By Bashir Bello, KANO
The Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero has called on the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to address the issue of religious intolerance in the country head-on.
Besides, the Monarch called on the incoming government to create a Ministry of Religious Affairs as a way to proffer solutions or address the issue.
The Emir represented by Sarkin-Dawaki Babba and the District Head of Nassarawa, Aminu Babba DanAgundi, made the call during the launching of the Interfaith dialogue facilitator’s guide organized by ActionAid Nigeria to prevent violent extremism.
According to him, “In the past, there is peaceful coexistence between the Muslims and Christians but things are getting worst by the day.
“During the late Premier, Sir Ahmadu Bello, peace reigned and you can hardly differentiate between a Muslim and a Christian, especially between the Muslim and Christians in Northern Nigeria.
“In the past, there was a time when we had a Muslim/Muslim ticket of M. K O. Abiola and Babagana Kingibe but didn’t meet any form of criticism that the Muslim/Muslim ticket faced now. It generated a lot of talks (for and against Muslims and Christians).
“Whether the leader is a Muslim or Christian, this shouldn’t matter, what matters is the good governance.
“We call on the President-elect to emulate what the Kano State Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje to create a Ministry of Religious Affairs to address the issue of religious intolerance. In the last eight years in Kano, we experienced a peaceful atmosphere in the state.
“We commend the organizers for this giant stride to bring about peaceful coexist between the residents,” the Emir, Bayero stated.
In her remarks, the Country Director, of ActionAid Nigeria, Ene Obi said the Interfaith manual and facilitator’s guide were developed to drive the process of peace and peaceful coexistence among citizens in Kano State irrespective of religious differences.
Obi represented by the National Director (Programmes), Suwaiba Dankabo said it developed the guide after research it carried out that shows the missing gap of Interfaith dialogue or harmony, a situation whereby everyone holds on to their beliefs and cultures but maintained that with the launching of the guide will bring the faiths together to dialogue and understand one another.
Earlier, the Executive Director, of the Dispute Resolution and Development Initiative (DRDI-DAG) and an implementing partner, Dr. Mustapha Muhammad said violent extremism is fast spreading and hard to resolve hence the need to develop the facilitator’s guide and put preventive measures in place to avert escalation of violent extremism.
Source: Vanguard