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From Jude Dangwam, Jos
Catholic Diocese of Shendam, in partnership with Cardinal Ornayekan Foundation for Peace, has engaged both Christians and Muslims leaders across the seven local government areas of southern part of Plateau State as part of efforts to address the growing spread of hate speech in the state.
Bishop of Shendam Diocese, Philip Dung, represented by the Director, Inter-religious Dialogue Commission of the Catholic Diocese of Shendam, Vincent Diyong, declaring the one-day inter-religious dialogue symposium on hate speech and the need for religious harmony open at the cathedral in Shendam, cautioned both leaders from toxic sermons.
“We are having this symposium in collaboration with the Cardinal Ornayekan Foundation for Peace, funders of the programme. They have found it necessary that Christians and Muslims should always come together to discuss so that we can live in harmony and be agents of peace.
“Such engagement unite us and do not allowed things that are not religious make us to continue to fight, to make us continue to loose lives, to make us continue loose properties,” he said.
Dung noted that most of the conflicts are not religious from its inceptions but crisis merchants gives it coloration as such leading to wanton destruction of lives and properties over the years as recently witnessed in some part of the state.
“Most of the conflicts is economic, most of the conflicts is political, most of it is ethnic not religious. But the politicians will make us fall into it and it becomes a religious matters,” he said.
The keynote speaker, Emmanuel Idakwo, of the Department of Mass Communication, Faculty of Social Science, University of Lafia, Nasarawa State, speaking on the topic: “Hate Speech and Religious Conflict: The Bane of Inter-religious Harmony and Peace Building,” called for the need to harnessed the diversity of of the state for the collective good of its citizens.
He maintained that the growing spread of hate speech in recent times is driving from hate narratives which is more dangerous to the peaceful co-existence of citizens across both religions or ethnicity in Nigeria
The JNI Chairman, Shendam council, Dayyabu Abubakar, and the Southern Zone Christian Association of Nigeria Secretary, Joseph Narubi, while commending the organisers of the symposium recalled with pains the ugly happenings in Mangu, adding that deliberate efforts must be put in place to address the menace of hate speeches and circulation of fake news in the state and the country
Among some of the resolutions reached at the end of the symposium by participants is that, government should ensure justice, equity and fairness to all citizens, security agencies should always carried out diligent investigations into any conflict while personnel found wanting should be dealt with to serve as a deterrent to others.
They equally call for the monitoring of religious sermons that are aimed at dividing the people and causing religious crisis in the state.
