NIGERIA'S CONSTITUTION RECOGNIZES GOD, and as God's ambassadors, religious leaders must scold politicians when they err and praise them when they "lead in righteousness", according to recommendations proposed by the Seminar on the Role of Religious Leaders in Credible Elections.
The Association of Religious Affairs Correspondents (ARAC) convened the seminar, which is the first of its kind in Nigeria. ARAC worked for months to bring together Muslim and Christian clerics to discuss ways of encouraging greater religious-sector participation in national elections coming up on 9 April.
"I felt it was necessary for religious leaders to meet and deliberate on how to help their followers take informed decisions on how to cast their votes at the April polls, so I suggested we have a one-day seminar," Aramide Oikelome, ARAC president, told The Media Project by email.
According to the conference organizers, the dialog, which featured the contributions of 45 of Nigeria's political and religious leaders, has helped to better position religious communities to be political "leading lights". Keynote speeches from the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Amir of Ahmadiyyah Muslim Jama'at of Nigeria called on believers to take stands they might ordinarily avoid in an election cycle, such as becoming "card carrying members" of political parties and engaging in the candidate-nomination process.
The joint statement of Muslims and Christian, together with members of the media, is especially noteworthy against Nigeria's growing reputation for religious intolerance and conflict. Deadly inter-religious outbursts have been a long-term affliction for Africa's most populous nation and one of the continent's most religiously divided.
Reliable estimates are few, but the Council on Foreign Relations (U.S.) estimates that 250 were killed in Jos since December 2010, an estimate Nigerian NGOs believe is far too low.
The conference's joint statement points out that in Nigeria, religious leaders voices command tremendous respect and believers heed their words without hesitation. This clout must be brought to bear on the political process to prevent calamity, the statement said.
Located as they are at the intersection of spiritual, political and social life, the conference recommended that religious leaders think of themselves as an extended office of the government. But these "offices" should take on the task of resisting impunity and laws that breed poverty and confusion.
The conference called on Nigeria's religious elite to accept their "constitutional roles" of participating in governance. And government must open its arms to their input, the document said.
Acheiving this, participants said, is the only means of restoring sanity to Nigeria's political process.
Source: http://www.themediaproject.org/article/gods-ambassadors-work-credible-nigerian-electio
Reprinted with permission from The Media Project
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