By Ene Osang
Abuja
Centre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency (CSJET) has condemned what it described as “the use of religion to destabilise Nigeria.”
Its National Coordinator, Comrade Ikpa Isaac, while briefing the media ahead the organisation’s upcoming roundtable on the role of religious leaders in building inter-faith tolerance, expressed displeasure over the upsurge in inflammatory utterances amongst various religious in the country.
Isaac noted that the hostilities could escalate as this has become a national challenge that must be addressed quickly, stressing that “unguarded utterances” by religious leaders in the country, had further worsened the tension in the country.
He maintained that the killings by alleged herdsmen across the country could have been resolved through a peaceful approach, saying when the atrocities were committed, the responses to them from the relevant authorities could also have been better.
He said: “It is, however, worrisome that the situation has rather taken the artificial division along religious lines to a new level. The conduct and utterances by leaders of the two dominant faiths have not done much to help the situation.
“Unfortunately, for us the larger population, we do not have the dual nationalities that many of these preachers have; even where we have visas to other countries, we possibly do not have the means to relocate ourselves and families like the clergymen do.”
He enjoined all citizens “to stave off the looming disaster of a religious hostilities,” saying the larger population “suffers more of its negative impact.”
“The Centre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency (CESJET) has, therefore, decided to hold a round table on The Role of Religious Leaders in Building Inter-Faith Tolerance and to dissect the topic, Love Not Hate, A Symbol of Any True Religion.
“The event will bring together a group of informed Nigerians from ten states of the federation to brainstorm on how best religious leaders can proffer solutions to Nigeria’s security, economic, social, political and other challenges without heating up the polity or inciting hatred.”
