In an interview with Channels Television, Nigerian lawyer Jimoh Ibrahim emphasised that religion should not play a role in choosing Nigeria’s leaders. President Tinubu’s election, he said, had nothing to do with his Muslim faith. Previously a Muslim, Ibrahim revealed that he now follows Christianity. Despite the fact that his father was an alhaji, he has since converted to Christianity and often visits Winners Chapel.
Ibrahim continued by saying that religion has no bearing on whether or not a government is effective. He recalled an encounter in which he had challenged the ex-vice president for making assertions that appealed to religious sensibilities, pointing out that religion has little more than a 0.5 probability of being true.
He cast doubt on the usefulness of faith as a yardstick for evaluating government performance. Can we rely on it as a reliable standard? Being religious is no guarantee of success in Nigeria, which is a secular state. At the centre of Ibrahim’s attention was the fact that most millionaires are Christians rather than Muslims. He maintained that religion has no bearing on a country’s ability to rule effectively and urged people to stop obsessing over spiritual issues.
List ten really wealthy people, he said, and then ask how many Muslims there are. Just 2% of the population, compared to 98% Christians. Religion has no bearing on productivity, therefore please stop babbling about God and religion. Before accepting Christ, I practised Islam. An alhaji, my dad’s profession. Moreover, I have recently converted to Christianity. Everyone knows I’m a Winners Chapel member.
Those who know Ibrahim well were not surprised to hear that he had converted from Islam to Christianity and that he had spoken openly about the experience. He argued against the idea that religion should be the only element in determining who leads and instead emphasised the importance of examining all relevant aspects. He then presented the topic of whether or not religion is significantly different from 0.5. Ibrahim questioned whether religion played a deciding part in electing Asiwaju as president of Nigeria in response to Vice President Osinbajo’s remarks on religious concerns.
