The National Chairman of the Jama’atu Izalatil Bid’ah Wa Iqamatus Sunnah (JIBWIS), Sheikh Abdullahi Bala Lau, has urged Muslims and Christians across Nigeria to respect one another’s faith and work together to protect the country.
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 the meeting was designed to promote peace, harmony and stability in Nigeria, West Africa and the wider African region.
He stressed that religious and ethnic differences should not prevent Nigerians from pursuing the shared objective of peaceful coexistence.
“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 JIBWIS chairman maintained that both Muslims and Christians have equal stakes in Nigeria and should respect each other’s religious beliefs.
He said no religious group had the right to force another out of the country, stressing that Nigeria belongs to all its citizens.
“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 also urged Nigerians to learn from the example of Prophet Muhammad, who, according to him, lived peacefully alongside people of other faiths in Medina.
He further disclosed that the resolutions reached at the conference would not be allowed to remain merely as written commitments.
According to him, an implementation committee would be established to monitor the execution of the communique, while JIBWIS and the Muslim World League would jointly create a forum to follow up on the commitments.
“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 called on Nigerians to protect their shared humanity and reject attempts to exploit religion, ethnicity and poverty to divide society.
He said diversity was part of God’s creation and warned that attempts to eliminate it through violence and conflict would ultimately fail.
The conference concluded with the signing of the “Abuja Declaration” by religious leaders representing different faiths and Islamic sects across the region.
The declaration adopted a joint action plan involving government institutions, Muslim and Christian leaders and civil society organisations.
It also provided for the expansion of academic, training and media programmes aimed at addressing threats to peace, coexistence and social stability.
The declaration 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 in West Africa was also established to monitor the implementation of the action plan and periodically assess progress.
The initiatives, participants said, are expected to strengthen interfaith cooperation and contribute to a more peaceful and socially cohesive Nigeria.
