By Ezra Ukanwa, Abuja
AS part of efforts geared towards promoting unity and peace across the nation, prominent religious bodies, including the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID), and the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), have collectively called on Nigerians to prioritize peace over religious differences.
Vanguard reports that the call comes in the wake of the current Israel-Gaza Crisis and heightened tensions experienced in certain parts of the country, which have claimed innocent lives and resulted in the destruction of properties worth millions of naira.
Speaking during an interfaith dialogue for peace, held at the weekend, in Abuja, the General Secretary, CAN, Professor Samson Fatokun, emphasized the need for dialogue, understanding, and mutual respect amongst religious groups to prevent the escalation of conflicts.
Cautioning against attempts to religionize issues that bother politics and economics, he said: “It is a pity that religion should have united us as children serving one God. Children and Muslims are children of Abraham. We are all people of the Abrahamic faith and we should see ourselves as coming from the same origin.
“At CAN, we condemn anything called terrorism. I am not talking of religion, the problem in the Middle East today is political but we have brought religion into.”
On his part, the Secretary-General, NSCIA, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, represented by Dr. Abdul Wahaba Oyedokun, said: “The crisis in the world is not really about the market women, people on the street, or farmland. Simple issues they turn to religion are primarily economics and politics.
“Farmer-Herders crisis, is there anything religious about it? But because of the increasing scarcity of economic resources, the fault lines in Nigeria are clearly ethno-religious. People analyze Nigeria on the basis of North, south, Muslim, Christian and in the south west, hardly will you find a family where there is no Muslim or Christian living together but it is not very so in other parts of the country. The events of the past election have shown the fault lines in our country.
Corroborating, the convener, and KAICIID fellow, Abubakar Akande, Nigeria’s religious diversity should be celebrated rather than turned into a source of division.
He urged Nigerians to prioritize peaceful coexistence, emphasizing that “by deepening our understanding of others and strengthening relationships, dialogue can potentially reduce conflict, build peace and social cohesion, and enhance unity in diversity.”
– vanguardngr.com. October 21, 2023
