Decreeing Boycott Of Arabic Is Equal To Boko Haram – Tolu Ogunlesi

The new educational curriculum in Nigeria is still generating a lot of heat since it was announced that it includes a new subject, Arabic Studies. This new introduction has seen the collapse of Christian Religious Studies which is to now be studied as only a theme under another subject.

Many notable Nigerians have criticized this move as they see it as a form of Islamization of Nigeria, a secular Nation. Christian leaders like Bishop Oyedepo, Pastor Adeboye, members of PFN and CAN have all added voices against what is seen as an attempt to indoctrinate non-muslims students, especially the Christians.

Many have tried to explain that Arabic is not a religion in itself, but we all know that it is the language in which Muslims say their prayers and in which the Quran is written. This has led to the argument that the Educational board ought to have made Hebrew or Greek, both languages with affiliations to Christianity, an option to Arabic Instead of French, a subject that has few teachers in Nigeria. With few French teachers in Nigeria, schools without one might see students with no option but to study Arabic. The fear most people have is that the Arabic teachers are definitely going to be Muslims with fanatics in their midst.

Well, while surfing the net, I came across a tweet from Tolu Ogunlesi, the Oversee Digital Communications for the Nigeria President. In his tweet, he tried to make 3 things clear. I will shortly address those 3 things to show how shallow they are.

1. CRK has not been removed from the curriculum
Yes, it hasn’t been removed but rendered insignificant since they made it just a theme under another subject. He should note that the subject CRK is one of the reasons why our society is still witnessing a little peace. Imagine what the society will be like in few years time now that the subject that helps instill morality and religiousness in our students is removed.


2. Arabic has not been made compulsory

That’s what we hear for now, but it sounds different from what CAN spoke of when they said Christian students were beaten for rejecting the subject in one of the States that has started implementing the new curriculum.

“We have the names of the victims and their schools with us, including the text message from the parents of such students who were beaten,” Ayokunle said. – the cable



3. Decreeing boycott = Boko Haram

This last statement shouldn’t have come from someone who is a Presidential Aide. Did he make that statement on his own or he simply parroted what his masters in government told him to? Is he trying to tell us that the Nigerian Government will treat CAN, PFN, Pastor Adeboye, Bishop Oyedepo etc the same way they treat Boko Haram just cos they told their Christian faith adherents to boycott an ideology that poses a threat to their faith? On one hand, Tolu Ogunlesi claims Arabic Studies is not compulsory. On the other hand, he calls those that want to exercise their freedom to boycott the subject as Boko Haram.

I’m done with my own opinion, the rest lies in you the reader.