CAN decries negative use of religion

In his special independence message yesterday, Dodo stressed that use of religion for destructive purposes is a disservice to any religious faith as well as a distortion of its core truths and values.
Nigeria, he said, is a political unit made up of over 200  ethnic nationalities and diverse religious groups, noting that the cooperation of these ethnic nationalities and religious groups is important for its existence and survival as a nation.
“Unity and peaceful cooperation among these groups is important. Frequent crises and violence among these groups will only lead to divisive politics and loss of confidence in the system. This in turn will stunt the progress of the state and nation and indeed affect the consolidation of our democracy”, he said.
According to him, incessant conflicts and criminal activities, which he said appear to be escalating at an intolerable scale, have the damaging consequence of giving the international community the impression that Nigeria is not a safe and secure place and is not suitable for economic investments and activities.
“As we celebrate the 54th year of independence of Nigeria today, I enjoin you Christians and the government and good people of Kaduna State to pray for peace in our hearts, homes, Kaduna State and our country Nigeria. There can be no peace among the people unless there is peace”, he said.