NORTHERN NIGERIA (BP) — Four of the 12 states in northern Nigeria where Muslims are under Sharia law have closed all schools for Ramadan, including Christian schools, raising objections from Christian groups.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) condemned the closures as excessive, discriminatory and divisive. According to the Vatican News, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) said the closures raise serious questions about the secular nation of Nigeria’s constitution, which prevents governments from imposing religions upon citizens.
“The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) views with grave concern the directives by the governments of Bauchi, Katsina, Kano, and Kebbi States mandating the closure of all schools — public and private — for up to five weeks to observe the Ramadan fast, effective from late February to early April 2025,” CAN President Daniel Okoh said in the March 1 statement. “While we honor the religious diversity of our nation and recognize the significance of faith, these decisions raise serious issues of equity, educational continuity, and the welfare of all citizens, regardless of their religious beliefs.”
Okoh is archbishop and general superintendent of Christ Holy Church International, an African Independent Church, and promotes unity among Nigeria’s diverse denominations.
CBCN called on the Nigerian federal government to intervene to protect religious freedom. They also urged state governors to resolve the issue ahead of federal action, issuing a statement co-signed by CBCN President and Archbishop of Owerri Lucius Ugorji, and CBCN Secretary Donatus Ogun, bishop of Uromi.
“This decision, which affects not only Muslim students but also Christian students and Christian-owned schools, raises serious questions about the secular nature of our country and the rights of all citizens,” the Catholic leaders said in their statement.
“The Nigerian state is secular, and this secularity is not a mere declaration; it is a fundamental principle that must guide all aspects of our national life,” they wrote, drawing from the church’s 2012 pastoral letter, “The Church and the Nigerian State.”
Bauchi, Katsina, Kano, and Kebbi are the only states under Sharia law in northern Nigeria to mandate school closures during Ramadan. Kano has closed schools for five weeks through April 6, while Bauchi, Katsina and Kebbi confined their closures to the month of Ramadan, which ends March 30 or 31, depending on the sighting of the moon.
Constitutionally, Nigeria is a secular state with Sharia law subservient to federal law, according to persecution watchdog group Open Doors. As such, the Islamic legal code should only apply to Muslims, but in practice in northern Nigeria, it is often used to discriminate against Christians, Open Door said in a press release.
Northern Nigeria is mostly Muslim but is still 26 percent Christian, Open Doors reported in its 2025 World Watch List. Nationally, the country is split nearly evenly between Christians and Muslims, Open Doors said, balanced by a south that is 71 percent Christian.
Open Doors put Christians at 106,608,000, or 46.5 percent in its World Watch List, compared to 105,322,000 Muslims, 46 percent, and categorized other Nigerians as Ethno-religionist or Agnostic.
In countries where Islam is more widely practiced and Ramadan is deeply revered, such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the government does not shut down schools for the entire fasting period, Okoh said. But he encouraged residents of the northern Nigeria states to remain calm as CAN worked to resolve the issue.
“Yet, we cannot overlook the potential violation of the rights of students and families who do not observe Ramadan,” he said, “nor the dangerous signal this sends for equitable governance.”
But with Ramadan well underway, having begun Feb. 28 or March 1 — depending on the sighting of the new crescent moon — CAN has released no statement of its progress, nor a statement of whether it has filed a lawsuit. Nor has CAN or the CBCN reported that the states have changed their calendars.
In objecting to the closures, religious and civic leaders pointed out harmful effects on Nigeria’s educational system, which has a high rate of unenrollment.
Specifically, regarding children between the ages of 6 and 18, Bauchi records 54 percent as unenrolled; Kebbi, 45 percent; Katsina, 38 percent, and Kano, 35 percent, CAN said, referencing numbers from the National Bureau of Statistics.
