National president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, at the weekend said he doesn’t hate Muslims and have no reason whatsoever to do so, attributing the insinuation to the handiwork of mischief makers.
He said Nigerians must accept the reality and coexist together on the grounds that the country cannot be Christianised or Islamised.
In an exclusive interview with Blueprint, Oritsejafor said: “I don’t hate Muslims or don’t appreciate inter-faith dialogue; I have no reason to hate anyone because I am not the one that created anyone, but God. When I was elected national president of CAN, Muslims in Warri came to my Church to felicitate with me because we have been living peacefully with them.”
Continuing, he said: “In 2000, when I was not president of CAN, I was the one that took relief materials to Onitsha where many Hausas and Muslims were seeking refuge after a crisis there. The same thing I did in Bauchi and I went to Maiduguri for over three times on behalf of my Church in Warri. But who has cared to cross-check and be fair to me? I did not know the Sultan of Sokoto as CAN leader, but having friends and partnering in many initiatives. And so it is all blackmail, it is not true.”
On the interfaith dialogue, he said: “When you are boarding a plane, do you ask to know the religion of the pilot? When you are rush to hospital for life, do you ask religion of the doctor or when you are in danger you ask religion of security personnel? I am a firm believer of interfaith and have been in it. But if you want me to compromise and watch how innocent people are being slaughtered, then it is not me.
“If God had wanted a Nigeria of only Christians or Muslims it will have been, and so no one can Christianised or Islamised Nigeria. I am working for genuine peace and not awards. What I don’t like is insincerity and I cannot pretend about it. I cannot tolerate deceit and manipulation and that is why I am being blackmailed. But sincere Nigerians across all faiths are with me and that is what drives me on.
Recently, I told someone that we should add justice to our struggle for peace and unity.”
