Ahmadiyyah charges government on propagating inter-faith tolerance

A religious body, the Ahmadiyyah Muslim Jama’at, has identified the key roles needed to be played by the government in propagating inter-faith tolerance in Nigeria, noting that negative religious orientation had resulted into many ugly situations in the country in the past. Addressing journalists on Sunday on the sideline of events held to mark Ahmadiyyah’s […]

A religious body, the Ahmadiyyah Muslim Jama’at, has identified the key roles needed to be played by the government in propagating inter-faith tolerance in Nigeria, noting that negative religious orientation had resulted into many ugly situations in the country in the past.
Addressing journalists on Sunday on the sideline of events held to mark Ahmadiyyah’s 100 years of existence in Nigeria and its 127 years of existence in the world, National Islamic Preaching and Propagation Secretary, Ahmadiyyah Muslim Jama’at Nigeria, Dr. Saheed Timehin, called on the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to integrate religious orientation with its activities to ensure peaceful coexistence among Nigerians, noting that every religion could fall victim of being negatively exploited.
“Every religion can be exploited from negative ends even as the primary purpose of every religion is global peace and brotherhood. That is why it is imperative to propagate positive orientation among people who are aligned to different religious ideologies.
“There is need to do more in bringing religious leaders together and even their followers. The followers should be orientated through various consistent channels and should also always be kept abreast of whatever the conclusion arrived at by their leaders after each conference held, since in most cases, most of the key issues discussed at inter religious conferences do not get to the grassroots,” he said.
Timehin, who is also the Chairman, Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC), warned that any attempt to neglect addressing religious intolerance along with other issues such as ethnic differences would be tantamount to shielding the problem.
He, therefore, recommended that “Inter-Faith Relations” should be introduced as a general course in Nigerian higher institutions of learning.
The Islamic group also charged Nigerian leaders to have true love of their followers at heart, in the same way they love their close family members, noting that the best citizenry could hardly be found among people who are not well-fed and under-remunerated.