The Nation Newspaper

Tag: religious harmony

  • Oyetola promises religious harmony

    Osun State Governor Gboyega Oyetola yesterday restated his promise to run a participatory government that will accommodate the interest of different religious bodies.

    He said his government will be fair to everybody, regardless of socio-economic, political and religious background.

    The governor promised that he would promote religious tolerance and harmony.

    Oyetola spoke at a meeting with officials of Osun State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (OS-CAN) in his office in Osogbo, the state capital.

    The governor, who expressed his belief in the efficacy of prayers, urged religious leaders to pray for the success of his administration.

    He also appealed to them to form a synergy with his government by accommodating robust interaction that will discourage the activities of rumour mongers and faceless individuals who use the social media and other means to fan the embers of disharmony in the state.

    Oyetola expressed dismay over the rising cases of burglary, ýsaying his administration would stamp crime and criminal activities across the state.

    The governor said his administration had put in place necessary security infrastructure to support the security agencies for effective and efficient service delivery.

    He added: “Our administration is working assiduously to maintain and sustain the tempo of peace that the state is known for.

    “Since religion plays a vital role in peace maintenance, hence the need to promote religious tolerance, unity and harmony between the followers of the existing religions in the state.

    “Our administration has provided the necessary logistics for security operatives in the state as part of efforts to ensure adequate protection of lives and property of the citizenry.

    “We will do everything humanly possible to ensure that Osun remains the most peaceful state with least crimes rate in the country since security and welfare remain the cardinal points of our government.”

    The State CAN Chairman, Rev. Michael Okodua, described Oyetola as an embodiment of humility with a peaceful disposition.

     

     

  • I’m committed to national unity, religious harmony- Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari says his administration is committed to national unity and religious harmony, urging Nigerians to embrace the effort.

    He gave the assurance on Sunday during the 10th Anniversary of Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria(MUSWEN) and N5bn launch of MUSWEN International Centre in Ibadan.

    The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that the president’s message was read at the event by Mr Adamu Adamu, the Minister of Education.

    Buhari urged religious leaders to embrace religious tolerance to achieve peaceful co-existence and national unity, re-stating his administration’s commitment to religious harmony and national unity.

    The president commended MUSWEN and its leaders for their contributions to national growth and development, saying the south west Muslim leaders were the most dedicated.

    Gov. Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State acknowledged MUSWEN’s support and contributions to the successes recorded by his administration.

    He appealed to religious leaders to disseminate message of tolerance, unity, peace and tranquility in their sermons, particularly as the 2019 general election approached.

    Ajimobi said it was only in the atmosphere of peace that development and growth could thrive in any society.

    Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, urged all to always extend hands of fellowship to others, irrespective of religious beliefs, ethnicity and status in the society.

    He counseled Nigerians to eschew the use of foul languages on others even when they felt so much aggrieved, saying the nation could only achieve greatness through tolerance and unity of purpose.

    The Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi, in a keynote address entitled “Muslim Voice on Good Governance”, said the topic was timely considering the challenges facing the country.

    He said that Islam and Muslim political heritage had profound principles, norms and practices for good governance, saying such predated modern democracy which was about 200 years.

    “Muslims should be at the fore front in advocating and leading with examples in good governance.

    “This has become necessary because our political culture has deteriorated and increasingly mercantile, where money is everything.

    “This is responsible for bad governance that has characterised the polity, subverted development, perpetrated poverty as well as elicited the unending social conflicts.”

    Sanusi said money-based politics would continue to fuel unprecedented corruption seen in the society today, saying pristine values as a people had been supplanted and the future thrown into jeopardy.

    He urged all political, spiritual and traditional leaders to join hands in salvaging the polity from the danger posed by the current political culture.

    According to him, “we have to take leadership seriously and cannot ignore centuries old wisdom which places high premium on leadership and criteria for shouldering responsibilities.

    “The consequences of ignoring the standards are already showing and we must not wait until the bubble bursts. We cannot allow full reins to money politics and expect the eradication of corruption.”

    Dr Wale Babalakin, the Chairman of the occasion, commended MUSWEN for the sustenance of its meaningful contribution to Islam and national development in the last 10 years.

    Babalakin appealed to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to call off its industrial action and dialogue with government, assuring them of meaningful resolution of the issue.

  • VC advises students on tolerance, religious harmony

    The University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) Vice-Chancellor (VC) Prof Benjamin Ozumba has urged students to be tolerant and refrain from divisive religious conducts.

    He said students’good conducts and message of unity could help in overcoming ethno-religious problem plaguing the country.

    Ozumba spoke at a party organised by the UNN chapter of the Muslim Students’ Association of Nigeria (MSSN) to mark its Week.

    The VC praised members of the association for their commitment to religious harmony on the campus, urging them to fight teachings that could lead to disagreement with other faiths.

    He said efforts were being made by his administration to eradicate religious discrimination and ethnicity in the university to promote peace.

    Ozumba said the institution would continue to engage both Christian and Islamic groups to make the campus peaceful, pledging the school’s support for the completion of the UNN Central Mosque before end of his administration.

    Speaking on the theme: General misconceptions about Islam: Redirecting the public perceptions for a symbiotic relationship, Alhaji Abu Sufiyan Ridwanullan Sulaiman, the guest lecturer from Osun State, dismissed the notion that Islam is violent, noting that the religion should not be judged by immoral conducts of a few Muslims.

    Abu Sufiyan said Islam promotes peaceful coexistence among Muslims and adherents of other faiths, adding that the religion detests forced conversion and baseless killing of innocents.

    On marriage, he said Islam permit a capable man to marry two or more wives but that he must be fair to all of them. He said men that are not capable of taking care of two women should not marry two wives.

    Chief Imam of Nsukka Central Mosque, Sheikh Adam Abdullahi Idoko, harped on tolerance, noting that religious leaders must speak up against religious discrimination and injustice. This, he said, would promote harmony.

    Highpoint was the presentation of an award to Imam Idoko for his commitment to religious harmony in the state.

    Other activities marking the MSSN Week included members’visit to the Nigerian Prisons Service in Nsukka, and orphanage. The students also held sanitation and prayer for the nation.

     

  • A call for religious harmony

    Book review

    Title: In Search Of Religious Harmony

    Author:  Emmanuel Joshua

    Reviewer: Engr. Ya’quob Saleh Isah Al-Jasawi Al- Maliki

    Pages: 171

     

    If I claim to have known the author Emmanuel Joshua,  prior to this review or even more than what was stated about him in page 171 of the book under review, I would be betraying my conscience; but just like the Bible eloquently and logical puts it: “By their fruits we shall know them…”

    I came to know Emma by his fruit (i.e. the content of book under review), for if one can express his/her view in words or writing, then one cannot hide his/her identity or nature.

    I am convinced, Emmanuel is a personality that has formed his attitude and refined it through a thorough, long and exhaustive or careful observations of nature and voracious reading, and as such tries to live up to his name Emmanuel (i.e God’s will being with us); by trying to pull humanity away from the brim of destruction to that of salvation.

    It is the reality of the time that our world is now like a global village and so is living and existence moving along that line; i.e fashioning out a life of multi-communal, multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural co-existence. Though there are differences as regard the definition of religion between various religions, which arises from their perception about God and divinity, this bring about differences in worship forms and rituals; not withstanding we find similarities and commonness in the social items of these religions; i.e in their “classification of what is right and what is wrong or what is good and what is bad”. Every religion teaches its adherents to be good and to do good deeds. This shows unanimity in issues of doing well to humanity though there might be some variations in some details; summarily, we all concur in social relationship even if we differ in faith and their practices.

    I have seen the writer as a person in search of truth, which is one of the beautiful names of the divine. Emma had saddled himself with the sole duty of “Communicating the truth” the truth he is advocating for is to help people of conscience reconstruct their understanding of religions and there purposes, which are very much misunderstood.

    As a philosopher said: “Every generation should identify its mission and live up to it or betray it”

    Well! Emma had indeed identified the mission of his generation, his existence and he tries to live up to it. It is therefore not a surprise that he is a member of a disciplined profession, coupled with his training and life experiences. I am proud of people of his quality. It is observed that in the whole world, it is only humankind that hunts its kind (animals and other species do not ) and again only human kind can betray his or her true feelings, where what he does or says is different  from what he meant.

    Emma had indeed assiduously tries to bring humanity to the true meaning or essence of existence. By the content he is admonishing us to reason together as directed by the Lord in Isaiah 1:18; as God is not the author of confusion (1 Thessalonians 5:21). The work is what a philosopher may call “a model of fruitful argumentative cooperation” based on “logical positivism”.

    With effort of people like Emma, Surely we see a harbinger of better tomorrow that we see today, working towards avoiding ready-made interpretations of their people’s opinions in the name of religious rulings. He used his talent to enlighten  humanity in accordance with Creator’s intension. He preached better understanding between humans. May Allah in his infinite mercy continue to guide him aright and add to his strength for the benefit of humanity, amen.

    As can be seen from the lines above, it is indeed a fact that the monstrosities and chaos the religious communities or its memberships (who supposed to be the mirror reflections of the true essence of their religions) have created for the societies have indeed made our positive achievements as humans in other areas of live very pale and insignificant, it is like we are leaving behind to humans a legacy of miseries and pains injustices upon injustices are always mate to God’s creatures, which lead to retaliation upon retaliations due to impatience and as such precipitating reaction and counter- reactions. “The young and   in most time the innocents, continue to pay for the culture of hatred enshrined by the corrupt elderly members of the societies, which leads to self-destruction”. By the attitude of the unfocussed elderly who claimed to be religious or perpetrating evils in the name of God  or with God’s endorsement (per se) they are proving that “heavenly religions are most poorly introduced, as such misunderstood even  by their adherents”. Many people create troubles among neighbors for purposes they know better. Such socially infected people do what they do because they are mentally sick, but I seem to understand the book content the heartfelt wish of the writer is to enlighten the majority of neighbors to learn to keep low or die down the culture of hatred of one another and unnecessary anger, for bloodshed to stop, for peace and trust to permeate all warring communities.

    Today human beings by their attitudes are more brutal and cruel than hyenas, where the powerful will crush the weak with no fear of reprimand from any quarter. Cruelty and brutality receive approval by those at the top and bloodthirsty people are exalted and the act is seen and considered as a virtue. It is indeed a period in which true faith is in trial. This made it pertinent and a responsibility to people of conscience and those people that truly practice and abide by their religious teachings to do something about the situation; at least good deeds are never ever redundant.

    In this regard, the book is an effort to inspire the society particularly the younger generation to harmonise intellectual enlightenment with humane activism thus, sowing the seeds of future happiness in the country.

    I had gone through the book (In Search Of Religious Harmony) carefully with wrap attention. It is a 5.75″ X 8.0″ size, one hundred and seventy (170) pages of averaged, thirty (30) lines per page; easy to read or plain English, captivating and comparative analysis in publication.

    In summary, I have found the book, In Search Of Religious Harmony to be a persuasive dialogue to people of conscience and also challenging to all those that deserve to be called humans, particularly the Christians and Muslims who seem to be dominant in numerical strength in our society, encouraging them to practically show more voluntary adjustment to goods in their actions in the area of love and peace which will enhance the wellbeing of the entire mankind, and this is the will of Allah or God (as people may call him based on their inclination), the creator of the universe.

    It is acknowledged by many for experience, that our misdeeds in such things as unjust quarrels over our beliefs and certainties have caused much misunderstanding while religions; particularly Islam do not sanction wars or know any “Holy Wars” but only “Just Wars”  ”unjust wars”. This misunderstanding of religions by even their adherents is coupled with the other disorders we put in place through our actions such as hatred, envy, oppressions, unguided sentiments, bigotry, conflicts, killing and other insular arrogances. Like  the author highlighted, these bring upon the earth “…unhappiness against the will of the Creator, which made the world (today) worse than the period that necessitated revealing these heavenly guided books”.

    Experience has shown that most of our sufferings are mostly the outward manifestations of our handiwork.

    If religions propagate sets of values such as love, kindness, virtue and peace etc., towards meeting the standard the Creator wants to see in humanity and not only holding these values and beliefs as name tags or badges, then our actions showed that we are almost far away from those values we suppose to practice. True believers are exceptional and display elements of elegance and profundity in character. Their stand in the society is based on the consciousness of their stand before God, so they stand with politeness and kindness. Even in time of oppression they act in lawful self-defense.

    Like the book highlighted that our actions or inactions are the result of our minds, which is like a factory that produce both positive and beneficial products that attracts Allah’s favor it is opposite that are negative, which attract his wrath.

    In a nutshell the book is a call or revival of new order that reflects on concern for harmony and peaceful co-existence. Books like this try to introduce true religious essence on the intellectual (not confrontational) fronts, showing amicable relationship between religions and humanity.