Sultan Faults Oritsejafor on Buhari

Posted by admin Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Latest Politics, Sultan of Sokoto Tuesday, April 26th, 2011

Sultan of Sokoto

The Sultan of Sokoto and President-General, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), His Eminence Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, has faulted the statements credited to the president, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayodele Oritsejafor, in some of the newspapers, in which he described the post-election violence which followed the presidential election of April 16 as part of a “religious agenda”.

The CAN boss was also said to have called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of Northern political leaders, including the Presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), General Muhammadu Buhari.

But Sultan in a statement by the Secretary, Sultanate Council, Sokoto, Alhaji Bello Usman Dange, said religious leaders, especially during times of crisis, were expected to preach tolerance and mutual understanding and not to promote dissension and discord.

According to Sultan, leaders of thought from all parts of the country, as well as the representatives of the media and other stakeholders, should exercise utmost caution and restraint in both their utterances and actions.

The statement reads in part, “We must not do anything that is capable of aggravating the situation. We must strive, at all times, to re-enforce the sanctity and inviolability of human life and work together to engender greater peace and understanding among our people.

“The insinuation by Pastor Oritsejafor that the post-election violence was a plot hatched by Muslims as part of their ‘religious agenda’, which merely took ‘advantage of the political situation’, is both preposterous and unfounded.

“The whole crisis was unfortunate. It was equally a great tragedy that the crisis took the turn it did, leading to the burning of both mosques and churches and to the unfortunate loss of life on both sides of the religious divide.”

Sultan further urged the CAN boss to realise that no religion thrive on killings, saying that both Christianity and Islam emphasised peaceful coexistence.

He said, “But how can a Muslim Religious Agenda make human life easily expendable, including that of its sons and daughters? What have we got to gain as leaders by ordering the destruction of life and property of our co-religionists and disrupting the peace and mutual co-existence which we have all worked so hard to achieve?

“It is of paramount importance to remind Pastor Oritsejafor that a genuine search for peace should never be regarded as a tactical engagement, to be pursued only when it suits our immediate interests. It is a life-long commitment which we must all take seriously.

“We must extend our condolences to all those who have lost their loved ones in this mayhem and to commiserate with each and everyone who has been affected by the crisis.

“Gratuitous violence has never served any useful societal purpose. We can only exercise it at the detriment of ourselves and our society.”

Sultan also urged the stakeholders to eschew bitterness and rancour and to promote genuine understanding and reconciliation between the various segments of our people, saying that people must remember that “We must all hearken to the noble words of Allah (SWT) when He states, ‘Fear Allah and make Peace and Reconciliation among you.’ (8: 1).”

-Leadership

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