by Rachel Ogbu

The Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, believes the Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola is strategically Islamising the state.

For one the governor changed the name of Osun State from ‘State of the Living Spring’ to ‘State of the Virtuous,’ because “Jesus Christ is referred to as the living spring” and then started scheduling state functions for Sunday mornings, CAN Osun State chapter said.

Chairman, Osun CAN, Superior Evangelist Abraham Aladeseye, and the Secretary, Rev Father Gbenga Ajayi, who spoke at a news conference in Osogbo on Monday, accused the Aregbesola administration of attempting to polarise religious groups in Osun.

According to reports, CAN insisted that there had been increasing restlessness in the state occasioned by the insistence of some state government-backed Islamic fundamentalists, who had been calling for the wearing of hijab in all public schools – including Christian public schools.

“Bearing in mind the poor economic status of our state, one simply wonders why the governor chose to demolish the existing buildings in public schools, rather than renovate them as was being done by Ondo State Government.”

“If this is not religious extremism, what else can it be, considering the fact that in the 40-year history of the National Youth Service Corps, hijab has not been incorporated into the NYSC uniform?” CAN said.

The Punch reports:

Also, the Christian group faulted the declaration of a public holiday by the Aregbesola administration, stressing that “not even in Sokoto, the seat of the caliphate, is Hijra declared a public holiday.”

But the Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy in the state, Semiu Okanlawon, said the issues raised by CAN “are those that had been resolved long before now and in which all Christian leaders at the various meetings with the governor expressed clear understanding of the positions of the government.”