The Nigerian Government has repudiated claims by a group named
Northern Christian Elders Forum, who falsely alleged that the Muhammadu
Buhari administration was practicing bigotry and alienating Christians.
The response by the Nigerian Government was contained in a letter to
the British Parliamentary Group and signed by Nigeria’s High
Commissioner to UK, George Adetola Oguntade.
A statement signed and forwarded to DAILY POST by President Muhammadu
Buhari’s Media Aide, Garba Shehu, said two letters were addressed to Rt
Rev’d Philip Mounstephen, a former secretary of the Church Missionary
Society (CMS) and now Head, “Independent Review of Foreign and
Commonwealth Office (FCO) Support of Persecuted Christians, “and
Baroness Berridge, the Chair of “All Parliamentary Group for
International Freedom of Religion or Belief.”
In the correspondences, the Nigerian government dismissed as
inconceivable and outrightly false, allusions to the effect that the
Boko Haram terrorism served a government agenda against Christians.
“It would be useful for me to engage with this process to ensure that
you are thoroughly briefed on the situation in Nigeria, “High
Commissioner Oguntade wrote in the correspondences.
Responding to the interim report on Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Support for Persecuted Christians, Oguntade, a retired Justice of the
Supreme Court, told Rev. Mounstephen:
“The safety and security of all Nigerians, whatever their faith, is a
fundamental priority of the Buhari Government. The government knows
that Nigeria can only achieve its potential if there is religious
tolerance and cooperation.”
The High Commissioner explained that President Buhari’s deputy is a
Pastor, adding that the President “has befriended Church leaders and
church groups both within and outside Nigeria.”
He added that the President’s cabinet is balanced between Muslims and
Christians, noting that he himself was a former Chancellor of the
Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion).
According to Justice Oguntade, Vice President Osinbajo has maintained
regular contacts with Christian and Muslim leaders as part of efforts
to build and sustain interfaith dialogue.
Stressing that the country’s security challenges had no ethnic and
religious colourations, the High Commissioner said the farmers/herders
clashes predated the Buhari administration, noting that such clashes
bordered on the desire for pasture by the herders and the desire to
protect crops from encroachment and destruction by the farmers.
Oguntade explained that these clashes had a long history and the
Buhari administration is taking a major step to address the root cause
of these crises and violent clashes pitting Muslim and Christian farmers
alike against the herders.
According to the High Commissioner, “the issue of grazing routes is
historically central to these conflicts and the Buhari administration is
taking a holistic approach to the matter with a view to ending it once
and for all, so that Nigerians can live in peace with one another.”
He, therefore, assured the international community that the Buhari
Administration would ensure that “the competition over scarce land is
resolved peacefully for the benefits of all parties.”
The Nigerian government also rejected attempts by the reporting group
to link Boko Haram terrorism with official policy, stating clearly that
these violent acts by the terrorist group predated the Buhari
administration, like many others that were inherited on coming to office
in 2015.
The Nigerian High Commissioner to the UK said criminal groups such as
the Boko Haram terrorists who kill Muslims and Christians do not
represent Muslims.
“Boko Haram is a murderous death cult whose savagery has destroyed thousands of lives.
“The Government is totally dedicated to eradicating their stain from our land.
“Since the Buhari administration has been in power, Boko Haram has
been significantly degraded – with the support and assistance of the UK
Government. We shall not rest until this mission is completed and the
people of North East Nigeria – both Christians and Muslims – can live in
peace again, “he said.
The two letters were each accompanied by a copy of an opinion article
signed by the President and published on November 30, 2018, by
London-based “Church Times,” entitled: DON’T POLITICISE RELIGION IN
NIGERIA.
In the article, President Buhari, among other things, said Muslims and Christians can flourish together.
“These two great religions (Islam and Christianity) can not only
peacefully coexist but flourish together. But we must first turn to one
another in compassion. For as Amos teaches us: “Do two walk together
unless they have agreed to meet?”.
“We must resist the temptation to retreat into our communities
because if we do, our palette of possibilities will remain primary. It
is only when we mix them together that we can imagine new and greater
possibilities.
“As our constitution spells out, politicizing religion should have no
place in Nigeria. However, it is all the more reprehensible when in
doing so; it feeds fears and plays to man’s baser instincts.
“For it makes us turn away from one another; it makes us retreat into
our communities and walk different paths; and it blinds us to each
other’s God-given dignity, ” the President said in the article published
in Church Times.”