Mutual trust can build the nation

On September 18, 2018, the Nigerian Interfaith Action (NIFAA) in collaboration with her local and international partners had a summit at Nicon Luxury, Abuja, to sign a peace declaration to promote and sustain peaceful co-existence among Nigerians. Very important religious leaders, Royal Fathers, the American Ambassador to Nigeria and other dignitaries were in attendance and some among them made very inspiring speeches. Prelate Sunday Mbang, a former President of the Christian Association of Nigeria and co-chairman of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) in his goodwill message said that Saint Pope John Paul II advised the Christians and Muslims in Nigeria to put together a Forum for dialogue and promotion of peaceful co-existence when he first visited Nigeria. He traced the origin of NIREC as the outcome and response to this counsel.

When I checked the internet to verify this claim of Prelate Mbang about the visit of this Great Saint to Nigeria, I discovered that the Pope even referred to what the Prelate reported in his second visit of 1998. In his address at his meeting with Muslim Leaders, the Pope said: “In the Message that I addressed to the Muslim Community in Kaduna during my first visit to your country in 1982, I said: “I am convinced that if we (Christians and Muslims) join hands in the name of God we can accomplish much good. We can collaborate in the promotion of justice, peace and development. It is my earnest hope that our solidarity of brotherhood, under God, will truly enhance the future of Nigeria and all Africa” (http://totus2us.com/universal/nigeria/jpii-pilgrim-visit-1998/).

The Holy Father had given reasons for the importance of this dialogue initiative. He said: “As Christians and Muslims, we share belief in “the one, merciful God, mankind’s judge on the last day” (Lumen Gentium, 16). Though we differ in the way we understand this One God, we are nevertheless akin in our efforts to know and follow his will. That religious aspiration itself constitutes a spiritual bond between Christians and Muslims, a bond which can provide a firm and broad-ranging basis for cooperation in many fields. This is important wherever Christians and Muslims live together. It is particularly important in Nigeria, where Christians and Muslims are present in such large numbers (http://totus2us.com/universal/nigeria/jpii-pilgrim-visit-1998/). This call of the Great Saint Pope John Paul II calls for a united family of trust.

The Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) has a national character that makes it a home for every Christian and Muslim in Nigeria. For this same reason, many international bodies like UFUK Dialogue Foundation, HIZMET movement; King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID); Religions for Peace (RfP); Tony Blair Institute for Global Change and many others who desire the good of Nigeria love to collaborate with NIREC. Pope John Paul II believed that Nigeria has the capacity for dialogue and peaceful co-existence. He proved his point by saying that “Cardinal Arinze of Nigeria is a Roman Catholic Cardinal; he is a Nigerian Cardinal. And if he is promoting the dialogue with Muslims in the whole world, he is doing that having the experience of dialogue with the Muslims in Nigeria”  (http://totus2us.com/universal/nigeria/jpii-pilgrim-visit-1998/). The capacity of Nigeria lies in her natural and human resources. We pray for a leadership with the political will to harness these resources to grow a better Nigeria.

If the human capacity of Nigerians is fully explored and utilized, religious and ethnic bigotry will give way to patriotism. Then criminals will be called by their real names without religious and ethnic qualifications that have often resulted in hatred and mutual suspicions.  NIREC taken to the grassroots can go a long way to build trust. The efforts so far by NIREC is credible but we can go beyond statutory meetings to daily activities to identify conflict areas, prevent conflicts, resolve conflicts and transform conflicts. The weekly column with Leadership Newspaper of Sunday, December 19, 2010 of Ustaz Abubakr Siddeeq shows how important this peace project is to NIREC especially when the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Abubakar Sa’ad and President-General of Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and John Cardinal Onaiyekan, the then President of the Christian Association of Nigeria as  co-Chairmen of NIREC at a meeting in Maiduguri called on government at all levels to compensate all victims of previous religious crisis across the country to heal past wounds. His Eminence made this call during the opening of the NIREC meeting on Monday, 6th May, 2008 at Maiduguri the Borno State capital.

It is gratifying to know that Rev. Dr. Sampson Ayokunle, the present President of CAN and co-chairman of NIREC is ready and willing to continue with this effort. May he get the support of all Christians and may the Sultan also get the support of all Muslims to make NIREC a national family where mutual suspicions will forever give way to mutual trust. The comments of Ustaz Siddeeq concerning the call by the 2008 Co-Chairmen of NIREC is very instructive and should inspire the hope in us to collaboratively make Nigeria a great nation. This should encourage Christians and Muslims to courageously develop a certain amount of frank and sincere trust for one another irrespective of the diverse religious ideologies. The common tenet of the sanctity of life and the dignity of the human person is of great assistance for our mode of operation if we really mean to heal the mutual suspicions that have put us asunder for so long.

I commend the efforts of the Religious Leaders for mutually putting NIREC in place to create a sacred space for mutual healing. That the government supports NIREC shows that the nation needs this space for debriefing and healing the wounds of every Nigerian. Our collective response to this gesture in honesty can actually build a more sustainable peace project in Nigeria. NIREC embraces more than the delegates of 25 Christians and 25 Muslims representatives in the meetings. Every Christian and every Muslim is a stakeholder in NIREC. The delegates take the message of peaceful co-existence from the meetings to the grassroots through the various Churches and Mosques. Let us take NIREC as our own.  Here again is what Pope John II told Muslims during his second visit to Nigeria to beatify Blessed Cyprian Iwene Tansi: “As Christians and Muslims, we share belief in “the one, merciful God, mankind’s judge on the last day” (Lumen Gentium, 16). Though we differ in the way we understand this One God, we are nevertheless akin in our efforts to know and follow his will. That religious aspiration itself constitutes a spiritual bond between Christians and Muslims, a bond which can provide a firm and broad-ranging basis for cooperation in many fields. This is important wherever Christians and Muslims live together. It is particularly important in Nigeria” (http://totus2us.com/universal/nigeria/jpii-pilgrim-visit-1998/). I pray that very soon we shall see one another as Nigerians irrespective of our religious and ethnic differences.

Fr. Cornelius Afebu Omonokhua is the Director of Mission and Dialogue of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Abuja ([email protected], www.omonokhua.blogspot.com).