NASFAT preaches unity, peaceful coexistence

President of the Nashirullahi Fathi Society of Nigeria (NASFAT), Engr. Kamil Bolarinwa said the country would witness the desired peace and security if the media remain neutral and fair in their reportage. He urged the practitioners to strive always to remove tribal, ethnic or religious colouration from their reports to promote peace, unity and stability […]

President of the Nashirullahi Fathi Society of Nigeria (NASFAT), Engr. Kamil Bolarinwa said the country would witness the desired peace and security if the media remain neutral and fair in their reportage. He urged the practitioners to strive always to remove tribal, ethnic or religious colouration from their reports to promote peace, unity and stability of the nation.

Bolarinwa urged the media to promote peaceful coexistence by letting the people know that the country belongs to all and everybody should be treated equally irrespective of his/her religion or ethnicity. He said people should be treated as humans and not on the basis of their religion or ethnic affiliation, reiterating, “For the sake of peace, treat every Nigerian as one. Don’t treat any Nigerian on the basis of where he comes from or his religion. If we do this, there will no problem in Nigeria”.

The NASFAT President, who spoke at a special Iftar with media executives during the just concluded Ramadan, said the media must be united in their reportage and they should have no religion, ethnicity or tribe for peace to reign in Nigeria.

He said, “I am a Muslim, I am proud to be one. I am a member of NASFAT, I am proud to be one. But it is only in the Nigerian media I know there is a Muslim thief, there is a Muslim armed robber, there is a Muslim thug. You don’t get it in other places. A thief is a thief, an armed robber is an armed robber.

Dr. Nosir Onibon in his sermon urged the media practitioners to always verify their reports before publications, saying, “We should see ourselves first as human beings before anything. We should exercise self-restraint in doing our work”.