Conference gives recipe for harmony between Muslims, Christians in Nigeria

THE 2019 edition of the annual Conference on Islam in Nigeria (COIN), organised by the Islamic Welfare Foundation (IWF) and the University of Abuja ended on Thursday in Abuja with the participants urging stakeholders in the Nigeria project to choose peace over conflict “as conflict can only hinder the attainment of the other lofty goals that we hold dear.”

The formal opening ceremony of the conference with the theme ‘Law and Religious Conflicts in Nigeria’ was chaired by the vice chancellor of the University of Abuja, Professor Abdur-Rasheed Na’Allah.

A communique after the conference urged all stakeholders in the Nigeria project to avoid actions and utterances capable of pitching one sect against the other in each religion or one religion against the other.

The document said Nigerians, especially politicians, must refrain from using religion for political purposes, just as it appealed to the National Assembly as well as state and local government legislatures to review existing laws that discriminate against any particular religion.

The communique, signed by IWF national coordinator, Alhaji Abu Salami and Head, Department of Islamic Studies, University of Abuja, Dr AbdulAzeez Shittu, reads in part: “Our educational institutions, especially at the tertiary level, are a microcosm of the Nigerian society in terms of their heterogeneity and should, therefore, be made a veritable platform for inculcating broad mindedness that will ultimately minimise conflicts in Nigeria.

“Nigerians in general should imbibe the Islamic justice system which emphasises that justice must be done always even if against self or family as contained in Qur’an 4:135 so that when conflicts arise, people do not take sides on the basis of personal affiliations but stand firmly for truth and justice.

“Religious leaders and preachers should use their positions to promote truth, justice and tolerance rather than sowing the seed of discord within and between religions.

“Many religious conflicts emanated from unequal treatments by the various arms of government at the different levels of governance. Operatives in all government positions should ensure that all religions are treated equally.

“All religions should enlighten their adherents about the imperative of peaceful coexistence between adherents both within and across religions.

“The mass media especially the social media, should increase their role in promoting peaceful coexistence between adherents of different religions as opposed to their current practice of hyping conflicts between them.

“The Nigeria Inter-Religions Council (NIREC) should be more proactive in nipping religious conflicts in the bud by instituting a mechanism that will send early warning signal when conflicts are brewing, developing a code of conduct for religious leaders and preachers and by ensuring that its policies and recommendations percolate down to religious adherents at the base.”

In line with the tradition of the conference, two keynote speakers addressed the theme of the conference from the Islamic and Christian perspectives. They were Professor Muhammad Tabiu (SAN) of the Faculty of Law, Bayero University, Kano and Professor Justus Sokefun, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Abuja.

Scholars presented papers on the various sub-themes of the conference.