Nigeria’s religious plurality and conflict potential necessitate the promotion of Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB). Numerous projects in Nigeria are addressing these issues by promoting religious tolerance, interfaith understanding, and the defense of religious freedom. In this regard, the Center for Law and Religion Studies at Bauchi State University, Gadau, has started ambitious and creative initiatives to promote FoRB via advocacy, instruction, and training.
This talk will highlight the Center’s all-encompassing strategy, which includes creating a curriculum for Law and Religion Studies that is especially suited to Nigeria, offering a course on FoRB to law students, and introducing an LLM program that is concentrated on this important area. The Center’s commitment to advancing FoRB extends beyond academia, as evidenced by a series of seminars created to instruct and train personnel from ministries of religious affairs, as well as civil servants from other states. These seminars promote interfaith communication at various levels of government and highlight the significance of FoRB knowledge.
The creation of a code for ethical religious preaching in Nigeria, which includes rules for the responsible use of social media for religious messaging, is a major component of our work. This project involves communities from the outset, using a bottom-up methodology. In addition to these initiatives, the Center recently organized a fully sponsored seminar on law and religion for deans of law from Nigerian universities in partnership with the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Al-Muhibbah Open University, Abuja, on the one hand, and Brigham Young University, USA, on the other. To expand its global partnerships, the Center has teamed up with the Norwegian Center for Human Rights at the University of Oslo in Norway. Additionally, the Center has received a nomination from Notre Dame University in Indiana, USA, for a renowned prize in recognition of its exceptional contributions to the advancement of FoRB.
The talk will also highlight the Center’s global relationships, interdisciplinary approach, successful research projects, community engagement initiatives, and advocacy campaigns. The meeting will end with a call to action for ongoing cooperation and support of these crucial projects, which will guarantee the advancement of religious liberty and peace throughout Nigeria.
Speaker’s Bio
Ahmed Garba attended University of Jos for his first and second degrees in law from the year 1997 to 2011 respectively and PhD at Bayero University Kano which he finished defended in 2020. His research interest is in law and religion, constitutional law, law and public policy, and international law and religion and Islamic law. He has written and presented many papers in the UK, USA, and Africa on the intersection of law and religion including matters of religion and global policy. He was a visiting scholar at the University of Iowa Collage of Law from August 2013 to December 2013. He is also a BYU Fellow on Religion and Rule of Law; a title he got after attending BYU’s Program at Oxford from July to August in 2018. He was formerly Dean of Law and now Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic, Bauchi State University, Gadau in Nigeria.