INTER-RELIGIOUS PATIENCE FOR PEACE

INTER-RELIGIOUS PATIENCE FOR PEACE 

Cornelius Afebu Omonokhua

 

Let the publications and counter publications of enthusiastic Christians and Muslims in print and social media echo the cry from the heart of victims of violence who are longing for justice and good governance rather than inter-religious antagonism. Let those who talk and write on behalf of Christians and Muslims do so as the voice that cries from the wilderness to call people to prepare the way of the Lord and make his paths straight (Isaiah 40:3; John 1:43). On Friday, February 14, 2020, my friend and partner in dialogue, Alhaji Kunle Sanni sent me a link onChristianization and Islamization. Permit me to quote a few of the conversation. “By the operational method of Christians, it is actually us that want to convert Nigeria to a Christian state and not the Muslims. As I speak now, there are Pastors in the innermost part of Northern Nigeria on Mission efforts being funded by the Church” (@olusogaowoeye). Here are some responses to the assertion of Olusoga Owoeye: “Absolutely very correct. I have said this time and time again. We are the ones who force morning devotion in our offices, business places, schools, hospital etc (@abneroke). “Are they doing it with government fund” (@leahsharib). “Hmmm, are you saying our Muslim brothers do not have agenda for converting people to the Muslim faith in Nigeria (@ijijianthony)? These are just toillustrate how far our fundamentalists and fanatics are succeeding in causing religious tension in our nation. The truth is that both Christians and Muslims have the evangelical mandate to proclaim their religions not just to convert others from one religion to the other but to make people have interior conversion to do the will of God and become better human beings. 

 

If through religious mission everybody submits to the will of God in obedience, the love and fear of God would restrain any converted person to kill a human being in the name of God. To live in peace, social cohesion and justice, the leaders of the two Principal Religions, Islam and Christianity in Nigeria voluntarily decided to come together to form the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council on the 11th day of September, 1999, and the association having been inaugurated on the 29th day of September, 1999; guided by divine regulations and the dictates of our Creator, determined, within the context of our religions, to forge inter-religions harmony and concord. The Religious leaders put inplace a constitution in these words: “Having firmly and solemnly resolved, within the confines of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to live in unity, harmony and peace for the welfare, security and prosperity of our people and our Nation under God. Do hereby make, enact and give to ourselves this Constitution to guide and direct our collective endeavors (Constitution of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council, NIREC; Preamble).  

 

The objectives of NIREC are “To honestly and sincerely endeavour by themselves and through them, their followership, to understand the true teachings of the two religions, Christianityand Islam including their peculiarities and personal mannerisms through dialogue, discussions, work-shops, seminars, conference, pamphleteering etc.” “To create a permanent and sustainable channel of communication and interaction thereby promoting dialogue between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria so that the members of both faiths may have mutual understanding of each other’s religious position, and generally promote harmony, inculcate co-existence among all the people of Nigeria irrespective of their religious or ethnic affiliations.” “To promote and inculcate moral, ethical, social and cultural values of the two faiths for the rebirth and rebuilding of a better society.” “To provide a forum for mutual co-operation and promotion of the welfare of all citizens in the nation” (Constitution of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council, NIREC, Article 3)

 

If every Christian and Muslim take NIREC as a nexus to assist the Political leaders to promote good governance in justice that is necessary to provide for peaceful coexistence, then Christians and Muslims need a meeting point outside the newspapers and social media to discuss the way forward. This is why the office of NIREC is appealing to Christian and Muslim journalists who claim to be talking and writing in the name of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Nigeria Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) to be patient and consider the feelings of the other in their utterances and publication. Given that CAN and NSCIA forms NIREC, the issues that affects both religions could wait for discussion during NIREC meeting. If there is urgency, the issues could be presented to the two co-chairmen of NIREC for deliberation. That the government funds NIREC meetings is a sign that the political leaders would have the political will to accept the recommendations of the council. The case when a Christian would defend the government because a Christian is in power or a Muslim would defend government because a Muslim is in power contradicts the intention of the founding fathers of NIREC. We should be able to speak truth to power as the voice of the voiceless given that the political leaders are either Christians or Muslims. What we need is common action and not fanaticism. 

 

We have credible Nigerians who can make this nation a great country if we can control our religious and ethnic sentiments. We need leaders who can deliver on their political promises. It does not matter where the leader comes from. The Muslims believe that Islam is a religion of peace while Christians believe that Jesus is the Prince of peace. It therefore means that we need a Nigeria that is Christianized and Islamized. If that happens, it would be a farewell party to terrorism, kidnapping, religious bigotry, ethnic and religious discrimination. Then Federal character, the rule of law, efficiency and professionalism wouldbe respected. Then the Army, Police and all security agents will have less work to do in terms of fighting internal insurrection. Then the young graduates would not need a letter from a Senator or a high placed person to get a job. Honestly, I am praying that Nigeria should be Christianized and Islamized without spending government money to fund any particular religion. The government could fund joint actions for peace not at the expense of one tribe or religion. 

 

Let us say and write what can bring about peaceful co-existencewhere righteousness will be the belt around our hips, and faithfulness the sash around our waist. We need a nation where the wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie downwith the goat; the calf and young lion and fatling will be together, and a little child will lead them. We need the political will to produce a nation where the cow will graze with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox (Isaiah 11:5-7). May God arbitrate for us to beat our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks. May Nation no longer take up the sword against nation, nor train anymore for war (Isaiah 2:4). May the Spirit of God possess our hearts! May God give us the patience we need to deliberate on common concerns that can make peace flow like a river. The peace that would flow from each of us into the desert and forest to give freedom to captives who are still with the kidnappers and the terrorists. May all who have been killed by the terrorists and kidnappers find peace with God! May the Peace of Almighty God be with you!

Rev. Fr. Cornelius Omonokhua is the Executive Secretary of Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC -nirec.ng@gmail.com) & The Secretary General of the West Africa Inter-Religious Council (WA-IRC – wairc.rfp@gmail.com).

 

HOW WE CAN AVOID THIS INFERNO

HOW WE CAN AVOID THIS INFERNO

Cornelius Afebu Omonokhua

 

The rate at which Nigerians are playing religious politics with the ongoing killings by the terrorists and kidnappers need a thorough and critical examination. In conflict management, it is better and easier to extinguish a spark before it becomes an inferno that can consume every human being. The weapons of human destruction have no religious value hence those who kill are breaking the commandments of God that forbids killing, stealing and taking by force the property that does not belong to them. If criminality, kidnapping and terrorism are religious, then, criminals, kidnappers and terrorist would not kill in the name of God who creates and sustains human life. This is why it is illogical for real Christians and Muslims to debate whether the killers are Muslims or Christians. It is a degradation of human value and national identity to count the percentage and ratio of those who have the highest score of deaths as if dying in the hands of terrorists and kidnappers is a competition. As long as human beings and Nigerians are dying, for Muslims or Christians to count who have suffered the highest loss is akin to negating the value and dignity of the human person. Christians and Muslims must not forget that they are falling into the trap of the terrorists who want to cause religious war. To avoid the inferno that the current drums are announcing from every region, we need to grow above ethnic and religious divides and collaboratively face the monster that is threatening to devour everybody. 

 

My partners in dialogue in Sierra Leone told me that the Christians and the Muslims in Sierra Leone had to agree on a date to fast and pray together when the rebels wanted to destroy the country. They believe that together, they can grow peace in the country. Both Christians and Muslims in Sierra Leone respect and protect their national constitution that “provides for freedom of religion”. The Sierra Leone Government is constitutionally forbidden from establishing a state religion.(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Sierra_Leone, 8 February 2020). In Sierra Leone the question of which religion has suffered the greatest loss in the genocide did not arise. If the kidnappers and terrorists are either Christians or Muslims, then, they would cease to be criminals. That a criminal has a religious name does not make him a practicing religious person. Any criminal who commits a crime in the name of any given religiondeserves to be excommunicated by the leaders of that particular religion because a good name is better than gold. 

 

Every religious adherent deserves to protect the good image of his / her religion like an ambassador. The Inter-Religious Council of Sierra Leone estimated that 77% of Sierra Leone's population are Muslims, 21% are Christians, and 2% are followers of traditional African religion. Most of Sierra Leone's ethnic groups are Muslim majority, including the country's two largest ethnic groups: the Mende and Temne. Sierra Leone is regarded as one of the most religiously tolerant countries in the world. Muslims and Christians collaborate and interact with each other peacefully. Religious violence is very rare in the country. Even during the Sierra Leonean Civil War people were never targeted because of their religion. The country is home to the Sierra Leone Inter-Religious Council” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Sierra_Leone, 8 February 2020). Criminals must be jointly confronted no matter the religion they profess in Nigeria.  May it not be true that “as Nigeria faces US ban, thousands of Nigerians jet in for Sierra Leone Passports” as reported by Night Watch Print Media on Tuesday, February 4, 2020 (Vol. 3 No. 022). 

 

When a policeman mercilessly assaulted a customer, Patience Osafo, in a banking hall at Shiashie, near Legon in Ghana, theGhanaians demanded immediate justice for the victim without ethnic and religious sentiments. The policeman, No. 50260 Lance Corporal Godzi Frederick Amanor, popularly known among his colleagues as Skalla, and stationed at the Accra Regional Police Operations Unit was made to face justice by Inspector General of Police (IGP) who directed his immediate arrest. The management of the Midland Savings and Loans had to issue a public apology to Osafo without ethnic and religious sentiments. The Interior Minister, Mr Ambrose Dery, condemned the incident as unacceptable for a “policeman to be that hostile, to be so wicked and to be that barbaric to a woman.”The Ghanaians who witness the ugly incident contributed money to assist the victim. The President of Ghana condemned the criminal action without ethnic, political and religious sentiments (https://www.ghanaweb.com/ February, 10, 2020). 

 

The point I am making is that a criminal is a criminal and their victims are human beings. If these human beings are accepted as Nigerians irrespective of tribe and religion, nothing stops Christians and Muslims in Nigeria to jointly pray, fast and organize peaceful protests against the criminals. You can imagine what would happen if Nigerians come out in protest against criminals with their cassocks, habits, hijabs, jalabiya, miters, turbans, traditional staff of office, uniform of the CWO, FOMWAN, WOWICAN and uniform of different Christian denominations and Islamic Sects. Don’t you think the criminals and their sponsors would see the united action as a curse and that could perhaps be a turning point in the lives of the terrorists, kidnappers and all forms of criminals? I can still recall how the women of all religions used to come out in our villages to curse the witches and wizards that were suspected to be responsible for poor harvest, plague and anyone who was responsible for any tragedy in the community. The time has come where nobody should allow criminals to keep drowning the nation by killing the citizens as if they are political orphans. 

 

We can avoid the different predictions of what will happen to our dear nation if we stop living in denial to defend criminals from our individual ethnic groups and religions. You do not fellowship with the deeds of darkness. Instead expose them if you know them (Ephesians 5:11). There is no need for any reasonable person to ask a person who is hiding your treasure to help search for it. You can be sure that you may search in vain. The best you can do for those you know are terrorists and kidnappers if you are afraid to report them to the security agents is to reform them if you love them so much. A person with abnormal traits perceives everyone as an abnormal person who does not deserve to live.  

 

“The Son of Hamas” by Mosab Hassan Yousef, a gripping account of terror, reveals that there is something abnormal in the act of killing people in the name of religion or an ideology but the agents of death think that they are doing the right thing which for them is the zenith of faith (Mosab Hassan Yousef, Son of Hamas, (SALTRIVER Tyndale 2010). Saul thought that he was doing something wonderful for God by killing Christians until he encounters Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus (Acts 9). I pray that those killing Nigerians may encounter the truth about the human value as soon as possible. If the Son of Hamas could stop killing in the name of God, it is not impossible for the terrorists to change based on our collective effort to proclaim the truth by way of dialogue of love and friendship that could bring about social cohesion. May God expose the “cover-up” of the hidden sponsors of terrorists and kidnappers in our dear nation. 

 

Rev. Fr. Cornelius Omonokhua is the Executive Secretary of Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC -nirec.ng@gmail.com) & The Secretary General of the West Africa Inter-Religious Council (WA-IRC – wairc.rfp@gmail.com).

 

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