The Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Kaduna Chapter, has urged Muslims and Christians to shun religious bigotry so as to make Nigeria a greater country in the comity of nations.
The Secretary of the chapter, Sunday Ibrahim, made the call when he received gift items donated by some advocates of inter-faith harmony led by Maryam Abubakar in Kaduna on Tuesday.
He commended the initiative of Mrs. Abubakar and her colleagues, saying that it would go a long way toward promoting religious harmony in Kaduna State in particular and the entire country.
“We are really grateful seeing Muslim women coming to the CAN’s Secretariat to donate Christmas gifts.
“This is really impressive and these are some of the ways to boost religious tolerance and better understanding between Muslims and Christian.
“We must join hands together in tackling religious extremism and promote forgiveness, peace and unity among all the people of Nigeria,” he said.
Earlier, a group of Muslim women under the aegis of ‘Ambassadors of Peace’ donated gifts including Christmas trees and Santa Claus caps to CAN in the spirit of the yuletide season.
Speaking at the presentation of the items, Mrs Abubakar said the donation was part of their contribution toward promoting peace, harmony, love, togetherness and inter-religious tolerance in a multi-religious society such as Kaunda State.
Mrs Abubakar said their visit to the CAN secretariat was aimed at strengthening inter-religious tolerance and promoting understanding among adherents of different faiths in the state.
While interacting with journalists shortly after the presentation, the peace ambassador said: “We are from one family under God because Adam and Eve were our original biological parents and we, as Muslims believe in the Bible and love Jesus Christ too.
“Christmas season is a period of joy and happiness to every Christian all over the world and we, as Muslims decided to donate some Christmas trees and Father Christmas caps to CAN leaders in the state.
“This is to promote good relationship with our neighbours in view of the fact that Christians are our good friends and neighbours.”
According to her, it is not the first time she and her colleagues are donating Christmas gifts to churches in Kaduna for the purpose of enhancing religious tolerance and peace building.
“Two years ago, we fed about 500 Christian inmates in the spirit of Christmas and New Year celebration in Kaduna prison.
“We fed them in the spirit of togetherness and to join them in celebrating the birth of our noble Jesus Christ.
“We want them to have a good taste of food with beef different from what they were offered inside the prison,” she added.
NAN
