By Demola Akinyemi
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has enjoined the adherents of the two major religions in Nigeria to imbibe the spirit of harmony and tolerance in order to strengthen the bond of unity across the country even as he advised those fanning the embers of discord through divisive and hate speeches to desist as war is an ill-wind that blows nobody any good.
The Minister made the call in his hometown of Oro, Kwara State, during the 10th Lai Mohammed Ramadan Lecture Series.
“God has a purpose for making us (Nigeria) one and we shall remain united, despite our differences”, he said.
“We have been living together peacefully and we will continue to live together peacefully. We have a lot to gain by being united.”
Mohammed advised Nigerians to borrow a leaf from the people of his Oro town whom, despite their religious differences, have been co-existing peacefully, saying he has even held four editions of the annual lecture on the grounds of a Catholic school in the town. “Like people say, wars are not really started by bullets, they are started by words of mouth. If there is war today, none of us will escape whether you are young or old, whether you are Yoruba, Igbo or Hausa,” he said.
Mohammed cited an example of Rwanda, where hate speech fuelled the genocide that led to the loss of over 800,000 lives, with an unimaginable scale of destruction of property, in 1994.
The post Lai Mohammed Advocates Peaceful Coexistence appeared first on Vanguard News.
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