Onaiyekan Decries Emergence of Fake Religious Leaders  in Nigeria

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin
The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan has  decried the increase on the emergence of what he described as “overnight religious leaders” in Nigeria’s two main religions.

He said  the development had led to the preaching of fake sermons to the people and which had led many people astray.
Cardinal Onaiyekan disclosed this in Ilorin, Kwara State at the First International Conference by the Interreligious Council of the University of Ilorin.

 “We have a major problem these days in our country where it seems everyone can become a “religious leader” overnight, without any credentials. There are too many ignorant “pastors” and “imams” preaching errors and leading many people astray.  Perhaps this is the price we have to pay for the freedom of religion that we enjoy. But surely a line should be drawn somewhere, especially when national order and harmony is at stake,” he said.

In his paper, titled: “Religious Harmony and Nation Building”, the  cleric said religious harmony was possible in Nigeria, adding that without it, it would hardly be possible to build a strong and united country.
He also canvassed training and restraining of religious leaders to ensure preaching that would encourage religious harmony among adherents of religions, particularly in local communities.

 “For a long time, humanity lived in closed religious communities, with not much to do with others, who perhaps have their own faith, generally considered as erroneous and false.  But now that globalization has packed us into a global village, we are faced with the fact of plurality of religions, all of us calling on the same God. There is need for a radical theological updating of our ideas of God and our faith, in such a way that we can accommodate others, just as God Himself has accommodated all of us,” he added.

 “This does not have to lead to doctrinal compromise or watering down of our convictions. It simply means that we recognize that God is far greater than our ideas of him and consequently than our religions, no matter how sublime we think they are,” he said.
Also speaking, the Secretary General of the Nigeria Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and JAMB registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, called on Nigerians to concretise interfaith relationship to achieve the purpose for which religion was institutionalised.

He added  that the multi-religious nature of Nigeria is a divine design of the creator, to test whether mankind would be able to harmonise its differences or not.
“That the pluralistic nature of man has made him invent different religions is not new to Allah. He (Allah) therefore rules that while carrying out any religious activities or rituals, such should not be done at the expense of other people’s right,” he said.

Not this alone, no adherent of any religion should force his religion on the throat of another, and individual should carry out his religious tenets without hurting the feeling of others (Q109: 6). This forms the basis of peaceful co-existence in the pluralistic age and in a pluralistic society,” he explained.

Oloyede, who said religion was a powerful instrument that could be used to make or mar a society, added that its wrong application had led to wanton destruction of lives and property, misery, agony and untold hardship.
“This however goes contrary to the expected role of religion in society, to develop and not to destroy; to elevate and not to relegate; and to promote not to demote the societal peace,” he added.