Can the Church and the Mosque really co-exist in Nigeria?

Author: Rev. Fr. Prof. Stan Anih

Publisher: Delta Publication Nigeria Ltd, Enugu (2012)

Page: 94

Reviewer: Tony Adibe

With a colourful picture of a cathedral and a mosque placed side by side on a beautiful background that formed the cover of the book entitled, “The Cathedral and The Mosque Can Co-exist in Nigeria”, the average curious reader begins to ask: Can the church and mosque really co-exist in Nigeria with the frequent bombings of churches and killings of Christians being claimed by the dreaded Boko Haram sect in the northern part of Nigeria?

Is it possible for Christians in Nigeria and their Muslim counterparts to live harmoniously without being suspicious of one another, even when the Boko Haram sect has repeatedly threatened that their key agenda is nothing short of islamising the entire country? The central theme of the handbook is how Christians and their Muslim counterparts can live happily in Africa’s most populous Black Country, Nigeria.

An Enugu-based Catholic priest, and founder of the Coal City University, Enugu the Very Rev. Fr. Professor Stan Anih, in his latest 94-page, eight-chapter book published by Delta Publications Nigeria Limited, Enugu (2012) provides what seems like appropriate answers to the above questions through the knowledge of and practical application of ecumenism in the entire country.

Ecumenical education is a process by which the individual and the community are led out to a more real and perfect human response to the word of God, according to the author, who also explains that since ecumenical education involves both a call and a response. It is fundamentally a dialogue; meaning that it is an active communication between persons, and also sharing of faith experiences, but this could only be possible where true, open relationship exists.

Prof. Anih recognises the fact that neither The Koran nor The Bible can mislead those who sincerely pursue unity in diversity with understanding and the fervent zeal to end militarism or violence among brethren, and advocates a Christian-Muslim relationship founded on mutual respect and co-existence built on synocracy, which means a brotherly position in which the voice of the last religious group must be considered before a binding decision is made.

The author is of the view that the present day Nigeria must provide a working answer for the age-old problems of how to seal a dialogue between brothers who share different religious faith expressions; he is unhappy that for the past hundred years in Nigeria, Christians have spent much time showing clearly where the Koran differs from the Scripture, although much work ought to have been done to show areas of ‘meeting point’ or ‘similarity’ or ‘agreement’ between the two religions, especially now the country should exploit more of those things that unite Nigerians than those things that divide the people.

“The Christian and the Muslim have many things in common which can be the solid basis for ecumenical dialogue. In the first place these two great religions have the Holy Books from which they draw inspiration and instruction. There is a belief in the existence of such books as: The Scrolls (revealed to Abraham), the Torah (revealed to Moses), The Zabur (revealed to David), The Gospel (revealed to Jesus), and The Koran (revealed to Muhammad),” the author wrote on page 22. This goes to show that both the Bible and Koran claim to have been revealed to man by God.

Theologically, both Christianity and Islam affirm that there is one absolute, all-knowing and all-powerful Creator, God who is interested in the affairs of man, and the same God used the means of revelation to make Himself available to man. “Since Christianity and Islam control a great number of Nigeria’s men of religion, they should work hand-in-hand to help provide answers to the social upheavals taking place in Nigeria,” according to the author. He goes on to state that the religious riots that have bedevilled Nigeria over the years have been as a result of a lack of inter-religious and intra-religious ecumenical spirit, since a dialogue between Christians and Moslems “can give Nigeria peace and unity because dialogue is an eternal action” and only from such “eternal action can we have lasting peace and unity.”

Citing the nation’s Constitution that encapsulates the national fundamental objectives, Anih wrote, “Every person shall be entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom (either alone or in community with others, and in public or in private) to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance.”

Interestingly, it is on the strength of this wonderful provision and in the spirit of religious ecumenism, that we aver that the Cathedral and the Mosque can co-exist in Nigeria peacefully, the author argued.

Aside some typographical errors which proper proof-reading and editing would have taken care of, the content of the book is so relevant in today’s Nigeria particularly now that the wave of Boko Haram is sweeping across the northern part of the country. The book, no doubt, will go a long way in reconstructing the mindset of most religious fanatics in the Nigerian society; that is, if they allow its content to digest very well in their system.