From Curriculum to Crucifixion: How 2023’s Muslim/Muslim Ticket Prepares Christians for 2027 Golgotha

From Curriculum to Crucifixion: How 2023’s Muslim/Muslim Ticket Prepares Christians for 2027 Golgotha

By Bolaji O. Akinyemi.

In 2017, Nigerians watched the Federal Ministry of Education order the separation of Christian Religious Knowledge (CRK) and Islamic Religious Knowledge (IRK) after an ill-advised merger into “Religion and National Values.” Parents, churches, and civil society rose in resistance, and the government was forced to retrace its steps. It was proof that vigilance is the price of faith and freedom.

Fast-forward to 2025. The Nigerian Supreme Council for Ecclesiastical Affairs (NSCEA) has raised the alarm again: the same creeping attempt to dilute and distort Christian Religious Studies is back—packaged as “Religion and National Values” across all levels of education. This is not innovation; it is a recycled agenda. Oil and water cannot mix, yet someone insists on forcing them into one cup.

The Politics Behind the Curriculum

This is not about pedagogy. It is about ideology. It is about who controls the mind of the Nigerian child. It is about whose values shape the next generation. The curriculum is not neutral; it is a battlefield. To merge CRS and IRS is to weaponize government instruments for religious subversion.

And here lies the tragedy: Christians opened the floodgate themselves in 2023 when they rationalized and accommodated the ideology of the Muslim/Muslim ticket. By failing to insist on balance at the highest level of national leadership, they emboldened a precedent that today seeps down into classrooms. Silence in 2023 has become subversion in 2025.

The Journey to Golgotha

What began with the ballot is now marching toward the blackboard. What started as a political compromise is fast becoming a generational crucifixion. If Christians fold their arms, by 2027 we would have walked willingly to Golgotha—bearing the cross of a self-inflicted political and spiritual betrayal.

Let us be clear: education is better off with secularism than with a curriculum designed to tilt the scales of faith. To use state power to privilege one religion over another is not governance; it is oppression. And oppression tolerated today will be tyranny institutionalized tomorrow.

The Call to Resist and Rebalance

We must resist this manipulation of the curriculum, just as we resisted in 2017. CRS must stand on its own, IRS must stand on its own, and no child should be compelled to drink from a cup mixed with contradictions. The NSCEA is right to demand a review. Parents, churches, teachers, and civil society must rise in one voice.

But resistance must not stop at the school gate. It must extend to the ballot box. The lesson is simple: never again should Nigerians accept a ticket that erases religious balance. 2027 must restore what 2023 destroyed. A Muslim/Christian or Christian/Muslim presidency is not just about politics; it is about protecting Nigeria’s plural soul.

The cross of 2023 need not end in the grave of 2027. Resurrection is possible—if the Church wakes up, if citizens stand up, and if truth speaks up.

Dr. Bolaji O. Akinyemi is an Apostle and Nation Builder. He’s also President Voice of His Word Ministries and Convener Apostolic Round Table. BoT Chairman, Project Victory Call Initiative, AKA PVC Naija. He is a strategic Communicator and the C.E.O, Masterbuilder Communications.

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