NIGERIA’S MEMBERSHIP OF THE ORGANIZATION OF ISLAMIC CONFERENCE (OIC): SOCIO-CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS IMPLICATIONS ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN AND THE UNITY OF NIGERIA

Abstract

The work assesses the decision of General Ibrahim Babangida’s administration to register Nigeria as a full member of Organization of Islamic Conference, presently known as the Organization of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) in 1986, and its implications on the Constitutional Rights of Women and the fragile unity of the country. Going by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Nigeria is a secular state, meaning that, there is no state religion. Every citizen of Nigeria has the right and freedom to choose and profess any faith he or she likes. The work adopts a historical research approach which made use of secondary and oral source materials. Findings revealed that General Ibrahim who came to power in 1985 inherited a nation with very weak economy and severed relations with virtually all her African neighbours and the major Western powers,. Therefore taking Nigeria to OIC was an option among other reasons to access the much needed interest free loan the Islamic Bank offered to revive the nation’s economy. Findings has also revealed that this action of General Babangida has given some governors and fanatical Muslims in the northern part of Nigeria the impetus to force some of the unfriendly Islamic practices and ideologies on women and non-Muslims residing in that part of the country. This work maintains that Nigeria is a secular state despite what Babangida did in 1986, any attempt to further push for the full Islamization of the country is an invitation to anarchy and the destruction of the fragile unity of the country.