Zamfara State Imposes Arabic
Language on Christians
Governor Thanks Saudi Arabia for Its Support
July 26, 2002
by Obed Minchakpu
GUSSAU, Nigeria (Compass) -- In a controversial step sure to
inflame religious
tensions in Nigeria, the governor of the northern state of
Zamfara, Ahmed Sani,
a Muslim, announced the enforced use of the Arabic language by
all residents of
the state, including Christians.
Sani, who introduced sharia, the Islamic legal code, to states in
northern
Nigeria in 1999, said he will enforce the teaching and usage of
Arabic in order
to enhance the Islamic faith among the people, regardless of
their religious
persuasion.
The governor disclosed his plan on Thursday, July 25, in a speech
to
participants of a five-day workshop for Islamic clerics held in
Gussau, the
Zamfara state capital. The Saudi Arabia Embassy in Nigeria
organized the event,
which took place at the Jibrin Bala Yakubu Secretariat.
The governor said that enforced usage of Arabic would foster the
relationship
between the residents of the state and the Arab world. He said
arrangements
have already been completed to organize education programs.
"Very soon we shall organize a course for Arabic language so
that we don't have
to speak in Hausa if we are communicating with you," he told
the officials from
the Saudi embassy. "We will do our best to make sure that we
understand and
speak Arabic."
Sani explained that the state government had already made the
language
compulsory in its schools from primary to the secondary level,
adding that what
was left was to organize lessons for adults to learn Arabic.
While thanking the Saudi authorities for their support of his
administration in
the state since the implementation of sharia, Sani noted that God
has entrusted
Saudi Arabia with the responsibility of taking care of the
Islamic religion. He
commended them for being faithful in the task of ensuring the
progress of Islam
around the globe.
Sani thanked Nigerian Islamic clerics for their unity, which
resulted in the
successful implementation of the Islamic legal system, and urged
the leaders to
continue in their work of entrenching Islam in Nigeria. He also
expressed
happiness that other states now look up to Zamfara for direction
towards the
total Islamization of Nigeria.