Gov. Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State on Thursday inaugurated a forum for religious leaders as a way of promoting religions harmony and peaceful co-existence in the state.
El-Rufai said during the inauguration that the forum would provide a platform to preach messages capable of assisting people to imbibe the highest ideals of Christianity and Islam.
He said it had become crucial to deepen religious harmony and peaceful co-existence among different religions in the state.
“It will provide the platform for religious leaders to dialogue, interact and assume collective responsibility for messages that assist people imbibe the highest ideals of the two major religions.
“In spite of our enthusiasm for religion, there has been a legacy of communal and ethno-religious conflicts in the state for a long time.
“This situation betrays the absence of respect for the rule of law and adherence to the common values of our two dominant religions such as peace, compassion and fairness,” he said.
According to him, the forum is a reflection of the state government’s belief in religion as a unifying force and promoter of peace.
“We believe that the diversity of faith can be a vehicle for unity when we respect the rights and liberties of other humans as creatures of God,” he said.
El-Rufai expressed the government’s expectation that religious leaders would contribute meaningfully to the enthronement of peace and harmony in the state.
The governor commended the religious leaders for accepting to serve in the forum, and urged them to undertake their duties with utmost commitment.
He assured that the government fully embraced and support the initiative, spearheaded by the Kaduna State Peace Commission.
Most Revd. Josiah Idowu-Fearon, Chairman, Kaduna State Peace Commission, and the Executive Vice-Chairman, Priscilla Ankut, explained that the House of Kaduna Family was part of the commission’s initiative to achieve peaceful coexistence in the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that members of the House of Kaduna Family include Archbishop Ali Buba, Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Gumi, Bishop Timothy Yahaya, Rev. Moses Audi, Sheikh Abdulkarim Hashim, Malam Aminu Alkasim, Sheikh Idris Sabongari and Ishaya Adamu Jangado.
Others are, Archbishop Matthew Man’o’so, Bishop Julius Kundi, Malam Yakubu Arrigasiyyu, Sheikh Hamza Lawal, Dr Tukur Almannar, Rev. Barnabas Dodo, Archbishop Sunday Oga-Dodo and Dr Mohammed Suleiman.
The rest include Alhaji Mohammed Maruf-Raji, Alhaji Sheriff Olutusin, Apostle Emanuel Nuhu-Kure, Hajiya Fadila Musa, Rev. Olatubnusin and Mrs Agatha Soje.(NAN)
