CAN Warns President Buhari, Calls For Religious Balance And Tolerance

Dr. Samson Ayokunle who is the new president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has warned President Muhammadu Buhari not to treat Christians as fools by giving preference to one religion above the other. In an interview with The Punch, the CAN president urged the president to maintain religious balance so as not to open the door for lawlessness.

“I want to advise the present government to maintain balance and keep close to constitution irrespective of the religious belief of those in government. The government should respect the constitution of Nigeria because if the government breaks the constitution of Nigeria on religion alone, they have already opened the door for lawlessness in the society.”

He advised Islamic religious leaders to call their followers to order as some of them were not giving them honour with their actions. “They (children) are bringing disgrace to the religion of Islam; we have existed together for many years without this type of development, so it is the duty of the Islamic leaders in Nigeria to look for those who are radicalising their children and turning them into murderers and be able to apprehend them and hand them over to the government or speak to them to teach what is right. “To say that they are not Muslims is so embarrassing. So, who are they? Are they Christians? Are they pagans? If they are pagans, why do they owe allegiance to the Quran? Do pagans hold Quran or owe allegiance to it?”

He said Islamic leaders should find out those “radicalising their children and turning them into murderers” and teach them religious tolerance.

“The government of Nigeria should not take things for granted and think that Christians are fools and they will be seen to be promoting one religion above the other or favour one religion to the detriment of the other.

“Whenever we see that, we are going to tell them to be very careful and we are going to speak out. Who you are going to worship is a fundamental right of every individual and government is there to protect that, not to force one religion on the other.”

He described the attack on a Christian in Kaduna by some youths because he was eating during the month of Ramadan as an act of religious intolerance.

“Somebody was going to eat in the afternoon; he was not a Muslim. What right do you have to go and stab that person in a law-abiding society? When you are not from the bush, you are not a beast, how can you just behave like that? What is Nigeria becoming in the name of religion?

“So these are the things we must all rise to condemn. Since nobody has monopoly to guns and violence, we should not continue to provoke people.”