The demands include the creation of state police or fully decentralised police authority; as well as the clear and unambiguous religious neutrality of the Nigerian state.
Two weeks ago, the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) met with the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, and presented 11 demands to him. The event was part of a series the organisation held for the major candidates for the 2023 presidential election.
At the meeting, CAN presented an 11-point demand to the candidates for implementation if they are elected. The demands include creation of state police or fully decentralised police authority; clear and unambiguous religious neutrality of the Nigerian state; enforcement of fundamental rights of all Christians, including economic and social rights; restructuring to decentralise government; equitable and enforceable sharing of executive positions.
Others are "ethnic and religious representation in military and security agencies; self-determination for all Nigerian people; no to RUGA, yes to ranching; education and free healthcare for all Nigerians, including the Almajiris; no open grazing, rather modernisation of animal husbandry; local control of local economy, including waters, rivers, and forests."
CAN has consistently opposed the decision of Mr Tinubu and his party to field a Muslim/Muslim ticket.The decision of the former Lagos State governor to field Kashim Shettima was met with outrage from the organisation.
The appearance of some clerics at the unveiling of Mr Shettima equally angered the group. Bayo Oladeji, the spokesperson of former CAN president, disowned the clerics and labelled them 'fake'. However, it later emerged that they are truly clerics.
Amidst this, a group that called itself Northern APC Christian Leaders, led by a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, emerged to lead the opposition to the Muslim/Muslim ticket.
However, it has been about four months since the announcement of Mr Shettima, and it appears that CAN's stance has changed.
In September, Mr Tinubu met with some Christian clerics under the aegis of the Pentecostal Bishops Forum of Northern Nigeria. Aside from that, the Chairman of CAN, Lagos State, Stephen Adegbite, openly declared support for the APC candidate. Also, Biodun Sanyaolu, the assistant secretary general of CAN, is in the Presidential Campaign Council of the APC.
Therefore, it is not surprising that CAN has opted to heed the counsel of a former Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, who had earlier urged CAN to present a charter-of-demands to all presidential candidates, particularly the candidate of the ruling party.
"The Christian leadership should use this current challenge as an opportunity to present a charter of demands to all political candidates, especially our party (APC), outlining the irreducible minimum conditions acceptable to Christians in the next political dispensation.
"A charter of demands that would represent those values you preach to us in church highlighting our concerns, stressing the place of Christendom in the Nigeria project and then placing our demands before the political leaders. I want the Church to organise debates around issues of concern among all the candidates," the governor stated.
How feasible are these demands?
To analyse these demands, it is important to look at the manifesto of the parties, the existing laws and the contemporary political situation of the country.
State or decentralised police
On this, CAN has formidable allies in state governors, who have also called for the establishment of state police. In fact, some governors have reportedly demanded the reconsideration and passage of another state police bill as a condition for their state Houses of Assembly to pass the constitutional amendment bills now before the state lawmakers.
The demand of the governors has set off a face-off between them and the National Assembly. Some are concerned about granting state police, as many fear abuse by governors.
But the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) are with the lawmakers in opposition to the bill. The position of the union is that state governors, who are prone to owing workers, should not be allowed to be in charge of a police force.
In addition, Mr Tinubu's manifesto, the Renewed Hope, is vague on state police. He promised a flexible arrangement where the peculiarity of different communities will determine their policing system.
"Our government will work in close collaboration with State Governments and the National Assembly, to enact measures necessary to secure and protect communities from criminal violence, particularly kidnapping and terrorism. These measures will be flexible and adaptive in order to fit local realities and challenges. Some instances may call for establishment or enhancement of civilian neighbourhood watch groups. Others may require the establishment of more formal locally-based law enforcement institutions," the manifesto reads in part.
Creating state police, which means the removal of police from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent list, will require a constitutional amendment process. It is unclear if the current assembly is going to bow to the governors.
Mr Tinubu's manifesto on the matter is still vague.
Clear and unambiguous religious neutrality of the Nigerian state
Section 10 of the 1999 Constitution simply provides that "the government of the federation or of a states shall not adopt any religion as state religion."
The adoption of Sharia law by12 northern states and the use of Islamic police, known as Hisbah, often generate concerns, which CAN speaks against. The increase in mob lynching over allegations of blasphemy has equally generated outrage within the Christian community in Nigeria. A recent case was the killing of Deborah Samuel in Sokoto State over allegation of blasphemy.
However, it is unclear how CAN intends to make religious neutrality unambiguous within the context of the 1999 constitution.
Enforcement of fundamental rights of all Christians
Chapter two of the 1999 Constitution, sections 16 and 17, stipulate the rights of Nigerians to social and economic rights. However, the sections did not differentiate rights along religious lines.
Section 17 provides that The State shall direct its policy towards ensuring that-
(a) All citizens, without discrimination on any group whatsoever, have the opportunity for securing adequate means of livelihood as well as adequate opportunity to secure suitable employment;
(b) Conditions of work are just and humane, and that there are adequate facilities for leisure and for social, religious and cultural life;
Restructuring to decentralise government
Across the country, there is no exact or uniform definition of restructuring. Within the context of the 1999 Constitution, restructuring refers to devolving more resources and responsibilities to states. Often, it requires a review of the items in the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent list.
In his manifesto, Mr Tinubu promised two actions in addressing the imbalance between the federal government and the subnational: Constitutional review and resources allocation.
"Review the Constitutional legislative lists to ensure that States are given greater control over certain critical matters. Focus areas will include, crime prevention, prisons, stamp duties and certain forms of taxation.
"Resource Allocation: Embark on a review of the federation revenue allocation system to recalibrate the division of funds amongst the three tiers of Government: Federal, State and Local. More funds should be allocated to the States and Local Governments so that they can better address local concerns and fulfil their expanded constitutional obligations to the people.
According to the document, restructuring will "promote stronger governance at the state and local level, thus reducing political congestion and competition for resources at the federal level. The performance of federal, state and local governments shall improve while the people will benefit by having more political democracy and economic development more closely at hand."
Equitable and enforceable sharing of executive positions, and ethnic and religious representation in military and security agencies
Section 14(3) of the 1999 constitution guarantee that governance in Nigeria must reflect on the federal character principle.
"The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few State or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies," section 14(3) reads.
In the past seven years, the current administration has been accused of lopsidedness in appointments. In 2018, shortly after the appointment of Yusuf Bichi as the Director General of the State Security Services (SSS), CAN accused Mr Buhari of favouring the North.
Aside from the CAN, the presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, a northern Muslim, recently criticised the lopsidedness in the distribution of the heads of security agencies between the North and South.
"Today, we have 17 heads of various security agencies. All of them come from the North; I will not do that. I will make sure that every geopolitical zone is represented in these security outfits. This is also another way you can unify this country and give every part of this country a sense of belonging," Atiku said during an interactive session with members of the Nigerian Guild of Editors in Lagos.
Key appointments in Nigeria are a prerogative power subject to the approval of the senate or the National Assembly as the case may be. Therefore, diversification of appointments is easy to implement.
Self-determination for all Nigerian
This is perhaps the most controversial demand considering the ongoing agitation in the South - by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in the South-east and Yoruba Nation in the South-west.
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Section 2(2) of the Nigerian Constitution pronounced that "Nigeria is one indivisible and indissoluble sovereign state to be known by the name of the federal republic of Nigeria."
The constitution does not anticipate the secession of any part of the country. To achieve this demand, there will be a need to amend the constitution to provide for a referendum or other means of allowing self-determination.
No to RUGA, yes to ranching; no open grazing, rather modernisation of animal husbandry
This issue is another controversial demand on the list. For decades, farmers/herders clashes across the country have left thousands dead and properties destroyed.
Often, the crisis is politicized along ethnic and religious lines, hence, solutions are viewed from such a lens. The controversial Rural Grazing Area (RUGA) scheme was rejected by some sections of the country, hence the government introduced the National Livestock Transformation Plan.
Although, Mr Tinubu's plan focused more on crop production with nothing on animal husbandry, he promised to build on what the present administration has done.
Free Education and healthcare for all Nigerians, including the Almajiris
Mr Tinubu in his manifesto talked extensively about education and healthcare. For healthcare, there is mention of "leaving no one behind" by using the concept of Universal Basic Health Coverage.
According to the manifesto, marginalised groups will be targeted using community-based health insurance scheme to ensure access for all.
"Our government will scale-up the National Health Insurance Authority Act, with the objective of implementing a mandatory health insurance scheme to cover at least 40% of the population within two years. We will also expand public- sector driven mandatory health insurance coverage while augmenting the financial mechanism such as the Basic Health Care Provision Fund and Vulnerable Group Fund to cover vulnerable populations."
While on the Almajiris and other out-of-school children, Mr Tinubu is proposing the appointment of an official to head a task force with the mandate to reduce out-of-school children.
"A task force headed by a special czar will be created to address this problem. They will be tasked with reviewing and strengthening the scope of measures such as the school feeding programme established to keep at-risk children in school," the portion reads.
Clearly, a charter of demands is better than total opposition from CAN, a body that represents about half the population of the country.
