Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, and Most Rev. Daniel Okoh, the president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), have said that in 2023, clerics will not permit any politician to hold the nation hostage.
The Methodist Prelate, Dr. Samuel Kanu-Uche, stressed that when the government and religious organizations work together, the country will keep its unity and make progress.
They made these remarks while addressing at a farewell dinner in Abuja in honor of Rev. Samson Ayokunle, the most recent CAN president.
The Sultan instructed both Christian and Muslim clerics to extend hospitality to all candidates for political office who sought their support, but he also instructed them to carefully examine their development strategies for the country.
He said, “As you know the time for political campaign will soon start. Political office seekers and politicians will come to seek our votes. We have to treat them well and preach to them to be just and fear God in whatever they do.
“We must not play the blame-game and allow anyone to take our country hostage. We know politicians will come to you and to us as well as going everywhere, promising things that they cannot deliver.
“Let’s challenge them. If someone tells you that they are going to do this or that, ask them ‘how are you going to do it.
“As Nigeria Interreligious Council, NIREC, we will sit and discuss these issues. At that level also, we will reach out to political leaders, sit with them and discuss with them what plans they have for this country. Then we will decide who, as God Almighty seems it fit, will lead the country.”In his remarks, the CAN President.
The CAN President, Most Rev. Daniel Okoh, stated that the conversation between Christian and Muslim clerics will continue for the benefit of the country in his speech.
According to him, “We will continue to collaborate together for the peaceful co-existence among people of all ethnic groups and religious leanings as we resolve to make a positive impact on the political, economic and social systems of our dear nation.”
The Methodist prelate Kanu-Uche has stated that the ideal connection between religious organizations and the State should be such that the welfare needs of the populace are handled from all sides in his presentation titled, “Reflections on Christianity and Nigeria.”
“While the State attends to the physical well-being of the masses and the present, the Church will attend to the spiritual well being of the masses and their future in the Hereafter.
“It is in the matter of government addressing the physical issues of the Present and the Church minding the spiritual issues of the Hereafter that we see the need for the State and Church to have a mutually beneficial handshake for you cannot care about the future without being concerned about the present and you cannot dwell on the present and turn a blind eye to the future,” he said.
He added that the Church must continue
“The Church must continue to ensure that she has a prominent seat at the table of power,” he counseled.
