Tambuwal makes case for politicians with strong religious inclination
Sokoto State governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, on Monday, advised that politicians with strong religious inclination should be given opportunity to hold political appointments.
Tambuwal said appointing into public offices politicians who recognised religion as a veritable tool for peace, progress and sustainable development would solve the current problem of cohesion facing the country.
Attributing the challenges of ethnicity and religious intolerance facing the country to the a recurrence of ethno-religious conflicts, Tambuwal, while delivering a lecture on the title: “Religious Tolerance and Challenges of Democratic Governance”, during the fourth and fifth convocation of Fountain University, Osogbo, stressed that ethno-religious conflict had plagued and threatened the existence of the nation owing to bad leadership.
He averred: “However, the soaring tides of poverty, unemployment, ethno-religious crisis, poor infrastructure, environmental hazards, insecurity and particularly bad leadership have converged to deny the country the potential to reach the benchmark of development in the 21st Century.
“Irrespective of our differences – ethnic and religion – we must continue to understand one another for the benefit of all and our differences should not divide us, but rather strengthen the unity of this country, which is a country of many diversity, and there lies our strength.
“Muslim should continue to seek knowledge and understanding of the religion of Islam. Islam is a religion of peace and was propounded on the basis peace.
“Our Prophet Muhammad accommodated the Jews and non-Muslims even in his mosque to conduct their own services, so, we should continue to engage and respect one another.”
Speaking further, former speaker, House of Representatives, also blamed mismanagement of natural resources and misrule by elites from all divides for the impoverishment of majority Nigerians, ” saying since independence, religious and ethnic rhetoric has leveraged claims to political representation and opportunities.
“Corruption and incompetent leadership have added another dimension to the ugly phenomena in not only preventing equitable distribution of resources and opportunities but also making the politics of religious and ethnic exclusivity more appealing.”
