Membership of Saudi-led coalition: Yola Bishops differ on Buhari’s motives

As accusation of plans to pursue an islamisation agenda trailed President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent acknowledgement of Nigeria’s membership of the Saudi-led coalition, to counter the rise of terrorism, there appears to be wide division among leaders within the Christian community over the motives behind the President’s action.

Our correspondent, who sampled opinions, on Easter Sunday among notable Christian leaders in the troubled North East, found out that while some welcomed the move others expressed cautious optimism.

There, however, appears to be sharp disagreement within them over the President’s motives for dragging the country into the anti-terror coalition.

The Catholic Bishop of Yola Diocese, Rev. Father Stephen Dami Mamza, said so long as it was done in good faith and in all sincerity, in order to bring peace and progress to the country and also address the insurgency in the North East, it doesn’t really matter which country the President decided to collaborate with.

He urged Nigerians to back Buhari in the belief that he took the decision in the best interest of the country without any hidden agenda.

“He’s our president, we believe in him until he proves himself to be untrustworthy. So far we don’t have any other President than President Muhammadu Buhari, so we believe and trust he his leading us in the right direction. But if at the end of the day it turns out to be something different, then we leave everything in the hands of God and then see how things can will be sorted out,” he said.

The priest added that, as far as he was concerned, he had no problem with Buhari having any coalition with Saudi Arabia and any other Islamic country, in as much as it had no religious inclinations or bias.

But he pointed out that if the president’s motive for joining the Saudi-led coalition was based on his religious inclinations then he had problem with it.

“If he has religious inclination first before going into that coalition then that’s where the problem lies. Or, if it is his religion that motivated him to go into it, then I have problem with it.

“But if it is the love for Nigeria, his love for the country that motivates him to go into that coalition, then I am happy and I pray for him that it will be a successful co-relation”.

But the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Yola Marcus Amsani Ibrahim, disagrees outrightly, querying why Buhari should act alone without consultation with the National Assembly.

For him, there was more to the President’s action of aligning the country with the Saudi coalition, noting that the action couldn’t have been in good faith, since he initially declined to join the coalition only to make a U-turn.

He, however, cautioned Buhari not to deceive Nigerians saying “If in the name of fighting terrorism you want to make the country a full member of Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), then we leave the judgement to God in heaven.

“Our own is to arise and lift our voice, to raise the alarm to God. If the Church can come together as one united body and raise the alarm to God in heaven, then I tell you nobody can initiate this country into any Islamic organisation”.

He called for a referendum to ascertain whether going by non- Muslim population in the country the president was right to join an Islamic coalition made up of predominantly Muslim population.

He stated that, “The figures are there; let them bring out the figures, so that we can know whether this country can be under OIC or not “.

Bishop Peter Makanto of the Upper Room Cathedral to the Holy Spirit, in Yola, declined to comment on the issue. Instead, he said he would rather encourage the government to do everything within its powers to quickly bring the insurgency in the North East to an end before it became cancerous.