Charity Nwakaudu, Abuja
Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has dispelled insinuations about an underground plot by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government to Islamise Nigeria.
Osinbajo said the federal government will support any cause that would promote religious freedom; as key to peaceful co-existence among its citizens.
He expressed displeasure over the level of division caused by religion which ought to serve as channel for harmony and nation building.
State House Chaplain, Pastor Oluseyi Malomo, said this on behalf of the vice president, during the 2019 Religious Liberty Partnership Consultation, in Abuja, yesterday, where he appealed for religious tolerance among Nigerians; for collective growth and development.
He said: “The commitment of this government is to ensure there is religious freedom in the nation, no matter how hard it is.
“We are committed to that causese and must do all that is possible to get that done.
“It’s unfortunate that the religion which is supposed to help all of us live in harmony has become source of division for us. We must collectively resist that and support those things, religious or otherwise, that strengthens our peaceful co-existence.”
He added that the perception that policies and programmes of Buhari’s administration escalated religious crisis in some parts of Nigeria was wrong and should be corrected through mass advocacy in religious and social places.
Former chairman, Nigeria Human Right Commission (NHRC), Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, who was the guest speaker, expressed worry that faith is being politicised in Nigeria.
He said freedom of worship, which is one of the constitutional rights of an individual, is not easily ascertained in some parts of the country because most of the killings are politically and religiously motivated.