Bode Olagoke
Justice and equity topped Thursday’s deliberations at the ongoing national conference as delegates after another pointed out the need to remove obstacles in the way of creating a level playing field for all Nigerians and sectors of the economy.
Muzammil Sani Hanga, representing Muslim religious leaders, said it is time to stop state sponsorship of pilgrimages in the country.
He also noted that religious dress codes, the use of cross insignia on hospitals and other health care facilities in the country and other religious colorations that have for years been source of disharmony in the country must be expunged from the polity.
While reacting to concerns of undue inclusion of Quranic and Islamic interests in the constitution, Hanga advised that Biblical laws and Quranic interests should be given equal representation in the constitution.
He also said that several conflicts in various parts of the country especially the recent crisis in Dogo-Nahawa in Plateau state and Kafachan in Kaduna state, among others, affected faithful of the Christian and Islamic religions.
He asked the leadership of the confab to give representatives of the various religious groups time to dialogue and
are elitist, also pointed out that if the right terminology is used by government and opinion leaders in the country, Nigeria’s problems would have been reduced if not eliminated. proffer measures to future religious conflicts in the country.
Similarly, Professor Haruna Andrew of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said that beyond religion, the segregation policy by the federal government where things like the almajiri schools are built in the north must be stopped.
