By Abdul-Ganiyy Raji.
Who is benefiting from hatred and conflict in Nigeria?
Does hatred bring anything other than mayhem and killings?
We do not want hatred in this nation. We crave love, peace, mutual respect across religious lines, and prosperity for all Nigerians, regardless of our differences.
Nigeria is home to many ethnic and religious groups. Our diversity should not be a curse; it should be a blessing. It should be our national asset, providing opportunities for interdependence.
God does not make mistakes. He made Nigeria a multi-religious and multi-ethnic nation for a purpose. No tribe or religion will push others out. We must learn to co-exist peacefully and respectfully.
What do we lose if we live, accommodate, and respect one another despite our differences? We lose nothing.
Why must I be a Muslim, a Christian, a Jew, or a traditional worshipper before you love me? Why must I share your faith or ethnicity before you respect me? Why can’t you love and respect me simply because I am a human being, a Nigerian, and a resident of the same universe you live in?
We stand to gain a lot from mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and tolerance.
Hatred destroys; it does not preserve. It demolishes; it does not build. It divides; it does not unite. It lies; it does not tell the truth.
Nigerians, across religious and ethnic lines, must be united in their call for love, mutual respect, and peaceful co-existence.
Our elders should not bequeath to the younger generation a fragile, fractured, and dying nation. They should save the nation from going under.
The ongoing claim of a Christian genocide is a product of hate. We all know there is no Christian genocide in Nigeria. Yes, we face pockets of security challenges in some parts of the country, but such challenges do not spare any religion. We do not have a genocide against any particular faith. When people hate their brothers or their country, they run to strangers for help and spread untrue stories. This is what is playing out in Nigeria.
Our elected leaders must take political steps to heal the nation. Banditry, kidnapping, insurgency, and all other security challenges that Nigerians of all faiths and ethnicities are facing should be brought to an end.
Religious leaders and all citizens of this nation must also work for peace, preach peace, and save our currently precarious nation.
No outsider will export peace, development, progress, and love into this nation. It is Nigerians themselves who must team up as brothers and sisters to save it.
May Almighty Allah save Nigeria, bless its leaders with wisdom, and the citizens with righteousness. Āmīn.
