The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) as well as individuals and groups have faulted a statement by the Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, that religion will kill Nigeria if it is not tamed.
CAN’s National Director, Legal and Public Affairs, Kwamkur Samuel, and Secretary-General of the JNI, Dr. Abdulkadir Khalid-Aliyu, stated this in separate interviews with Punch.#
Soyinka had, at a book presentation in Abuja, on Thursday, warned that religion would kill the country if it was not tamed.
Condemning killings in the name of religion, the Nobel laureate stated, “I would like to transfer that cry (by President Buhari on corruption) from the moral zone to the terrain of religion. If we do not tame religion in this nation, religion will kill us.”
Reacting to Soyinka’s statement on religion, Pastor Samuel, said religion was not the problem of Nigeria.
The CAN leader stated, “With due respect to Prof. Soyinka, it is not true that religion is the bane of Nigeria’s stability. No genuine religion promotes killings and destruction of lives and property. It is unfair for the Nobel laureate to project religion as a problem when it is the faithful believers that are praying and sacrificing to keep the nation moving.
“Christianity preaches peace in all its ramifications. I challenge the professor to identify one attack on any community in Nigeria that was reported to have been carried out by Christians. Let him show any terrorist group by whatever name that shouts the name of Jesus before attacks or claim they are fighting for Jesus.
“We are sad that the so-called religious killing is persisting because our prominent leaders are not ready to call a spade by its real name.”
He added, “I wonder how Nigeria would have been without the coming of Christian missionaries. This nation has the security agencies that present heavy budgets, undergo serious training both nationally and internationally, perform very highly on foreign assignments. Yet, when they are dealing with Nigeria, they seem to be very lost as to knowing what is happening in Nigeria, let alone finding any lasting solution.”
On his part, the Secretary-General of the JNI, Dr. Abdulkadir Khalid-Aliyu, said depending on the context from which Soyinka made the statement, his position was most uncharitable.
He called on leaders to guard their utterances, especially on religion due to its sensitive nature.
Khalid-Aliyu stated, “Is Prof. Soyinka saying religion is bad? It is important that we really have to be decorous and be respectful of the sensibility of the people.
“Even in advanced countries, people respect religion and adhere to religion."
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