The National Chairman of the Jama’atu Izalatil Bid’ah Wa Iqamatus Sunnah (JIBWIS), Sheikh Abdullahi Bala Lau, has called on Nigerians to respect their religious differences and work collectively to protect the country’s peace and unity.
Bala Lau made the call on Friday at the Abuja International Airport following the departure of the Secretary-General of the Muslim World League, Sheikh Dr Mohammed bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa, after a two-day international conference on diversity and social peace.
The conference, organised by JIBWIS in partnership with the Muslim World League, was themed “Diversity and Social Peace: A Partnership for a Promising Future.”
Bala Lau said Muslims and Christians have equal stakes in Nigeria and should coexist peacefully despite their religious differences.
He said diversity should not prevent Nigerians from pursuing the shared objective of peace and stability.
“Despite our diversity, we have our common goal. We have a common goal to ensure that we live in peace and harmony. You do your religion, I do my own religion. There is no compulsion in religion,” he said.
The cleric stressed that neither Muslims nor Christians had the right to force the other out of the country, urging Nigerians to respect one another’s faiths while jointly protecting Nigeria.
“What do we do? We have to respect our religion. You respect my religion, I respect your religion. And we protect our country. The country belongs to us,” he said.
Bala Lau urged Nigerians to draw lessons from the example of Prophet Muhammad, whom he said lived peacefully alongside people of other faiths in Medina.
He also disclosed that the resolutions reached at the conference would be implemented rather than left as mere declarations. According to him, an implementation committee would be established to monitor the execution of the communique.
“We are religious leaders and spiritual leaders. We have to abide by what we say. We have to implement what we say so that people can copy from us,” he said.
Earlier, Sheikh Al-Issa warned against extremism and urged Nigerians to protect their shared humanity while rejecting attempts to exploit religion, ethnicity or poverty to create divisions.
He said diversity was part of God’s creation and that efforts to eliminate it through violence and conflict were bound to fail.
The conference ended with religious leaders from different faiths and sects across the region signing the “Abuja Declaration.”
The declaration adopted a joint action plan involving government institutions, Muslim and Christian leaders and civil society organisations, while also providing for expanded academic, training and media programmes aimed at addressing threats to peace and social stability.
It further called for stronger partnerships in conflict prevention and the protection of Nigeria’s religious and ethnic diversity.
A coordinating body comprising religious and civic leaders and institutions across West Africa was also established to monitor implementation of the action plan and periodically assess progress.
