President Muhammadu Buhari has claimed that he is a descendant of Abraham and preached Religious tolerance amongst Nigerians.
The President wrote an OP-ED piece titled, “Don’t politicise religion in Nigeria.” in The Church Times United Kingdom, an English Anglican publication.
Buhari in the piece said that he believes in the major tenets of Christianity such as peace, tolerance, reconciliation, the institution of the family, the sanctity of marriage, divine revelation and so on.
“In 1844, Revd. Samuel Ajayi Crowther returned home to Yorubaland. Twenty years earlier, he had been kidnapped and sold to European slave traders who were bound for the Americas. He was freed by an abolitionist naval patrol, and received by the Church Missionary Society. There, he found his calling.” he wrote
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“Crowther made his voyage home to establish the first Anglican mission in Yorubaland. He came with the first Bible translated into Yoruba and Hausa languages. He opened dialogue and discussion with those of other faiths. And his mission was a success: Crowther later became the first African Anglican bishop in Africa.”
Buhari added, “Along with the millions of Christians in Nigeria today, I believe in peace, tolerance, and reconciliation; in the institution of the family, the sanctity of marriage, and the honour of fidelity; in hope, compassion, and divine revelation.
“Like Bishop Crowther, I am a descendant of Abraham; unlike him, I am a Muslim. I believe our two great religions cannot only peacefully coexist but also flourish together. But Muslims and Christians must first turn to one another in compassion. For, as it says in Amos 3.3: ‘Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet?’”
According to Buhari, there are more things to unite Christians and Muslims than to divide them. He also took a swipe at Boko Haram, claiming that they weren’t just enemies of Christianity, but of Islam also.
“My Vice-President is a devout man, a Christian pastor. He, too, is accused of selling out his religion, because of his support for me,” he said.
“This is not the first time that I – nor, indeed, my Christian-Muslim evenly split cabinet – have been the subject of such nonsense. Fortunately, the facts speak differently from the words of those who seek to divide us from one another.”