Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar and President, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Most Rev. Daniel Okoh, on Wednesday called for religious tolerance among Nigerians to have a united country.
This is just as former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, declared that religious intolerance and other challenges facing the country are products of bad leadership.
Obasanjo and others spoke in Ibadan at the World Interfaith Harmony Week Conference and Award ceremony organised by a radio station, Honour 103.5 FM and Pan-af Publishers, in collaboration with the United Nations, with the theme, “The Love of the Good and The Love of the Neighbours.”
Present at the event include former governor of Ogun State and Senator representing Ogun East, Otunba Gbenga Daniel; former President, CAN Rev. Supo Ayokunle; President, National Baptist Convention (NBC), Rev. Israel Akanji and veteran broadcaster, Dr. Yemi Farounbi.
The former President, while presenting a thematic remark, said all religions preach true love and tolerance as there cannot be peace without true love, stating that it is the collective responsibility of all Nigerians for the country to be in peace which should not be left alone for the other person.
In his remarks, the Sultan of Sokoto who was represented by the President, Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria (MUSWEN), Alhaji Rasaki Oladejo, said if Nigerians can come together as one despite their differences, we can have a better society because most of problems the nation are having have to do with lack of understanding particularly when it comes to religion and ethnicity.
While describing the gathering as a clarion call on all Nigerians to have tolerance, love each other and stand with themselves, he urged all Nigerians to forget any contradiction on religion and embrace peace and love which all religions preach.
The CAN President, Most Rev. Okoh, on his part, said the event was timely and a critical reminder for all Nigerians to embrace love, compassion and mutual respect for each other, charging Nigerians to work collectively towards building a future where peace and harmony reigns and all can live together in peace and unity.
Hon. Dogara in his keynote address delivered by Hon. Timothy Golu, said both Islam and Christianity pride itself as a religion of peace with the scriptures commanding that one must live peaceably with all men, lamenting that this has become so difficult in the country.
He maintained that Nigeria is where it is today because of lack of leadership and denial of personal responsibility which has become a moral epidemic today.
According to him, Nigerians owe it to themselves and their children’s posterity to strive for peace, noting that all Nigerians should deploy skills and humanity to create a society where every individual can live with dignity, pride, respect and with abounding peace.
He said, “Leaders think and talk about solutions and responsibility is at the heart of leadership because the leader is the one who responds to a need. That response may be to God’s call or to the needs they see around them, in this case, the unmitigated violence we witness on daily basis. It is said that, “everything rises and falls on leadership”.
“No society throughout history has ever risen above the level of its leadership. Sadly, when we abdicate our responsibility, all we have left is to cover up our weakness as in the case with us now.
“As people of faith, we have a divine responsibility to achieve a better and more fully integrated life for our citizens across religious boundaries. It must be noted that we cannot be a nation if we merely tolerate each other or if our peace is only silence or if our happiness is the other groups’ unhappiness.
“For progress to be made, we must fight for justice for the Christian, for the Muslim and even for those who choose not to believe at all.”
Kemi Olaitan
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