector. They have an agenda.

“If you follow the event in that state and the way the governor is going about things, he has an agenda. Why is he particular about Christian schools? If he really wants to promote education, why can’t he build other schools? Why is he particular about Christian schools? We Christians can no longer fold our arms and allow them do what they want.” Asake accused past and present governments at the centre of ignoring the plight of Christians.

He said Christians had been reduced to second-class citizens in their own country. Asake said: “Forty years ago, under the supervision of a Christian minority Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, someone somewhere brought the idea that mission schools should be taken over. Forty years later, under the supervision of another Christian minority President, Goodluck Jonathan, Almajiri schools have been introduced.

“The school is strictly for Muslim children. These people are never concerned about the Christians. After they took over missionary schools, they introduced Almajiri schools. They have placed Christians as second and third-class citizens. “This time, we will not allow it to happen in Osun. It is a ploy to tarnish the educational system.

There is an agenda behind it. The governor was elected by both Christians and Muslims, so he must be fair to both parties. I urge Christians to rise up and say no. That education policy can be implemented in any places, but not in mission schools. The time has come for mission schools to be returned to churches.

“Sometime ago, we were told the governor took a loan from an Islamic bank. What does he want to do with that loan? How many governors have taken loans from Islamic banks? What is his plan? Christians are not fighting him.” Asake urged the government to curb the activities of Fulani herdsmen, who had been allegedly attacking farmers across the country. He said: “I am at the centre of the whole thing. I am a northerner and I have been suppressed. No one thinks about me as a northerner because I am a Christian. They are only using Fulani herdsmen to destabilise these areas.

They want to Islamise everywhere and take over everything. “Innocent souls are dying and I do not see any serious effort by our leaders to solve this problem. No one is saying anything about those that were killed? Northern governors are saying the presidency must return to the North, is that the issue now? I expect them to be having sleepless nights and trying to put an end to this, but that is not the case.

“Northerners have ruled this country and put us in the mess we are in today. Whenever these same people talk about the North, they are not talking about Christians. Christians must open their eyes. As a northern Christian, I am not regarded as anything. When they talk about power coming to the North, Christians are not in the picture.”
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