President Muhammadu Buhari says some Nigerians are hiding
under the guise of religion to advance their economic and political agenda.
Buhari said this while speaking on Tuesday during a meeting
with Rashad Hussain, United States ambassador-at-large for international
religious freedom, in Nouakchott, Mauritania.
Femi Adesina, spokesperson to the president quoted Buhari in
a statement as saying continuous education was needed to liberate the larger
populace from being deceived into religious intolerance.
Buhari said he was once asked, “Why are you killing
christians in Nigeria?” by Donald Trump, former US president, during a private
meeting.
The president said he told him that “the issue in the
country was not religious, but rather criminal, and a usage of religion by some
elements to further their economic, and sometimes, political interests.”
“It’s a problem Nigeria has been struggling with for a long
time, and it is completely unnecessary,” the statement reads.
“Some people use religion as sentiment, but with adequate
education, people are seeing through it now. The majority of the people just
want to practice their religion without problem, but some people cash in on
religious misunderstanding for their own ends.
“When people are
educated, they are able to discern when others want to use religion for certain
ends. They do it mostly for material reasons.
“Also, when some people are incompetent, they bring in all
sorts of excuses, including religion.”
Hussain said the US was interested in partnering with
Nigeria in the areas of formal and non-formal education toward religious
harmony.
“There’s so much we can do together to promote peace,
promote communal harmony. We love what you are doing, and we would be glad to
assist as appropriate,” he said.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com