Why A Muslim-Muslim Ticket Is Dead On Arrival

I have listened to many arguments about Nigeria’s political future in the past, many more recently as we draw closely towards another election year, and given our very disparate reasoning as humans capable of independent thought, there are many of these promulgations I personally find ludicrous. 

One that stands out among these is the reasoning that both most significant offices in the nation can be occupied by individuals of the same religious orientation. Now I do not argue for myself, I am not a very religious person and I care very little about what gods our political leaders pray to as long as we get results. However, an average Nigerian sees and thinks differently, especially since we are a nation of remarkably diverse setup. 

The most notable problem with a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket is the issue of representation. In this I find a tenable argument; with Nigeria being a country comprised of over 200 million people split approximately into 380 ethnic groups who hold innumerable religious beliefs roughly categorised into Islam, Christianity and Traditional religions, some may argue that we already even have a representation problem in choosing leaders who embody all of our individual orientations. This is probably only underemphasised because the majority of Nigerians who fall within these three categories have one of their own occupying certain offices. And assuming there aren’t even grave religious-based issues to be addressed — which exist — there is just an indication that you are well represented and seen. 

This is one tacit understanding a Muslim-Muslim ticket first tends to upset. 

It is also worth mentioning, that with the advent of the incumbent administration — which is notably made up of a practising Muslim and a Pastor — were virulent agitations against an unproven islamisation agenda, much later followed by a Christianisation allegation against the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s office. 

I will leave to your imagination the possible reactions to this mono-recognition should it be encouraged outside beer parlour quips. 

Furthermore, with Nigeria already being a nation with religiously-motivated insecurity issues on her hands, one can also logically argue that religious extremists who are adequately represented may feel emboldened to blatantly harbour all shades of aggression towards those of other beliefs who they now deem inferior. 

In fact, it is rumoured that the only reason political juggernaut, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was denied a place as running mate on President Muhammadu Buhari’s 2015 ticket, was the vehement objection by several notable party members who fluently articulated the dangers of a Muslim-Muslim ticket; first to their chances of success in claiming the ultimate prize, then to the peaceful ruling of a country as religiously diverse as Nigeria. 

I will conclusively loosely add, that besides the message of division and alienation this ticket sends, is a rather sudden and needless disruption of a working status quo. Taking into account the political history of the country, never in its democracy has its affairs been overseen by such ticket — from the Olusegun Obasanjo administration till date — and considering how long this has been, this arrangement by now feels natural, speaking to balance and providing an illusion of fair distribution of power.