How Sharia is faring in the North

THREE YEARS after the first sharia bell tolled in the northern State of Zamfara and resounded soon after in eleven other northern states, our reporter went back to see how the people of those states have fared under the system.

"It's good, this Sharia," said a prominent petty-trader and local community leader in one of the Sharia states. "Haba! It cleared away all the rubbish, like all those big-big businesses and enterprises outsiders brought to our state to destabilise our way of life. Look, before-before, plenty local people used to gather outside my house every day for prayers and then I give them food and money. But when infidels showed them how to work for money and be independent, they stopped coming here. They even stopped respecting me. But thanks to Sharia, things are now returning to how they used to be."

Rising to defend the non-commercial and non-enterprising status the Sharia legal system has imposed on their States, a Governor in one of the participating States declared: "Okay, we kicked out big businesses and entertainment industries and lost huge revenue from them. That's no big deal. We can do without money earned immorally. We are in the federation and our country is blessed with oil. We have as much legitimate claim to its revenue as any. This is our right that cannot be denied us!"

A member of the Sharia Implementation Committee in Kano announced gleefully, "Today, we have closed down all entertainment industries - hotels, discos, clubs, beer parlours which corrupt our God-fearing people. As you can see, ordinary people are happy and gay, and are going about their religious lives - men one way, women the other, without being molested or offended. Oil money is there to take care of everyone."

He also predicted that by the end of the year, all the northern States would have joined the league of Sharia states: "And mark my words, by then all infidels and activists and all their non-Sharia activities - like working hard and making money - would have been flushed out. We have found a system that works for us and we are going to keep it, for as long as Allah has given our country oil. Besides, Sharia is an effective way of keeping others out, so we can get a good grip on our religious lives."

Answering a reporter's question on denying human rights to non-Muslim settlers, a former northern Head of State and adviser to the Sharia Implementation Committee quipped: "No! It is not a case of denying non-Muslims their rights, it is a case of defending ours."