UNSECULAR NIGERIA: THE PARADOX AND PARALOGISM OF THE SECULARISM AND SECULARIZATION OF NIGERIA
Secularism is an old concept with intense and continuous debate
even in the so-called secular democracies. Even in Nigeria, the
recent debates on constitutional rights issues of religious Laws
and practice have helped to reignite, the old discussion about
whether Nigeria is Secular or not. This raises questions and
provokes new research particularly legal research into the
doctrine of secularism and secularization. Though the term
secularism is not written anywhere in the Nigerian constitution,
the argument that is usually recited by the proponents of
secularism is that by virtue of section 10 of the 1999 constitution,
Nigeria is secular. As demonstrated in the trial case of miss
Asiyat Abdulkareem V. Lagos State Government, in which the
trial Judge claimed as a product of her reading of section 10 of
the 1999 constitution, to the extent of equating Nigeria to
Turkey. Similarly, a Bill to redact the term ‘personal’ to read
Islamic law within the constitution was rejected by the senate of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria on claims of secular
considerations. However, such paralogisms particularly
contradicts many outstanding examples of legal, public policy
and the Nigerian constitutional reality. This paper critically
examines the key differences between secular and unsecular
nation. It analyzes the assertions or assumptions of Nigeria as a
secular state, whether it has legally undergone secularization.
The findings seem to indicate that to term Nigeria secular is
paradoxical. Therefore, it is unsecular. Secularism as neutrality
is also a ruse. The approa
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