Onaiyekan foundation warns Nigerians against being used for crisis
By Okeoghene Akubuike
The Cardinal Onaiyekan Foundation for Peace (COFP), has urged Nigerians to say “No’’ to violence and being used by politicians to create crisis in the country.
Director of COFP, Rev. Sister Agatha Chikelue, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN) on Monday in Abuja.
She spoke on the sidelines of the Second Module of the COFP 2018/2019 Fellowship Programme on “Inter-religious Dialogue and Mediation Certificate Programme’’.
According to her, it is usually the poor and people in the grassroots who are casualties of the violence and crisis rocking the country.
“Nigerians must say no to violence in any form and to the politicians that want to use us to create crisis in the country.
“Should we continue to give in to politicians who will buy us with money especially this time of election? It is time to say `No’ to their money and work to live in peace.
“We believe peace can be achieved with the help of God but we must not allow them to continue to use people to cause violence.’’
Chikelue appealed to politicians to allow Nigerians choose their leaders if they really wanted to serve the people.
She called on the government to live up to its responsibility and serve Nigerians in such a way as to guarantee peace and development in the country.
She said the purpose of the fellowship was to bring key religious leaders to explore cross- cultural and religious dialogue and understanding.
Mr Anton Smith, Political Counselor, U.S. Embassy, applauded the foundation for the work it was doing in promoting peace in the country.
Smith said: “There is great hope for Nigeria and I say, in religion, there are differences but there are more things that bind us together than what separates us.
“You all are courageous and I encourage you to continue what you are doing.
“So that when you are old, you can look back and say we have come a long way and we have made a lot of progress.’’
Some of the participants who spoke to NAN said they had learnt from the first module to be tolerant and to appreciate one another’s religion.
They said they had initiated different inter-faith peace programmes in their various states and communities which were yielding results.
Alhassan Magaji from Kaduna State said that after the first module of the fellowship programme, he had gone back to his community and gathered Imams and Muslim scholars for deliberations.
“I gathered the Imams and Muslim scholars in my community and spoke to them not to allow this conflict to escalate.
“I told them that all hate speeches and hate preaching by Imams must stop if there must be peace in the state,’’ he said.
Also, Cecelia Nwanneka, National President, Catholic Women Organisation, said her group had taken the message of peace back to the home setting.
“What we do is get back to the homes to teach the children the importance of peace building.’’
NAN reports that the fellowship which has 35 participants drawn from different religious groups and sects is divided into three modules.
The first module was held in July, the second in October/November and the third module would be held in March/April 2019.
COFP is a Non-Governmental Organisation established in 2010 with the mandate to provide a platform for building and strengthening the processes of peace and social change in Nigeria and across Africa.
NAN reports that the fellowship is sponsored by GHR Foundation based in the U.S.
Other partners include the Tony Blair Foundation for Global Change, VERITAS University and Islamic Education Trust.
