Recently the government Kaduna state came up with a proposed bill against Religious Public Preaching. The bill as I write now has past second reading in the State House of Assembly. Which means it is on its way to been passed into law.
The proposed bill is very contrary to certain provisions of the Nigerian constitution and the UN Human Rights chater. The summary and interpretation of the bill means that it will be an offense to play religious tapes, CD, flash drive etc outside your home, church or mosque. It means it will be an offense to play them even in your car. Religious meetings after 8pm is not allowed. You cannot hold a religious meeting outside a church or mosque.
Every preacher must get a license to preach from the government on the recommendations from CAN or the Islamic body. Both will be regulated by a committee set up by the governor. This will make the governor in charge of religious bodies in the state. It also means you cannot invite a guest minister to preach in Kaduna unless he gets a license from the government. You must get a license to build a church or mosque. These are but just to mention a few things in the bill.
Christians in kaduna says “We in Kaduna state are on top of the matter. But it is not a Kaduna State affair alone. It is a fact that Kaduna is only an experimental ground. If they succeed here it will soon be introduced to the whole nation. It is time for every christian in the nation to stand up to condemn this law. We must all hit the social media NOW and protest the proposed law. If your neighbours house is burning, don’t think it doesn’t concern you.
We in Kaduna State are not afraid. We are working very hard and praying too. But let everyone join hands now and use every legal means and channel to stop this. Prayer and Fasting my brothers and sisters will not be enough. We must take steps to ensure something is done now. The time to act is now !”.