“MUSLIM-MUSLIM” Ticket: Our Tolerance Put To Test-group
By Uchenna Eletuo
An interreligious group, the Strength in Diversity Development Centre (SDDC) on Wednesday said that, the same faith ticket of the ruling Action Peoples Congress (APC) ahead of the 2023 general election, would test the people’s religious tolerance.
The group, known for peace and good governance in Nigeria, made the projection at a sensitisation workshop to deemphasise religion in politics, in order not to becloud people’s view with paramodial sentiments.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos reports that, the Social Democratic party (SDP) in 1993 won the most acclaimed free and fair, but cancelled June-12 Presidential election with a Muslim-Muslin ticket that featured MKO Abiola and Babagana Kingibe.
Speaking at the event, against the backdrop of choice of party flagbearers and faith leaning the SDDC Founder who doubles as Chief Imam of Public Servant Staff Development Centre, (PSSDC) Mosque, Magodo, Lagos, Shefiu Majemu said that both politics and religion was for human development.
Majemu, tasked political elites to deemphasised on those things that creates disunity among the people but rather promote things that binds the people for the common good.
The cleric, described politics and religion as veritable tools of shaping a society and to Increase level of development, said that the group could longer afford to stand aloof while few politicians run the society aground; said SDDC would be in the vanguard for better Nigeria after the election by informing electorate to make informed choice at the polls.
“In present day Nigeria, political gladiators have used religion and ethnicity to propagate political interest, depending on perverse situations.
“The road to the 2023 general election in Nigeria have begun in earnest with political parties nominating flag bearers and running mates.
“There is every need that as a people we trade with caution allow people to make informed choice without this distorted and pervasive idea of same faith ticket becoming an issue,” he said.
Another member of the group Pastor Gabriel Asusu of the Living Word Church, Ojo Lagos, said that our ability to see another as a regular human being created by God, would help us to maintain good inter-person relationship devoid of rancor in every sphere.
According to him, the thought of every political pundit is that power will shift to the south. Some of the political parties made good their promise while some settled for another northern bearer.
“However, the current agitation here is the issue of a same faith ticket played by the ruling party, APC, which has not gone down well with some religious leaders; especially, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN),
that considered “ethnic balancing” , but without “religious balancing”.
“The ruling party, has argued that, it is the prerogative of the party membership to nominate flag bearers as stipulated by the Nigerian Constitution and based on their political calculations and “winning formulae.
“CAN have shown its displeasure and argued that in the best of national interest, the decision must be withdrawn.
As a Faith-based organisation working on Interreligiious and intercultural dialogue and good governance, SDDC stance was that as much we understood CAN’s position on this, we equally respected the decision of the party; since the constitution do not dictates that “religion” or “ethnicity” should be a criteria in nominating or voting people into political offices in Nigeria,” he said.
He said that people should be aware that Nigeria is going through tough times at the moment and we cannot afford to heat-up the polity.
Let us not plunge the country into another form of crisis far we do not have another place to call ours than Nigeria.
As religious leaders and faith-based institutions, our tolerance has been put under test and scrutiny by the current political agitations, hence we must demonstrate a high level of understanding with the effort to improving on our Interreligiious collaboration to weather the current political storm to move Nigeria ahead.
The recently concluded Osun State election where the good people of the state voted out a Muslims, Christians ticket for a Christian-Christians ticket speaks volume of the Strength in our diversity that we need to explore for development.
Credit: (NAN)
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