President Goodluck Jonathan and a former
Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, on Tuesday, said inter-religious
harmony remained an important ingredient for national development.
They therefore urged leaders of various
faith-based institutions in the country to embrace peace and preach love
as a way of tackling insurgency.
Jonathan and Gown spoke in Abuja at the
official presentation of the Kukah Centre, founded by the Catholic
Bishop of Sokoto, Rev. Fr. Hassan Kukah.
Jonathan specifically advised the
leadership of both the Islamic and Christianity religion as well as
traditional rulers to live in harmony in order to collectively find
solutions to the country’s problems.
He said, “Democracy is not just about
political parties or politicians; it is not just about winning
elections, it is about freedom, about development, and above all, it is
about civilisation.
“It is in this regard that we must
identify and support the structures of democracy in order to meet the
yearnings and aspirations of our people.”
He challenged the Kukah Centre to, in
line with its objectives, conceptualise and articulate proactive
strategies that could reshape policy consistency for the attainment of
an enduring democracy.
He also asked the centre to develop
policies, using the experience of its founder, with clarity of vision
and to articulate measures to achieve good leadership.
He said, “Political class should take
advantage of the human democratic leadership being offered by the Kukah
Centre to seek exposure. I believe it is through the process that
innovative ideas, patriotism and selflessness would be imbibed.
“We should also take advantage of the centre to identify things that could shape our democracy.”
Gowon asked Nigerians to remain vigilant
and support all genuine efforts being made by the government to find
solutions to the political, economic and social problems facing the
country.
He said, “All is not well in the country
at the moment. We should not pretend and we should not take things for
granted. Boko Haram and their sponsors are unrelenting. We must do
everything urgently to stop their activities.”
The former military leader urged
Nigerians to remain vigilant and to be their neighbour’s keepers while
the political class should renew their commitment to democracy and stop
the act of playing politics with the insurgency.
He also advocated a robust and prayerful
collaboration between traditional rulers and religious leaders across
the country to achieve a peaceful nation.
Kukah told the gathering that the
centre, established about a year ago, had become active since it started
and that it had been working to strengthen national debate, improve
governance and encourage Nigerians to take active role in the country’s
leadership.
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