President Bola Tinubu, Sultan of Sokoto Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar and the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, have called on Nigerians to reject religious intolerance, hate speech and the manipulation of ethnic and religious identities for political purposes.
The call was made at an international conference on national security and sustainable socioeconomic development in Abuja, attended by government officials, political leaders, religious scholars, traditional rulers, academics and other stakeholders.
Representing President Tinubu at the conference, Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin said the gathering was taking place at a time when countries around the world were facing complex security challenges.
Jibrin said the President welcomed Nigeria’s hosting of the conference and reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to strengthening security and promoting sustainable peace.
Yilwatda: Diversity Should Unite Nigerians
Yilwatda urged Nigerians to see the country’s religious and ethnic diversity as a source of strength rather than division.
He said Nigerians of different faiths shared a common history and destiny.
According to him, citizens must recognise that the country’s future is interconnected, adding that “ultimately we can rise and fall together.”
Sultan Condemns Religious Insults
The Sultan of Sokoto urged Nigerians to stop insulting one another on religious grounds and work towards rebuilding trust, peaceful coexistence and national unity.
He said Nigeria had ideas and solutions to many of its challenges but had consistently struggled with implementing agreements and recommendations reached at conferences and meetings.
“We don’t lack solutions or problems. What we lack is implementation,” the Sultan said.
He urged participants to ensure that recommendations from the conference resulted in practical measures that would improve national security and strengthen cohesion.
RELATED NEWS:
- Tinubu Calls for Stronger Interfaith Dialogue to Tackle Insecurity, Foster Unity
- Tinubu Set to Open Security, National Unity Conference August 11
- Tinubu Orders Immediate Crackdown On Bandits who Killed 30 in Kaduna
The Sultan also called on religious leaders to engage one another honestly, identify areas of common interest and avoid attacking governments or excessively praising political leaders.
He specifically appealed to Christians and Muslims to stop insulting each other.
“We must be honest with ourselves that Christians should stop insulting Muslims, Muslims should stop insulting Christians, and that’s how we live in peace,” he said.
The Sultan recalled that previous generations of Nigerians lived together without treating one religious group as superior to another.
He said piety, good character and the way people treated their neighbours should be more important than religious differences.
He also condemned the abuse of public figures on social media and urged Nigerians to avoid spreading false information and malicious statements about political and religious leaders.
NIREC Warns Against Weaponising Religion
The Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC), Prof. Cornelius Afebu Omonokhua, warned against using religion, ethnicity and poverty to create division and conflict.
Omonokhua said humanity remained the fundamental bond among Nigerians, noting that people were created as human beings before identifying with particular religions.
“No one is created a Christian, and no one is created a Muslim. We are created as human beings. Hence, what binds us together is humanity,” he said.
He identified African traditional religion, Christianity and Islam as the country’s major religious traditions and highlighted Nigeria’s interfaith structure.
Omonokhua said the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) provided platforms for engagement between Muslims and Christians.
He said the two organisations established NIREC in 1999 as a platform for sustained interfaith dialogue.
According to him, NIREC, co-chaired by the leaders of the NSCIA and CAN, had demonstrated that Christians and Muslims could work together peacefully.
He said religion should promote mercy, compassion and love rather than hostility or mere tolerance of people of other faiths.
Omonokhua appealed to Nigerians and their leaders to reject attempts to exploit religious, ethnic and economic grievances.
“I would like to appeal very passionately that we should never, never, never allow anybody to weaponize religion or ethnicity or poverty to turn us against each other,” he said.
Rafiyat Sadiq is a political, justice, and human rights reporter with Pinnacle Daily, known for fearless reporting and impactful storytelling. At Pinnacle Daily, she brings clarity and depth to issues shaping governance, democracy, and the protection of citizens’ rights.