Former Deputy Speaker of the Kaduna state House of Assembly, Dr. Matoh Dogara Dari has enjoined adherence of different religions to unite by living in peace as the only panacea to growth and development.
A one-day conference organized by the Northern Christian Youth Association of Nigeria brought together political leaders, religious and traditional leaders, Academic scholars and discussed “the youth and the challenges, overcoming insecurity, unemployment and ethno-Religion crisis, a panacea in search of common ground.”
The conference under the distinguished chairmanship of Hon Sani Sidi had Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah, Sheik Ahmed Gumi, and Professor Hauwa Yusuf as keynote speakers and Governor Nasir Ahmed of Kaduna as the chief host
Matoh who was one of the prominent guests reiterated the need for the Nigerian populace to understand that everyone is either a Christian or a Muslim base on the region he or she came from and was given birth to a Muslim or Christian parent, hence the need for a reboost peaceful coexistence.
“Over ninety percent of Nigerians practice the religion they find themselves by birth. If Sheik Gumi had been born from a Christian family, the tendency of him being a Christian and possibly a pastor has high chances. If Bishop Kukah was born from a Muslim family, it would have been possible for him to have been an Islamic cleric. That’s the truth of the Nigerian religious situation.
“Therefore, the idea of us hating ourselves unnecessarily is uncalled for. Friends, let’s unite purposefully for a better Nigeria to avoid the phrase religion is the opium of the mass.” Matoh said
Dogara who had represented the people of Lere West at the Kaduna Assembly worried that politics of religion, tribalism and encompassing nepotism and all sentiments of sort is what is killing the country.
The conference held at Arewa Banquet Hall with a call by both leaders to encourage peaceful coexistence by being fair to every person or party in their place of leadership.
