Religious leaders preach peaceful co-existence among adherents

RELIGIOUS faithful across the country have been urged to be tolerating, accommodating and be united as one in restoring peace to the nation.

This was the consensus as the Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of

Light (HWPL) held its Lagos World Alliance of Religion Peace (WARP) Office meeting for religious and community leaders across various faiths.

The leaders were urged to admonish their followers on the best way to promote understanding, harmony and cooperation among religions.

The meeting, which was part of efforts to celebrate the United Nations Interfaith Harmony Week, was conducted in 216 offices from 124 countries across the world to underscore the commonality of human values enshrined in religious scriptures. The theme was, “The Eradication of Acts of Religious Discrimination.”

The National Head of Mission Al Fatihul Quareeb Islamic Society of Nigeria, Shiekh Abdurahman Sulaiman Adangba, said the forum was an avenue to call on religious and community leaders to love one another, to overcome religious tribal differences and work together as a family for a peaceful society.

“HPWL is campaigning to see that all these arms are being destroyed, and the world is disarmed, instead of manufacturing arms, we should destroy all the weapons and turn it into something we can use for our own benefits. We need to work together as a group to achieve harmonious living,” he said.

He said to reduce religious discrimination; we need to live in harmony where there would be no war, persecution, and useless killings of lives but emancipation according to scriptures. He enjoined clerics and community leaders to call upon their followers to desist from violence.

The General Overseer of Root of Righteousness Revival Ministries, Pastor Kenneth Okunorobo who spoke at the event, called on both clerics and community leaders to do more about teaching the word, proclaiming the message of love so that discrimination can be eradicated.

He further urged the United Nations to invest and sponsor the WARP office which comprises of diverse religions including Christians, Muslims, Budhists in order to preach the message through peace education.

“What we need is to sit down and dialogue to seek areas we can work together and make sure there is peace, that is eradicating religious discrimination, in respective of our religion.

As religious leaders, we must believe in one another, trust and love ourselves because that is what our two major religions advocate. We must continue to speak with one voice. We have to be very careful with what we say, because it carries weight, our followers listen to us very seriously,” he said.