The Advent of Sharia Law in the Nigerian Legal System: Constitutional Issues Arising
Abstract
The recent adoption of Sharia law in some Northern States in Nigeria has introduced a new dimension in the ever-volatile issue of religion in the country.1 Before now, the constitutional significance of religion in our body polity had been grossly downplayed even in the face of our rumoured membership of the Organization of Islamic Countries (O.I.C.) in the early eighties. We have contended with the vague notion that there is freedom of worship and religion and that it is one of our fundamental liberties entrenched in the constitution.2
Elsewhere, the relationship between the state and religion has engaged the perpetual attention of jurists, clergyman, politicians and fanatics and as a result, there is an inexhaustible collection of literature on the subject and her spanning the entire history of mankind from the "Garden of Eden" till date.3 Central to the entire cacophony of religions and the state has been the cardinal problem of freedom of religion and the freedom to repudiate it. Somehow, this problem though primarily spiritual has strongly manifested itself as an effective determinant of material well being of the people as well, and this has naturally exacerbated the problem into one that is sensitive, controversial, even risky and dangerous.
