Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III has said that God Himself cannot be happy with those who kill in the name of religion.
The Sultan, who spoke yesterday, Thursday at the Interfaith Dialogue Forum For Peace (IDFP) 1st General Assembly in Abuja, noted that whereas there is no disagreement between Christianity and Islam, Muslims and Christians are always at each other’s throats in the name of the two religions.
“We must never play to the gallery. Before the Benue crisis, we have always had issues. You cannot be shedding blood in your country and expect God to be happy with you. Taking a single life unjustly in Islam is akin to taking the life of humanity.
“We cannot protect our religion by killing people. If you see people tying belts and killing people and expecting to have 70 or so… Islam has been dragged to the mud. People make comments on social media and people who do not know the truth simply believe it. It is quite unfortunate.
“No matter what we do or say, we can never bring back the lives of people lost in these senseless killings. When will this killings and madness stop? What are the security agencies doing? We can challenge our leaders with a united voice. If we challenge our leaders in one voice, we can move forward.
“We can only resolve our problems when we speak the truth and say it as it is. The CAN Secretary General has said the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) should be labeled a terrorist organisation. MACBAN has no control of any Fulani man. MACBAN is a body to help the various Fulani organisation to come together and help themselves. We have always said that Fulani do not carry arms. We have always challenged security agencies to arrest these killers and bring them to Justice. MACBAN is an organisation that helps Fulani and not makes them kill people.”
The monarch said that it is wrong for people to assume that the entire Fulani people were bad, and called on Nigeria to avoid negative profiling of people, adding, “you cannot say all the Fulani are bad. Majority of Fulani are excellent people, just like the Igbo and Yoruba are also excellent people.”
Calling on the both Federal and state governments to rise up and stave off further bloodshed in the country, the Sultan said the problem between the herders and farmers was economy and not religion. He called on both religious and political leaders to be sincere in tackling the problems associated with constant clashes between herders and farmers.
Sultan Abubakar III called on Nigerians to embrace dialogue and say the truth at all times. Lamenting on the killings that have taken place in some parts of the country, he harped on the need for implementation of recommendations of various workshops on how best to tackle the problems.
Speaking on behalf of Bishop Samuel Ayokunle, who is the President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Most Rev. Stephen Mamza, said the challenge of tackling the crisis is insincerity by religious leaders.
“When we hear of killings, we wait to hear who has been killed. We only condemned when those killed belong to our religion. Once the victims are not from our religion, we simply keep silent. This must stop if we are committed in tackling the problem,” declared the Bishop.
Arch-bishop of Abuja Arch-diocese, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, in his remarks, urged Nigerians to take the risk of trusting one another in a bid to resolve the present bloodshed, adding that something fast must be made to save the nation from yet another round of crisis.
“We are on a troubled boat. We must do everything to ensure we sail safe so that we all can be saved. We must come together and work in unity,” declared the Cardinal Onaiyekan.
Head of delegation from KAICIID International Dialogue Centre, Mr Abderrahmen El Yessa, expressed delight on the strides achieved so far by the IDFP.
“I’m happy to attend with you today this 2nd General Assembly of the IDFP. One year after its establishment, the Forum is now a good example of inter-religious initiative, where Muslims and Christians are working together and joining their effortsto promote social cohesion and mutual understanding in the country.
“The 1styear is always challenging for any newly established institution. It requires a huge investment to lay the foundation of the new entity and expand its activities, while learning how to work together. However, the IDFP members were able, during this limited period, to launch the Platform, adopt its bylaws, complete its registration as a legal entity under the Nigerian law, adopt its action plan, explore potential partnerships, and start to implement some important activities and initiatives.
“In that sense, the existence of the IDFP is already an achievement, by itself, particularly given the raise of violent extremism and hate speech, as well as the overall context of political violence with underlying ethnic and religious dimensions. However, it’s not enough and the Forum needs to upscale its activities and conduct concrete initiatives on the ground to promote peace.”
Calling on IDFP to focus on strengthening inter-religious dialogue in order to influence decision-makers through effective advocacy, El Yessa called on the forum “reduce inter-communal tensions in the crisis areas and strengthen mutual trust and understanding; addressing the roots of the intercommunal and inter-religious misunderstandings, particularly through inter-religious education and the development of a common curricula to be taught in the religious faculties and seminaries and focusing more on mobilizing additional resources from potential donors to upscale the Forum’s activities and interventions throughout the country and increase the IDFP’s autonomy and sustainability.”
El Yessa, who is the Chief of Inter-religious Dialogue in Conflict Situations at KAICIID, promised that the Vienna-based organisation “will continue to help the Forum to build its capacities and mobilize additional funds. It will also providean institutional support (both technical and financial), as well as to support its initiatives and share the best practices from around the world.
Welcoming delegates to the General Assembly, the Co Chairman (Christina) of IDFP, Bishop Sunday N Onuoha, lamented the challenges being faced in the country, following the bloodshed experienced in various parts of the country.
“How can we explain the comments made by those in positions of responsibility who have refused to guard their tongues and they talk as they are above the law, thereby encouraging terror subjects to act with impunity? It appears as if Nigeria is on life support with many parts of the organs collapsing on daily basis and there may be the need to rush Nigeria to an emergency room and place her on intensive care unit,” Bishop Onuoha lamented.
Co-chairman (Muslim) of IDFP, Alhaji Ishaq Kunle Sanni, harped on the need for all religious leaders and adherent to live in unity and work together as one family.
“If Muslim misbehaves, all of us, both Christians and Muslims would call him t order. If a Christian does well irrespective of religious collaboration we would applaud him. Despite being a Muslim, I have no fear of being contradicted that a Christian Elder Uzoaku Williams is the most productive and creative member of the executive committee, she is simply fantastic,” Alhaji Sanni noted.[myad]
