by Mofolusade Sonaike

I went to school side by side with Musa, Lawal, Usman, Fatima and so on. We were happy together, lived in peace without and color or bias – color here being, oh he’s Muslim or oh she’s Christian.

United we stand….If we choose

A friend of mine, Tega recently brought something to my attention and since then I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. I need to get it off my chest but in an objective way or else all hell will break loose, simply because it touches a sensitive spot amongst Nigerians – Religion! Yep. Don’t leave just yet though. Please stay with me, let’s review this trend together and see if we can attempt to fix it.

Have you noticed how many religiously skewed schools there are these days? I am not talking universities now o, nursery and primary schools even! It’s a reflection of our current mindset. When I was doing a school search for my toddlers, my priority was proximity (I don’t see why a child should travel hours to get to school). Next on the priority list was space (a decent play area; kids are meant to be able to express themselves) and then quality of staffing. So it was shocking to me when one day someone accosted me to ask why I am sending my kids to a Muslim school! Huh? Yes, the proprietress is Muslim, a hair covering one at that, but I met her and liked her principles and decided to send my kids there. I mean what has being a Muslim got to do with anything?! The school is not even religiously skewed. We had a long discussion on this matter at the last PTA meeting and you know the funny thing, a Muslim sister also mentioned that she had been accosted and asked why she sends her daughter, Farida to a Christian school! Actually, many of the children and teachers at the school are Christian, but heck! What is all this about?

I went to school side by side with Musa, Lawal, Usman, Fatima and so on. We were happy together, lived in peace without and color or bias – color here being, oh he’s Muslim or oh she’s Christian. Tega brought this up because a mutual friend of ours who is Muslim and sends his kids to a Muslim school raised a valid point. What are we doing to our children? He said his son came home one day and while watching TV, a beer advert came up, the little boy asked his dad with all innocence and sincerity, “Daddy, this advert is for the Christians right?” It hit him just then, that his kids are being groomed with the ‘We’re on this side, and they’re on that side’ ideology.

Let’s think about this for a minute. If you were born to Christian parents, what would you naturally gravitate towards? If you were born to Muslim parents on the other hand, what would you be today, most likely? Now this is the same you, I am talking about, we’re just flipping coins here. We are what we are because that is what we know and have accepted! There, I said it. We all agree there is a supreme being (at least most of us), yes; we have our various conceptions of what he means to us. Enough with the segregation already!

If Farida only goes to school from day one with Fauza and Toheera, how will she ever be able to understand and tolerate Kelechi and Kenneth or Peter? If Sarah is brought up to believe they are on that side and we are on this side, how is she supposed to work with Fauza in an office without bias? How are we supposed to build this nation together in love if already our kids are being divided?

No wonder people look at victims of terrorism in the light of ‘Did they kill us or them?’ When we’ve stereotyped each other right from childhood, how do we expect to have a progressive and united future?

Let’s think about this…

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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.