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| Soyinka |
(Wole Soyinka)--The issue, I understand, is the flaunting of religious
markers in public educational institutions. Let me begin by confessing that I
envy the French to whom those choices have only been recently thrust to the
fore – they have always been with us in Nigeria. I also envy those to whom the
issues are straightforward, and permit of dogmatic positions. In normal
circumstances, perhaps I would agree that it should be a non-issue. It is
tempting to simplify the debate by evoking the nature of club membership - a
public school has certain rules, and if you wish to be a member, or make use of
its facilities, then you must conform to those rules or seek alternatives
elsewhere.
However, the world we inhabit has changed vastly and
dramatically over the past few decades, and club rules – like race or sex
differentiated membership rules - are no longer sacrosanct. In addition, the
genie is out of the bottle and the beasts of intolerance, suspicion and
polarization stalk the streets. Dialogue is mostly relegated to the status of a
poor relation of terror and intimidation, barely tolerated, often mocked.
Conscious of the fact that the present dialogue is being conducted within such
an atmosphere, it may be helpful if I began with a reference to my personal
response when a directly contrary policy was announced in my own country,
Nigeria, and not just recently. It happened about twenty years ago, long
before the introduction of the Sharia – the Islamic law – in a number of states
within the country.
