Interfaith Week: Church Kick- Starts Campaign On Tolerance, Visits Kaduna Local Market

By Ibrahima Yakubu

NEWSDAILYNIGERIA– Ahead of World International Interfaith week and harmony celebration 2022, the General Overseer of Christ Evangelical and Life Intervention Ministry Sabon Tasha Kaduna South, Pastor Yohanna Buru has mobilised Muslims, Christians and other traditional believers to kick -up this year’s Campaign at Rail-way station market, Kaduna.

This is aimed at promoting interreligious Tolerance, forgiveness, better understanding among different faith based organizations in the country.

According to him, this is the 10th year, the church has been organizing and mobilizing various forms of activities towards the celebration of the week, usually, on the First week of February every year.

The Christian cleric said, the week provides a huge opportunity and interaction between different faith based organizations across the world to deliberate on ways to enhance peace and stability in their land.

This year’s Interfaith week and harmony comes amid increasing terrorism and banditry attacks that is affecting the 19 northern states of Nigeria and hence the need to join hands with Muslims and Christians to embark on ceaseless prayers for peace in the entire northern Nigeria.

Responding, Mallam Musa Danladi, one of the fruit sellers at the rail way market Kaduna state, said he saw the importance of other non Governmental organizations and Civil society organizations coming together toward promoting the activities of the week, while calling on more religious scholars to join the canpaign.

He thanked the visitors and equally showed commitment towards the promotion of the interfaith harmony, so as to strengthen Christian and Muslim relations

Pastor Joel Zigo said, the church has spend 10 years of organizing monthly Christian and Muslim relations, so as to promote peace and stability in the state.

He said, the church has played a significant role in promoting tolerance while helping in building peace among multi-cultural society

Zigo appealed to Muslims and Christians to use the week through educating women and children on peace and forgiveness noting that, the Team of Pastors and Imams visited the markets, so as to preach to the local farmers ,and cattle-breeders on the importance of tolerating and accommodating each other,with the aims of bringing an end to the daily battles, conflicts affecting agric and economic sector of the region.

Adding that, he has mobilized over 100,000 Christian and Muslim clerics with traditional believers on social media networks and different media outlets to support the country through prayers ,for God to bring an end to banditry, terrorism, kidnapping, cattle rustling, and ethno-religious political killing that is causing serious problems in the northern part of the country.

The cleric and his team of other scholars called on marketers to cut down the prices of foodstuffs to enable the poor access food at affordable prices.

He further said the search for religious tolerance in the world has become particularly pressing today in promoting peaceful coexistence in a religious pluralistic society like Nigeria.

Similarly, a peace ambassador and also interfaith specialist, Hajiya Ramatu Tijjani from the Foundation for the protection of Women and children in Nigeria, said , the whole week celebrates the principles of tolerance and respect for one another that are deeply rooted in the world’s major religions, stressing that was why the United Nations declared and dedicated the first week of the of February to promote all activities that encourage and enhance religious activities worldwide.

Ramatu says, Inter-faith engagements unite people across faiths and ideological lines and encourages mutual trust, shared values, and understanding among different multicultural and multireligious bodies.

She then called for the creation of institutes of comparatives studies across the 19 Northerns States of Nigeria, so as to promote religious understanding, tolerance, forgiveness, reduce blaspheming tendencies, and how to live in peace and harmony between Muslims and Christians and other religious believers,