An Opportunity Missed by Nigeria’s Christians: The 1976–78 Sharia Debate Revisited

The place of Islamic law in Nigeria has undergone three significant adjustments in the past half-century. The first, the “Settlement of 1960”, was brokered by the British in the run-up to Nigerian independence. The second, the “Debacle of 1979”, resulted from the constitution-making process that preceded the birth of the Second Republic. The third, the “Revival of 1999”, is still in progress today in the twelve northern states that are implementing sharia. Nigeria’s Christians deplore the Revival of 1999 and have many theories about its causes. This paper argues their own responsibility in the matter. The Settlement of 1960, under which the Muslims made large concessions but also won certain perquisites in return, was working to the general satisfaction. In the constitution-making process of 1976-78, however, in the fight over the proposed Federal Sharia Court of Appeal, Christian intransigence wrecked the Settlement of 1960 and produced instead the Debacle (for Islamic law) of 1979. By fighting and winning this battle the Christians missed an opportunity to settle with the Muslims the place of Islamic law in Nigeria on reasonable, honorable, and stable terms, instead sowing some of the seeds of twenty years of Muslim discontent that helped bring on the Revival of 1999. Indeed, the paper argues, but for the Debacle of 1979, of which the Christians were the authors, the Revival of 1999 would not have happened and we would not be witnessing the implementation of sharia in northern Nigeria today.