In Benin, Osinbajo Preaches Religious Tolerance, National Unity

Adibe Emenyonu, in Benin City, writes on the acting president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo’s message to the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria during its recent meeting in Edo State

One clear principle of Christianity is religious tolerance, as exemplified by Jesus Christ. Even at the point of crucifixion, Jesus lived up to this injunction. This same precept echoed in Benin City, the Edo State capital, recently when the acting president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, who is also a pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, addressed fellow Christians. The event was the opening ceremony of the 14th National Biennial Conference of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, an arm of Christian Association of Nigeria.

When he mounted the podium at the playground of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, along the Benin-Ore-Lagos highway, some might have expected to hear s doublespeak. But Osinbajo lived up to his calling, irrespective of political office and affiliation. He was joined by the national president of PFN, Reverend Felix Omobude, and the governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki.

Osinbajo admonished Christians to continuously preach the love of Jesus Christ, despite religious killings in the country. He spoke on the topic “Our Greatest Enemy is Hate.”

Osinbajo reflected on the origin of religious and ethnic crises in the country in the 1970s and attributed them to hatred. He added that the answer to the crisis could only be found in the gospel of peace.

He said religious crisis was not peculiar to the government of President Muhammadu Buhari or the All Progressives Congress era. According to the acting president, “In the past few years, we have seen the most brutal killing of men and women. The history of blood and religious conflict extend to every Nigeria government.”

He traced religious crisis in the country to 1979, during the Meitasina clash, which left many dead, noting that for Christians to live eternally, they must die for the gospel.

Osinbajo urged Christians to embrace love, saying “hate is the device of the devil” and will not ensure the prosperity of Christendom. He said Christians should not be discouraged when they are being despised by others, explaining that such is the burden of the Gospel.

On the southern Kaduna killings, the acting president stated, “Since investigations are still going on, I can’t make any categorical statement. The federal government has taken steps by first aligning with the state government and working with the police to be the first responders.

“It is not true to say that the federal government was silent, it is not true. Troops were sent in after a security council briefing was received from the state and police, after they found themselves not been able to curtail the killings.

“However, from the foregoing it is obvious that every Nigeria leader, whether Christian or Muslim, has tried to solve the problem of the age long killing and none has succeeded. Indeed, the killing has increased in intensity.”

He blamed the judicial system for its failure to rise up to the occasion to prosecute perpetrators of religious violence. According to him, “In many respects, the failure of our criminal justice system to punish culprits has not helped matters. Meanwhile the suicide bombers and those ready to die along with their victims have added a more satanic dimension to the public.

“Why is it that no government has succeeded in stopping these age killings? Let me say that it is because the answer to it, the response to gross wickedness, lies with the church.

“Everything about the gospel contradicts our flesh. As far as the gospel is concerned, the way to live and be fruitful is to die.”

There was noticeable rowdiness at the moment when the acting president urged Christians to love and forgive their enemies irrespective of the harm done to them. This is the age-old admonition to Christians as propagated by Christ Himself. But in the face of the brazen wickedness and killings committed against Christians in Nigeria, the Christians are becoming increasingly exasperated.