By; ABDULL-AZEEZ AHMED KADIR, Kaduna.
The Global Council Trustee of United Religious Initiative, Mr. Elisha Buba Yero has called on both Christians and Muslims to live as brothers and sisters irrespective of their religious and ethnic differences.
He stated this in a good will message at the breaking of fast with journalists and the representatives of the three communities of Malali, Maraban Rido and Mando, organized by the Global Peace Foundation Nigeria (GPF), held at the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Kaduna State Council, Muhammadu Buhari Way, Kaduna.
Buba, who is also a Board Director with the Interfaith Meditation Center of the Christian/Muslim Dialogue Forum, reputed to have initiated and directed several interfaith peace-building initiatives, charged Muslims to live according to the tenets of Islam and practice the teachings of brotherly love and peaceful coexistence and tolerance amongst non Muslims as stated in the Holy Quran.
‘‘God made human kind, there is no enemy among us and anyone who sees you as an enemy, look into his eyes and you will see brotherly love. For that reason, I am glad that we are still together” he stressed.
According to him, the good days are here to stay as he explained that the days of brotherly love and peaceful coexistence and breaking of fast with Muslim brothers is just the beginning, “we will wax stronger in spreading the message of Peace”.
The Secretary Jama’atul Nasril Islam (JNI) Kaduna State Branch, Mallam Ibrahim Isa Kufena, described the program as commendable and worthy of emulation.
He stressed that there was the need for all hands to be on deck towards archiving peace, unity and love for one another irrespective of our religion and also for people to realize that everyone is entitle to his or her own religion and freedom to worship because we all have the right to belong to any faith without being harassed or intimidated.
Also commenting, the Secretary, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Kaduna State Branch, Rev. Sunday Ibrahim called on Governments at all levels to continue to explore ways that will unite its people rather than divide them along race, religion or tribe in their actions and policies.
“I want to use this medium to commend Global Peace Foundation for this initiative to bring us all to this place to fellowship and identify with our brothers from the Muslim faith and it is our hope and belief that the unity will not end here” he prayed.
Earlier, the Northern Coordinator of the Global Peace Foundation Reverend John Joseph Hayab said the ‘one family under God’ campaign by the Global Peace Foundation is a value-based peace building and conflict prevention initiative that seeks to mitigate sectarian violence by changing attitudes and behaviors that drive identity-based conflict.
Rev. Hayab and his Co-coordinator Sheik Haliru Maraya told the gathering that, the purpose of organizing the program was to encourage brotherly love and sharing and also to sustain social cohesion among various faiths, ethnic and tribal group in Kaduna State and Nigeria at large especially during this Holy Month of Ramadan and other festivities between followers of the two major faiths through the One Family Under God Campaign.
In a remark, the NUJ Chairman Kaduna State Council, Comrade Garba Muhammad thanked the Global Peace Foundation for organizing the program and promised that members of the Council will key into the ‘‘One Family Under God’’ Campaign through their reportorial duty.
