Lagos charts course for inter- religious harmony, peaceful coexistence

MUSLIM, Christian personalities and major stakeholders converged in Lagos for a 3- day Inter- Faith Parley, to brainstorm on how to chart a new course for inter- religious harmony and peaceful coexistence.

The event, tagged ‘ Year 2021 InterFaith Parley’ was put together by the Ministry of Home Affairs to afford the Executive Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo- Olu the opportunity to intimate religious leaders on government policies, programmes and other pressing issues, to enable free flow of information the grassroots through the pulpits for better understanding, compliance and support.

The Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat who represented Governor Babajide Sanwo- Olu, thanked the religious communities for contributing to collective achievements in over two and a half years of the administration.

According to him, “This meeting was originally planned to hold earlier than now, but for the disruption brought about by the COVID- 19 pandemic, which was at its peak last year and the aftermath of the # ENDSARS protest against police brutality”.

The essence of the parley with the theme, ‘ Achieving Greater Lagos: Roles of Religious Bodies’, the Deputy Governor said, was for religious leaders to come together to rub minds on how to move the state forward and roles religious leaders should continue to play to sustain the peaceful coexistence, religious harmony and tolerance among faithful in the state.

In his welcome address, the Commissioner for Home Affairs, Prince Anofiu Elegushi, said that the bitter experience of the # ENDSARS protest greatly queried the roles of the parents and religious leaders.

Elegushi said that it was expected that the gathering addressed issues dealing with character formation and moulding, the need for moral uprightness and the fear of God.

He called religious leaders to continue to close ranks and check the excesses of exuberant preachers, who find it convenient to create enmity among the people.

“Our weekly sermons on unity, peace and love must resonate on a weekly basis while obedience to rule of law and commitment to our Lagos project must remain sacrosanct.

“Issues of state importance should be accorded priorities in the teachings that we reel out regularly.

“The essence of our gathering is to ensure that our religious bodies will be more organised and decisions taken by government will be cascaded from one community to the other, particularly in our Local Governments and Local Council Development Areas.

“This is because we have discovered that information and decisions from government are barely heard on pulpits. Wwme therefore believe that this partnership will enrich and assist governance in the state at all levels,” Elegushi said.

Speaking on the theme from the Christian perspective, the National Director, Fishermen Maximum Output Ministries/ National Director, Education, Dialogue & Value System Initiatives, Rev. Dr. Kehinde Babarinde, said religious leaders must be the guided. “If the religious body does not reclaim its prophetic zeal,” Babarinde stated, “it will become an inconsequential social club with no moral or spiritual authority.”