Confab: Delegates advise Nigerians to imbibe religious tolerance

    
Some delegates at the National Conference have appealed to Nigerians to imbibe religious tolerance in order to reduce the rising spate of insecurity in the country.

As the debate on President Goodluck Jonathan’s speech to the conference entered its fourth day on Thursday in Abuja, the delegates shifted from the speech to matters central to the conference.

The speakers said that issues about religion were usually very sensitive and urged Nigerians to always be careful about how they reacted to them.

Malam Muzammil Hangar, representing Muslim religious leaders, said religion constituted a major challenge to the country, adding that religion was a very volatile issue.

“We agree with the CAN delegates to support the withdrawal of clear privileges in the constitution which appear tendentious to any religion; it should be removed across board.

“We should remove privileges on public holidays relating to Christians or Muslims; sponsoring of pilgrimage to Mecca or Jerusalem; dress code; and insignias.

“We don’t need them at all. Remove them if this will make the country to move forward,” he said.

Hangar urged the conference to allow the religious representatives at the conference to sit together and resolve issues causing religious conflicts among themselves.

Professor Andrew Haruna, representing the Christian Association of Nigeria, said religion was brought by the Arabs and the missionaries, it should not be allowed to divide the country.

“I am from Northern Nigeria bearing Andrew and Haruna, Christian and Muslim. So if there is a jihad in Nigeria, which part of me will you want to handle.

“We carry names which are not ours, they are religious titles. Imagine if the Christian missionaries had come from Sokoto and Borno, all our Emirs there could have been pastors.

“And if the Arabs had come through the sea, the pastors in the South could have been the Emirs and the Imams,” Haruna said.

Haruna supported the view of the Muslim leader that discriminatory policies towards any religion should be removed from the constitution and privileges should be stopped to promote peaceful co-existence.

The Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Sulu Gambari, representing the traditional rulers, cautioned against inciting statements that could undermine the peace and security of the country.

“Whenever the issue of religion is raised among us here, you see tempers rising, you see people talking angrily as if they are fighting.

“This should not be. We should be honourable enough to give every speaker the chance to express himself so that we can benefit immensely from it.

“We should take a cue from our fellow brother who calls himself an Ibo man but he is a Muslim; we have a lot to learn from him.

“See how he talked to us quietly, gently, and peacefully. So when issues of religion are discussed, let us be careful how we go about them.

Mr. Buba Galadima, representing Yobe State, cautioned religious leaders to be wary of statements that are capable of throwing the country into chaos.

“For my friends, the clergy that are here, please let them not set the country on fire,” he said.

NAN reports that a representative of the Muslim community, Professor Obinna Ekpe, on Wednesday regretted that the rights of the minorities, whether ethnic or religious, were not adequately protected.

“In many parts of the North, Christians are in minority but they have not committed any crime by being Christians.

“Nigeria must ensure that the rights of the Christians are protected without infringing on the rights of the Muslim majority.

“In many parts of the South, Muslims are in minority; Nigeria must evolve a way of protecting their rights without infringing on the rights of the Christian majority,” he said.