Nigeria
will be great if leaders like Sultan will tell the truth – CAN - See
more at:
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/05/nigeria-will-great-leaders-like-sultan-will-tell-truth-can/#sthash.UtBDSW03.dpuf
CHRISTIANS under the
aegis of TEKAN/ECWA, weekend, urged President Goodluck Jonathan to ignore a
statement credited to the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the
Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar
III, alleging marginalisation of Muslims in the country and that Nigeria will
be great only if leaders like the Sultan will tell the truth.
The Sultan was reported as saying during a national prayer
session organised by the NSCIA where eminent Islamic scholars gathered to pray
for peace and security in the nation that if the government can address
injustice against Muslims, the seemingly intractable security challenges will
be surmounted, adding that Muslims are not happy, but willing to support the
government in its efforts towards peace and stability
The Christian group also described the Sultan’s claim of
marginalization which was widely reported, as inciting.
They explained that a close look at the statement could be
interpreted to mean that unless the perceived injustices against Muslims are
addressed there will be no end to the current insecurity in the country.
“We are yet to overcome similar statements by an eminent
Muslim politician who vowed to make the nation ungovernable if he was not
pronounced winner of the 2011 presidential election. When the CAN leadership
called for his arrest for making such inflammatory statement many Muslims
accused him of heating up the polity, but today Nigerians know those who are
heating up the polity,” the statement added.
The Christian group therefore warned traditional, religious
and political leaders in the North against such inciting statements capable of
motivating uninformed Muslim fundamentalists into killing innocent adherents of
other faiths in the name of fighting perceived injustices.
“We therefore call on the Federal Government to call the
revered Islamic leader to order before another Islamic group will begin another
round of terrorist attacks on innocent Nigerians perceived to be marginalizing
Muslims as the Sultan had claimed,” TEKAN/ECWA pleaded.
It maintained that the Christian community in the North in
particular and other parts of the country which has been at the receiving end
of several untold injustices in the country is, however, happy that the recent
adoption of over 275 schoolgirls from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok
has loosed many tongues who had hitherto remained silent.
“Over the years, Christians in the North had cried
themselves hoax over discriminatory laws which had made it impossible for them
to practice their religion without let in accordance with the tenets of the
1999 Constitution. As a deliberate matter of policy most core northern
governments have refused to sign Certificates of Occupancy, C of O, for
Christian organisations to build churches.
“It is also a well known fact that governments in the region
have also deliberately discriminated against Christians in appointments into
government service for the simple reason that nobody will speak on their
behalf. There are several cases of elected Christian politicians who were
suspended on some flimsy excuses and who have not been reinstated despite
numerous pleas for justice.
“It is only the truth that will save this nation from the
present morass that we have inadvertently found ourselves. For far too long we
have pretended and lied to ourselves. We must therefore take advantage of the
Chibok schoolgirls to tell ourselves so home truth for a proper and true
healing process,” the statement said.
Continuing, Dr. Dziggau said: “Nigeria and the international
community must appreciate the leadership of CAN for his unwavering efforts to
restrain Christian youth from retaliating numerous unprovoked attacks,
institutionalised marginalisations of Christians in the hands of political,
religious and traditional leaders.
“Our appeal to His Eminence, the Sultan, is for him to
ensure that truth is being told at all times even of it hurts, rather than
deceiving the whole world with this story of marginalisation of Muslims.
Nigeria will be great only if leaders like the Sultan will
tell the truth at all times and in all situations because if there is any
seemingly marginalisation of Muslims, it’s the traditional, political and
religious leaders of Northern extration who have pauperised and marginalised
their followers that have led to the current mass poverty in the region.
Culled from: vanguardngr.com
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