Nigeria: Vetting Muslim Clerics Leads to Bannings

In the aftermath of the Boko Haram uprising in Northern Nigeria, the relationship between state authorities and radical preachers has preoccupied me – and the Nigerian government itself.

Authorities in Borno State announced new vetting procedures after the riots, and now those procedures are resulting in bannings:

Ahead of last week’s start of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, more than 150 clerics were screened and 30 banned.

The authorities believe lax controls on radical clerics allowed the Boko Haram sect to form a power-base[…]

Alhaji Abdulrahman Terab, the acting commissioner for religious affairs of Borno, told the BBC’s Bilkisu Babangida that about 155 clerics had been checked so far.

“Thank God, we have managed to screen these clerics and they were given a temporary permit, allowing them to preach during this period of Ramadan,” he said.

Those clerics granted permits have been told to abide by about 11 conditions, most of which relate to being “aware of what they are saying” following the teachings of the Koran and the Prophet Muhammad.

“Apart from that, they must focus on things that will benefit the education of people and things that will not incite people to violence,” he said.

“When the new law is passed and the new committee inaugurated, then a new screening will take place and all those who qualified will be given permits to preach even after the Ramadan period.”

Borno state Governor Ali Modu Sheriff had announced he would be tightening controls on radical preachers shortly after the Boko Haram uprising.

“A preaching board is to be reconstituted to ascertain that only qualified and reliable clerics would be allowed to preach in mosques and in other places,” he said at a meeting of clerics in Borno state capital, Maiduguri on 3 August.

“It is to be regretted that the law which had been in place was not enforced.

“That laxity was what enabled Mohammed Yusuf to conduct his type of sermon and foment trouble without being cautioned.”

Tighter state controls over preachers parallel efforts to crack down on other radical groups. Officials in Western Nigeria deported about 100 members of the Darul Islam group this weekend, following a raid on the sect earlier this month. Although Bashir Abdullah, Darul Islam’s leader, denied any connection to Boko Haram, Nigerian authorities clearly feel they must take pre-emptive actions in order to deny fuel to the flames of radicalism.

Vetting preachers more carefully could well help keep radical Islamic discourse within tighter bounds. But arrests and deportations without sustained attention to underlying political discontent could prove ineffective.