Africa: Enthroning Religious Tolerance

The wind of religious intolerance is ripping across the African continent, with rising figures killed, and millions displaced in some countries, including Nigeria. Not only has religion become a breeding ground for violence, but the cross and crescent have also become an incessant source of conflict. Terror groups, citing religious reasons, including the desire to establish dominance by extremist groups, have left horrifying tragedies, with political leadership incapable of stopping the activities of these enablers. Recognising the need to combat the menace of religious extremists that has spiraled into terror acts, with attendant consequences in Africa, the Programme for Christian-Muslim Relations in Africa (PROCMURA) was established to promote peace and tolerance among adherents of the two religions.

PROCMURA’s Focus

In promoting the deals that underpinned the establishment of PROCMURA, the organisation’s objective is to ensure the emergence of “an African continent where Christian and Muslim communities work together for justice, peace, and reconciliation, regardless of their religious differences.” Operating in 20 African countries, but having active presence in more than 10 countries, including Nigeria, the interfaith focuses on several strategic pillars that include peace-building and conflict prevention; Freedom of Religion and Belief; Interreligious Eco-Justice and the empowerment of women and youths through the recognition of women as peacebuilders and protecting youth from manipulation and insulating them from religious extremism through organising dialogues.

In broadening discourse and promoting tolerance among the two Abrahamic faiths, the body maintains a “middle way” approach that “balances its interfaith work with strengthening intra-faith work among diverse Christian denominations, including Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical, and African Instituted churches, among others.” The recent visit by PROCMURA’s delegates to the Vatican stresses the importance of the continental inter-faith body in resolving religious crises in some parts of the world.  In dousing the flames of religious violence in Africa, Pope Leo XIV told the visiting delegates that in a world increasingly “marked by religious radicalisation, division, and conflict, your common witness shows that it is possible to live and work together in peace and harmony, despite cultural and religious differences”.

Political Will

For a continent presently torn by forces of religious extremism, Pope Leo XIV’s message underscores the relevance of promoting a harmonious relationship among adherents of both faiths to curb the recurring religiously induced destruction of lives and property, including ramping up efforts at building collaborations across religious divides. For peace to be achieved, the Pope added, religious groups must work in unison to promote peaceful co-existence by shunning acts that are capable of inflaming religious passion. Additionally, the Holy Father called on both religions to “reject nothing of what is true and holy in these religions,” for they “often reflect a ray of that truth which enlightens all men and women”.

Absence of political will by both political and religious leadership remains a major driver for the religious crisis. When both political and religious leaders unite in promoting peaceful co-existence, then the hope of ending the conflict can be realised. However, as long as religion is used as a factor to divide the people for political and military power, the ultimate result is a forlorn hope that can only be pursued but never attained.  The presence of religious leaders, including the Nigerian Methodist Archbishop, Dr Sunday Onuoha, who is also the Founder of a not-for-profit organisation, Vision Africa, reflects the commitment of Nigeria’s religious leaders to lend a voice to ending religious violence.

Nigeria’s Crux

In a world increasingly marked by religious radicalisation, Archbishop Onuoha has not remained silent in advocating for harmony, despite cultural and religious differences. In identifying the need for all hands to be on deck, the cleric has called for Nigeria’s federal lawmakers to visit their constituencies to assess the impacts of insecurity that has left some parts of the country unsafe.  To pave the way for engaging the legislature on the need to contain the rising spates of insecurity, the archbishop has called on Senate President Godswill Akpabio to convene an emergency joint session to discuss the imperatives of protecting citizens.

In a statement he released over the weekend, the Methodist Archbishop called on the NASS leadership to collaborate with critical stakeholders and ensure that Nigerians are safe. In the appeal to the Senate President, the cleric said: “As your friend and pastor, I do not want your name to go down in history as one of those at the table when the Nigerian system collapsed. Now is the time to do something. The mosque and the church are no longer safe; villages and cities are not safe (whether you are a city boy or a village boy, there is no safe ground), and if you people think that Aso Rock is safe, you are deceiving yourselves”.

Time To Act

As the country I slowly engulfed in insecurity that recently forced the United States government to evacuate its staff from its embassy in Abuja, the efforts to defeat these terrorists must be embarked upon earnestly. With areas previously cleansed of murdering terror groups, the despair and hopelessness that is trailing the return of these armed men is a clear indication that the future is bleak. The legislature should be drawn to the need to truly represent the people by identifying with their present woes and deplorable living conditions caused by the manipulation of religion and ethnicity for political domination.  In ridding the continent of religious violence, Africa bleeds, not from the true practice of religion, but from deliberate manipulation of religion and ethnicity as a staircase for empowerment for political domination.