Religious leaders must unite to demand good governance, says Ahmadiyya leader, Fashola

The leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at Nigeria, Dr Mash’hud Fashola, has said that it is imperative for religious leaders in the country to shun sectional, denominational and religious differences to demand good governance from the country’s political leadership.

According to Fashola, religious leaders honouring people known to have made their wealth from corrupt, fraudulent and other questionable means is a practice that should stop.

Fashola, who spoke during a visit to the Akinyele Circuit of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at in Ibadan, traced the nation’s problems to churches and mosques and then urged religious leaders to preach against dishonesty, corruption and fraud for the nation to have good governance at all levels.

He said Catholic bishops showed a good example to other religious leaders through their visit to President Muhammadu Buhari to express their displeasure at the prevalent poverty, looting and killings in the country.

“Religion has failed in Nigeria because some of our religious leaders were preaching something else instead of preaching truthfulness, honesty and piety required for nation building.

“Imagine a contractor who collected N250 million for a project that could be executed with N50 million. These are some of the things affecting the country today.

“Our hypocrisy knows no bound. We are religious but not God fearing and our religious leaders are expected to change the people. We can challenge government in unity to move the nation forward.

“Our religious leaders should stop the habit of honouring wealthy people in our community who have made their wealth from corrupt, fraudulent and other questionable means.

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“They should be encouraged to redistribute their stolen wealth to the poor. The truth is, Nigerians are more fraudulent than Europeans who do not attend churches and mosques.

“It is a pity that our youths are also very lazy. What we should be preaching to them now is hard work and dignity of labour,” Fashola said.

Fashola, who is a former Head of the Department of Economics, University of Lagos, admonished the government to ensure that Nigerians had access to food and jobs which, he said, would reduce insecurity and crime significantly.

In a remark, the president of the Akinyele circuit of the Jama’at, Mr Raji Adewale, said the circuit was committed to improving infrastructure, fiscal status, welfare and spirituality in the society.

During his visit to the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Administration), University of Ibadan, Professor Ambrose Emilolorun, Fashola urged educational institutions not to relent in promoting morality among youths.