Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has advised Nigerians to emulate the sort of religious tolerance being exhibited by President Muhammadu Buhari while holding Villa Church Service besides his kitchen every Sunday.
Osinbajo, who gave the advice Friday in Abuja while declaring open the General Assembly of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), said nations were built by the sacrifices and hard work of leaders.
“Every Sunday, my family and over 100 Christians attend service in the Chapel at the Villa. The Chapel is located in the premises of the President and his family. It is located a few seconds away from the First Lady’s kitchen. Sometimes, when I see the President on a Sunday morning, he asks me whether the service is over already or I am escaping from the service! That is the sort of tolerance that we need in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious society and it is the duty of leaders to show that sort of example,” he said at the NSCIA General Assembly themed “Islam and National Development”.
Osinbajo said unlike in the past, no true leader could ignore the threat that religious bigotry and intolerance posed for the development of the nation.
He tasked the leadership of Muslim community to take up the burden of ensuring that faith promoted national development as opposed to impeding it.
Osinbajo narrated the story of Imam Abdullahi in Plateau State who not only refused to give up the Christians he had given refuge but also offered his life in exchange for theirs.
The vice president said Imam Abdullahi’s selflessness and sacrifice saved the lives of hundreds of people of a faith different from his own.
He said his moral courage was rooted in a profound recognition of our common humanity, stating that “his compassion, empathy and selflessness are an example to us as people of faith.”
He challenged all leaders to behave with love and compassion in the way the Good Samaritan in the Bible and Chief Imam Abubakar did, saying “They were not concerned about the race or religion of those whose lives they saved or whose properties were destroyed. All that mattered was that they were flesh and blood like themselves. They were simply ready to make any sacrifice for another human being.”
Osinbajo rued the action of those beating the drums of ethnic and religious superiority and seeking to divide the nation into ethnic zones when the constitution spoke of national commitment to the equality of all Nigerians regardless of ethnicity, religion or status.
He said constitutional declarations meant nothing unless there were men and women ready to make the personal sacrifices to bridge the gap between rhetoric and constitutional ideals.
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