Sharia was my greatest challenge —Obasanjo

FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo on Sunday again reiterated that the introduction of Sharia in some parts of the country was the biggest challenge he ever faced as a leader.

Descibing Sharia as a real test for political leaders and the led, he said its introduction would have set the country on fire if not for the mature way it was handled.

Obasanjo, who spoke at the Immanuel Methodist Cathedral, Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, recalled how the former Governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Sani Ahmed Yerima, introduced the law and went ahead to mount a campaign for more states, especially in the Nortehrn part of the country, to embrace it.

He had on 2007, a few months after leaving office, said at a programme at the Redemption Camp of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, that the introduction of sharia in Northern Nigeria was one of his administration’s major headache.

Explaining that about 16 states later incorporated Sharia into their legal systems, the former President said many people believed that he would rise strongly against the development.

He said, ”Sharia remains the greatest challenge I faced while in office as the President. It (Sharia) was a real test for the leaders and the led in the country at that time.

”Many believed that I should roll out the tanks and crush Sharia. But I did say at that time that if it is of God, it will stay. But if it is political, it will fizzle out.”

Obasanjo, who claimed that Yerima began the sharia law on political grounds, said he (Yerima) never approved of any harsh punishment after Bello Jangedi’s hand was cut off for an alleged theft.

”After some months, I called him to ask him (Yerima, now a senator) why he was not cutting hands again, he said the cost of cutting one hand has made it unnecessary to cut more hands,” Obasanjo stated.

He, however, expressed gratitude to God for bringing the situation under control.

On why he failed to use public funds to build the Ecumenical Centre in Abuja, he stated that he could not have done so, considering the fact that Nigeria was a multi-religious country.

He also spoke on the epileptic power supply in the country, saying his administration found a solution to it.

Obasanjo said the Umaru Yar’Adua government which, according to him, initially failed to identify with the solution, had begun to embrace it.

The former President expressed satisfaction over the transformation of Akwa Ibom State, saying that Governor Godswill Akpabio had done well.

He called on the people of Akwa Ibom State to encourage him to achieve the best for the state.

Yerima introduced Sharia in Zamfara State in October 1999, thereby paving the way for some states like Niger, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Jigawa, and Borno states to embrace the Islamic legal code.

Many judgments by Sharia courts attracted condemnation from within and outside the country. Two of such judgments were the death sentences on Safiya Hussaini and Amina Lawal.