Bishop Naga Williams Mohammed is the Chairman of Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN), Borno State and also Secretary of Northern Bishops incorporated. The Christian Leader hails from Gwoza, Borno State, a place once seized by Boko Haram and declared as their Caliphate. The Christian cleric who bears in this interview with a group of journalists in Maiduguri spoke on the support Gov. Kashim Shettima has given to Christians in the wake of the Boko Haram crisis in rebuilding the churches that were destroyed by the insurgents in Borno State. He also recalled how tolerant the people have lived in the past as Muslims and Christians. Our correspondent JOEL DUKU was there.
Bishop we are surprised to see that your surname is ‘Mohammed’, how does this came into being?
Yes, in Southern Borno generally, it is common to see a family mixed up with both Muslims and Christians. My father was a Muslim and my Mother was a dedicated Christian. We were living in the same house, eating the same food and sharing the same culture. When it is Christmas, my Mum would give money to my Dad to buy whatever animal for us to slaughter. The same thing when it was time for Eid El Kabir (Sallah) Celebration, my Dad would buy a Ram for us to slaughter without discrimination.
As a Bishop, some persons would probably expect you to have dropped the ‘Mohammed’ in your surname, what do you say to that?
Someone cannot replace either of his biological parents. Mohammed is my father’s name, he was a Muslim and I cannot replace or change my father. That was his identity and I am his son.
You talked about the religious harmony in your family, how will you compare that with instances of religious suspicion all over Nigeria?
Waoh! In the past there was absolute tolerance to the extent that you don’t know this man’s religion and the other one, we all trust ones religion. In fact, in my Mum’s house, she had a kettle which is called ‘Buta’ in Hausa. Muslims use it in performing ablution. While growing up, I was raised to see Muslims from a positive light. All I knew was that Muslims were doing what they were supposed to do, and we Christians were doing what we were supposed to do in terms of worship and coexistence in our communities. In Southern Borno where most of the Christians in Borno State hail from, most of our families are inter-faith based, mixture of Muslims and Christians. I used to know of a family where the father and his six children were Christians, while his three wives were Muslims, and they lived peacefully.
Bishop, Christians are in reasonable population in Borno State but they still constitute a minority in the State, tell us how much successive Government has been responsive to challenges of insurgency faced by Christians in Borno.
If you go back to recent history, our first major problem was in February 2006, when a Danish man whom I learnt was not even a Christian, portrayed a picture of the prophet of Islam in a bad light. Unfortunately, there was protest here in Maiduguri and Christians received the repercussion. If I can recall, in 2006, they were saying miscreants, arsonists, hooligans, and bastards. I pity those who call them with these names, because, these bad guys when they see an opportunity, they execute it properly. A total of 56 churches were razed down in Borno, and so many shops belonging to Christians were destroyed and there was no compensation from the then Government.
You mean the then Governor, Ali Modu Sheriff didn’t release any funds for rebuilding and compensation for Christians who suffered the attacks and lost lives, assets and means of livelihood?
I was among the High Powered Administrative Committee as representative of the Christian community constituted by the then Governor Sheriff. I think only N150, 000 was given to each pastor whose entire church was destroyed. At a point, we compiled all the destroyed properties including churches and submitted the report to the Borno Government.
Bishop, if Christians didn’t receive compensation from the Borno Government after the 2006 Danish cartoon crisis, one is tempted to wonder what the situation is under a more vicious Boko Haram that has caused more havoc on communities that include Christians.
My brothers, those who are not from Borno State may not know, but you and I know better. In the history of Borno State, there is no Governor that has been fair to the Christian Community in this State as much as Governor Kashim Shettima. I am saying this in the presence of God Almighty and this is nothing but the truth. Governor Shettima, in the history of Borno, is the only Governor that has sponsored highest number of Christian Pilgrims every year since 2011. I am speaking boldly without fear or favour because as CAN Chairman I do not receive salary or kobo from Government or any institution, but the facts need to be told. This Governor has shown compassion to the Christian Community. For example, when Gwoza people were driven from their ancestral homes, they fled to Maiduguri, and the Governor personally came to CAN Centre in Jerusalem ward two times in June and July 2014. He gave N10 million for their upkeep at first instance, by the victims were not many. By the end of October 2014, the IDPs from Gwoza increased to 42,000 in that camp alone. Governor Shettima came again and gave another N10 million. He also gave additional N5 million for Christians from Borno who fled to Cameroon to be returned home. He gave another N5 million for non-indigenes who fled to Cameron to come back to Nigeria. The Governor even directed the Borno State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA to be supplying food directly to the IDPs in under the Christian leadership. In fact, the Governor insisted that he wanted Christian IDPs to stay together with their Muslim counterparts in various designated IDP camps here in Maiduguri but we the leaders felt it wise to separate Christian IDP’S to avoid frictions between displaced persons dealing with trauma.
Earlier, you said Governor Ali Modu Sheriff didn’t pay any compensation to Christians after the 2006 crisis which led to destruction of 56 churches, we know Churches and Mosques were destroyed by Boko Haram from 2011 to date under Governor Kashim Shettima, has any of these churches been rebuilt by the State Government just like mosques are being rebuilt?
On the Churches that were razed down, we had a meeting with Governor Shettima on how his administration can come in to assist in rebuilding some of these churches. Last year when the Governor visited Gwoza, Askira -Uba and Chibok Local Government Areas for On-The- Spot- Assessment of destructions, he saw how some of these churches were dilapidated, some burnt down to ashes, in fact, some churches were not only razed down but Grader was used to pull down the whole structures to ground zero as if that church never existed there. Like in Gwoza, the report we received was that after some of the churches were demolished, the terrorists packed the whole debris and threw it far away from the premises.
During Governor Shettima’s visit to these areas, he released N100 million for the rebuilding of some of these churches. A committee was set up for that purpose, I am a member of the committee headed by a permanent Secretary, Mr. Justus Zare as Chairman, and I am happy to inform you that presently we have used that money to rebuild 11 key churches which our people are now using for their worship services. I am surprised when some people were saying why not rebuilding all the churches, we cannot do that because there were so many places that are still unsafe for people to return, and you cannot expect us to go to the Christian communities of the fringes of Sambisa Forest to start rebuilding their destroyed churches, when the security situation has not improved.
After, the initial N100m, Governor Kashim Shettima graciously approved another N105 million for the 2nd phase of rebuilding destroyed churches. This was made possible when CAN officials led by my humble self-had a meeting with him on Thursday 30th March, 2017 at the Government House. So far, the governor has released N210 million for reconstruction of our burnt churches.
He also approved the sponsorship of all our local pastors to participate in the 2017 Jerusalem Pilgrimage. During the meeting, Governor Shettima approved allocation of Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) and land for church buildings in the state. This has never happened in the history of Borno since 1979. We are very grateful indeed. In fact, one of my neighbour who was a Journalist with Abuja based newspaper, died last year. He was a Christian, and when the Governor heard of it, he delegated some of his aides and gave the family the sum of N1 million for the burial. So also, when Arch Bishop Emmanuel Kana Mani (whom I succeeded as CAN chairman) died, the Governor visited the family residence in Maiduguri and gave N10 million for the family, I was among those who welcomed him at the Bishop’s Court. He gave N5 million for the upkeep of his family, while the other N5 million was for the preparation of his funeral.
There was a time we complained to him to give us additional Christian Permanent Secretaries, initially we had only one in the state, and he immediately approved additional three. As it is now, we have five Christian Permanent Secretaries in Borno civil service and we have to appreciate him, yes.
His Government has given us the opportunity to even run a collective programme on Television and Radio, we work with the Jama’atul Nasril Islam to sensitize our people on peaceful coexistence.
They trust us, we trust them. In fact, it may interest you to know that there was a time I was asked to lead in a Christian prayer at a gathering where we were only three Christians in the midst of many Muslims. The government under Shettima is bringing harmony between religious leaders through his fairness and graciousness.
