Lagos
State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), yesterday strongly decried the
notion by some religious leaders and groups in the state that his successor
should be a Christian in order to balance political equation.
He,
consequently, warned religious bodies across the state “to take better control
of our pulpit and be more restrained in what comes from there,” saying religion
should not be a consideration for politics or election.
He
spoke at an inter-faith conference organised by the state’s Ministry of Home
Affairs and Culture at the Golden Tulip Hotel, Lagos, with the theme: ‘Peace,
Religious Harmony and Good Governance: Issues and Challenges’.
At
the conference which was attended by Christian and Muslim clerics, the governor
said he could not remember the last time the governor of the state was elected
based on his religious belief, or if it had ever happened.
He
rhetorically asked: “What will the preference for a governor of one faith over
the other benefit us? Will it give one religion what the other faith cannot
use? Will it give them to schools that children from the other faith will not
be able to use?
“Or
will it bring water that only one faith can drink? Will it bring a clear line
between poverty and the faith? Does hunger know faith? I have said it before,
where is the Muslim and Christian water. Maybe, we should begin to separate
that so that we can have Christian and Muslim money.
“In
the blood bank, when life is threatened, do we have Muslim and Christian blood;
because the person who is fighting for survival is not interested in who is
treating him, all he is interested is how he can get well quickly.
“Insecurity
does not discriminate. It does not state the faith it wants. It is just an
indiscriminate attack. The location where the impact is felt may sometimes be a
coincidence of whom and who may be there.”
According
to the governor, the people who said they want one particular governor or that
there should be one particular governor, “are they still conscious that it is
an election where a choice has to be made? If there are two democrats, they
must expect that people must have a say.”
He
also asked the question from those who insisted on what should happen,
wondering whether they really “believe in God? It is only God who can say. I
wonder when I heard those things. You can insist, but can you boast that you
will be alive in the next one hour.
He
observed that he knew things “can rob off badly. You may be on the wrong side
of the government policy, but we must trust ourselves. We have integrated more
than 50 years ago to begin to toy with what we are doing at the moment.
“The
danger is too much. This cloth will not tear in one straight line; it will tear
in shreds if we pull it too far. Let us restrain the pull on the cloth. It is
no longer a new cloth; it is a well worn one. When a well worn cloth tears, it
can’t be repaired well.
“Good
governance means different things to us. It may mean that there are more
religions institution of one faith than the other in the state; which may sound
as good governance for some people. But is that possible in a democratic
system?
“Is
that possible in the country today; a country where parents of some of our
religious leaders belong to the other religion who were raised by their parents’
religion? There must be a mutual respect for everybody. For the majority, good
governance is just food.
“It
has to do with the ability to get a job and provision of social amenities. For
some, the faith of the governor is never their problem. We must control the
messages that come out of the pulpit,” the governor stated.
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