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Promoting Interreligious Harmony for National
Unification
By Raphael Ogar Oko
Newsdiaryonline Mon Sep 5,2011
I have been reading some wonderful and great suggestions on
stopping the religious killings in Nigeria. I feel touched by
the keen concern of many Nigerians and I feel indebted to the
nation and have to offer some ideas to promote religious harmony
as the main strategy for preventing further religious crisis and
killings. Whether we realize it now or not, religion plays a
very crucial role in the affairs of our nation. Unfortunately,
religious issues are deliberately avoided even when our
collective future is being threatened by unfounded
misunderstanding and suspicion of each other. As religious
people, instead of being our “brothers keepers” we have rather
opted to be our “brothers killers” and this is widening the gap
for atheism and secularism to destroy our nation.
From my understanding of the religious situation in Nigeria, I
think that we are fundamentally losing grip of the core mission
and purpose of religious life and what the various religions
stand for. We are more focused on rituals than on the
righteousness that all religions teach. In the midst of these
religious conflicts caused by religious ignorance, we need to be
re-educated on religious issues. We need religious education but
unfortunately, the presentation of religious education from the
perspectives of Christianity and Islam today seem to portray a
conflicting teaching than a message from a common Creator.
Hence, the need for a new vision of religious education, which
should lead us to (1) build a national interreligious culture
which promotes interreligious cooperation, thereby setting an
interreligious way of life as a nation, (2) establish
interreligious institutions, programs and projects thereby
producing interreligious citizens and communities, and (3)
generate, utilize and commit national resources to
interreligious cooperation.
 Some
may be wondering how these 3 point agenda can be implemented and
how it make an impact. First, for an interreligious culture, we
have the religious resources and teachings that are based on
universal values. For instance, all religion acknowledge and
appreciate the centrality of the family as the original and
pioneer institution for human living, and this is why everyone
belongs to a family. There is no other institution that everyone
in the world belongs to, except the family. So, by establishing
an interreligious family culture, all families can implement
that. How should children (sons and daughters) live with their
parents (fathers and mothers)? How should siblings (brothers and
sisters) live with one another and for each other? Also, what
should our religious tradition for couples (husband and wife)?
Finally, how should parents live with their children?
Establishing a culture within these four realms of life will
address the challenges and confusion we are facing now.
With a national interreligious culture established, we need to
create institutions, programs and projects that will embody the
culture. For instance, in addition to building churches for
Christians and mosques for Muslims, we need to have
Interreligious worship centers open to all religious people.
Muslims can worship on Friday, Adventists on Saturdays and other
Christians on Sundays, among others. Thirdly, it is so
unfortunate that much of our national resources are not
committed to promoting and supporting religious activities.
There is the need for a National Interreligious Fund which is
sustained through the partnership between budgetary provision by
the government and voluntary donations by religious people as
well as corporate tithe by institutions and organizations,
including churches and mosques.
This is what I am adding to the many submissions of colleagues
on religious cooperation. Unfortunately, many Christians know
very little or nothing about the great teachings of Islam and
many Muslims know very little or almost nothing beneficial about
the wisdom in Christianity. Each group believes in her
superiority and regard the other as inferior. Christians believe
that Jesus is the ONLY Son of God (yet we have many sons and
daughters unlike God) and that the work of salvation is finished
by the death of Jesus on the Cross. Muslims believe that the
Holy Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) is the latest and last Prophet of
God and that his teachings offers the way to salvation. Yes,
what if Jesus is the only Son of God and the Holy Prophet is the
last messenger. Does the position of Jesus as Son God prevent
God from sending a messenger to the world filled with evil after
the life of Jesus? Are they no servants and messenger of God in
our midst today in Christianity? In general, both groups agree
that there is a Creator but the path of return to Heaven is an
issue. So, the religious difference is more in terms of the
messengers of the Creator than on their teachings or the source
of the teachings. So, we have the responsibility of addressing
thechallenges surrounding the central persons of all religions.
I think that interreligious education for all Nigerians will
reduce the present unnecessary struggle and competition. This
will enable Christians understand Islamic values and help
Muslims understand Christian values as well as the differences
between Christianity and Judaism. An interreligious education
based on universal values taught by all religions and strong
ethical values can resolve these challenges. We need to promote
religious cooperation and not religious competition.
For a better future, we should include interreligious
education and not comparative religious studies in our
educational curriculum.
Therefore, we need to train Interreligious Educators for our
schools and designate Interreligious Clergies as a new
generation of religious leaders and help establish
Interreligious Worship Centers, engage in Interreligious
Pilgrimages. I think that our emerging 21st century communities
should be led by interreligious leaders who ascribe to universal
values than mere champion of denominations. I do also hope that
the National Assembly can create the NASS Committee on
Interreligious Affairs that will legislate on interreligious
cooperation as well as facilitate the establishment of a Federal
Ministry of Interreligious Affairs. The National Interreligious
Council (NIREC) established by President OBJ need to be
strengthened to organize more programs for families, schools and
communities in Nigeria.
As part of the dissolution of religious resentments among
believers of the faiths in Nigeria, it may even be necessary to
consider designating a special day as *National Interreligious
Day* (maybe January 1 every year) or God/Allah Day where all
religious people in Nigeria come together to appreciate and
celebrate the common Creator as we have democracy day,workers
day, etc. Such a day can be used to also "Honor Men and Women"
committed to promoting Interreligious Harmony in Nigeria and
around the world. We have no day that brings the various faiths
together and I wonder how we hope to erase the suspicion about
each other when we do not discuss our differences and/or
commonalities.
I envision a future where our NYSC should not only focus on
posting of universities graduates based on state of origin, but
should also consider religious affiliations. I do hope that we
may be able to look into the idea of a National Interreligious
Youth Service Corps (NIYSC) where young Nigerians from different
religious faiths will work with colleagues on programs and
projects for interreligious harmony. Graduates of Religious
Studies in Colleges and Universities as well as those from
Theological Schools can be encouraged to participate in such
initiatives. At the moment, religious schools graduate clergies
but they have no opportunity to participate in a form of
internship service to the nation. I think that the
Interreligious Service Corps will provide such a wonderful
opportunity.
Very recently, our nation began another struggle over the
introduction of Islamic Banking. I have also read of efforts by
the Christian Association of Nigeria to promote Christian
Banking. These should not be seen from perspectives of
competition between Islam and -Christianity but rather a battle
for non-profit banking against the present capitalist for-profit
banking. It is rather a struggle against secular banking and for
religious banking. My recommendation is that we need to promote
interreligious banking as nonprofit banking system where profit
made are shared by all stakeholders including customers and
shareholders instead of the present model where faithful
customers are exploited for the benefit of shareholders (who are
mostly not even regular customers of the bank). If
interreligious banking is promoted, we shall witness a new
culture of banking based on the selfless principles and values
that all religions teach – living for the sake of others, and
this will usher in a new business culture of investing for the
sake of others and harvesting with others and for each other.
I will also like to suggest again that we may need to look into
the possibility of convening periodic "Conferences Of Religious
Educators and Leaders" (COREL) to discuss some of these ideas
and many others, and hopefully formulate a "National
Interreligious Policy for Nigeria” that will promote
Interreligious harmony as a tool for national development.
As we move toward the 100th anniversary of the Amalgamation of
Nigeria by 2014, it will be very shameful if we cannot be
working toward National Unification, which involves religious
harmony, regional cooperation and effective resources
utilization. This is an inevitable path for this nation in the
new millennium and the earlier we come to terms on discussing
this, the better and best for Nigeria. The present generation of
Nigerians are the luckiest ever to be born in this nation as we
have the most unique opportunity to build the Nigeria of the
dreams of our forefathers and that we all yearn for. In this age
of "goodluck" on
the side of our nation, I hope that we can all facilitate this
and move Nigeria into the realm of "betterluck" and even "bestluck"
in the days ahead. I know that the list of ideas is endless, my
brothers and sisters, but I pray that this can contribute to
moving Nigeria forward. May the Almighty Bless all Nigerians.
Raphael Ogar Oko, International Coordinator, Global Educators
for All Initiative
Email :
Raphael.oko@gmail.com
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