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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Nigeria’s First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, on Thursday night drew from her nearly four-decade interfaith marriage to President Bola Tinubu to preach religious harmony and women’s leadership during an interfaith breaking of fast (Iftar and Lent) gathering in Abuja.
Speaking to women leaders amid overlapping Ramadan and Lenten observances, she highlighted personal coexistence as a counter to insecurity and division, urging service with “excellence, compassion, and integrity”.
Mrs Tinubu shared interfaith family lessons, describing the event as divinely orchestrated: “Today, as I said, is indeed a great day. It is a day that God only made for us to gather together, and for women, first, from different backgrounds. Since the Ramadan fast was announced, and the Lenten season began together, it was like God was speaking to us as a nation.”
She addressed rising tensions: “Recently, we know a lot of things have been going on, and people are trying to target our religious beliefs… And we Nigerians, we know that most of the time that is not the case. Some of us are married to men of different faiths, and we lived together for many years. Me, almost 40 years.”
Reflecting on her marriage, she added, “And I can tell you, I can remember when both of us raised our voices at each other. Maybe not more than twice in the 40 years, I can tell you that. So we’ve been quite mature and respectful about that. And I believe that’s the best way to live together, as people from different people.”
She challenged women in public roles: “Most women in this room, either you have your own office, or your husband is in the public office… you as the wife have the role to play.”
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She urged Nigerians to drop the “entitlement” mentality. “We as Christians, we have a form of entitlement. Because we have Christ, we feel our grace is logical… But you cannot live without having a fear of God.” She stressed, “The Bible says the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. I will deal with anybody in the country with the fear of God.”
Mrs Tinubu also stressed the need to mentor youths. “We all have a lot of work to do, especially for the young people. You have to mentor them… The old school is still modern… So we have the real intelligence to pass on to the next generation.”
She promoted openness: “Women are the most difficult to deal with, but we know each other… Nobody is perfect. It’s only God that is perfect… It’s always one day at a time.”
The Director at the National Open University of Nigeria, Prof Ganiyat Adejoke Adesina-Uthman, tackled a “crisis of trust” in public office. Speaking on the topic, “Serving with Excellence, Compassion and Integrity in Public Life”, she stressed that integrity was non-negotiable: “If you are lacking in integrity, then you are clearly a fraud… Your name and your character must be the same… Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.”
Bishop Sally William Chinebu of Dominion Church International echoed the theme biblically: “If we look at the life of our ultimate example, Jesus Christ… Think of these three factors, excellence, compassion and entireness… When women get up… they create unprecedented force.”
She added: “Excellence is not decided as a profession… With the excellence of Christ.” Compassion, she noted, demands action: “Excellence without compassion is cold… He (Jesus) saw them, he felt for them… Compassion is not just a feeling.” She closed: “We are serving the Lord… May we all, by grace of God, be willing to serve our generation.”
