Amid increase in violent clashes in the country, religious leaders and the government have been urged to take urgent steps to embrace inter-religious dialogue as a means of ensuring peaceful co-existence.
The advice was given by experts on peace and conflict resolution during a roundtable organised by the Centre for Peace and Development, Veritas University, Abuja with support from Rosa Luxemburg Foundation West Africa.
In his presentation, a lecturer in the Department of Islamic Studies, University of Abuja, Prof Rafatu Abdulhamid, said matters of inter-faith relations should become part and parcel of Nigeria’s efforts towards establishing and promoting peaceful co-existence among people of diverse faiths and religious groups.
He lamented that despite all the developmental programmes and amenities put in place by the government to sustain and promote peaceful coexistence among different faiths, issues of ethno-religious crises in Nigeria have continued to hinder the success of these programmes.
He said; “Taking the level of people’s understanding and appreciation of the immediate and remote consequences of their actions or inactions for granted has constituted an obstacle to most of the measures put in place to get over inter-religious bickering and mistrust among Nigerians.” Abdulhamid stressed the need for tolerance to achieve peace.
“Nigeria’s religious atmosphere is volatile due to lack of tolerance and deep understanding of the tenets of both Christianity and Islam among some adherents. Since it is practically impossible to coerce the citizens to practice only one and the same religion, the only option available is to face the reality on ground, which is to learn to live together in peace and harmony.
“The way to achieve this is to keep the door to dialogue always open, with commitment. Without peace, there cannot be stability, progress and prosperity, all of which go a long way to make the nation take its pride of place in the comity of nations.
“Furthermore, the religious leaders should sensitise their followers on the need for peaceful co-existence. Religious groups should be made to lay more emphasis on the common denominators among them rather than their differences. For instance, moral teachings are largely similar in both Islam and Christianity.”
The head, Department of Religion and African Culture, Adekunle Ajasin University, Prof Benson Igboin, in his paper, noted that Nigeria was undergoing talks at political and religious levels. He, however, noted that who talks and how the talk takes place are pertinent because talks can either bring peace or aggravate intolerant reactions.
Prof Igboin maintained that while dialogue is important, it has to take into context the peculiarity of the African Society.
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