2027: Remi Tinubu tasks youths on religious harmony

File photo: The First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu.

The First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, has urged young Nigerians to rebuild trust and strengthen relationships across religious lines.

In a keynote address at a peace accord summit organised by the Youth Wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria, in collaboration with the National Council of Muslim Youth Organisations, on Saturday in Lagos, the First Lady, who was represented by the Lagos State CAN Chairman and Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission, Bishop (Prof.) Stephen Adegbite, warned the youths not to let political differences lead to bloodshed.

“We don’t want anyone to be killed. We don’t want any blood to be spilt for any position,” he said.

She identified declining trust among Nigerians as a major factor contributing to religious suspicion and hostility, saying the initiative by YOWICAN and NACOMYO was necessary to restore confidence and promote national unity.

“What has gone wrong? It’s very simple. It’s because we don’t have trust in one another. And when there is no trust, there is room for acrimony, there is room for suspicions, and there is room for bickering,” she added.

He noted that Christians and Muslims in the South-West shared family and community relationships, making religious hostility particularly unnecessary in the region.

“In the South-West, we are interwoven. There is no family where you won’t find a Christian and a Muslim. My own grandmother is a Muslim,” the First Lady said.

Meanwhile, at the event, Christian and Muslim youths signed a South-West Interreligious Peace Accord, pledging to promote religious tolerance, strengthen national unity and resist attempts by politicians to exploit religious differences to fuel violence ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The summit, themed “Building Bridges of Faith and Politics: Strengthening Peace, Unity, and National Development Through Christian-Muslim Collaboration,” brought together religious leaders, youth representatives and other stakeholders to address religious divisions, insecurity, political tensions and national development.

Former Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the late President Muhammadu Buhari, Femi Adesina, identified ignorance and inadequate knowledge of other religious beliefs as major obstacles to peaceful coexistence, warning that misunderstandings between Christians and Muslims could continue to fuel violence.

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“It’s lack of knowledge. If I know the truth and the fundamentals of the Islamic faith, and the Muslim knows the truth and the fundamentals of the Christian faith, there will not be any need for quarrelling,” he said.

Adesina urged the organisers to extend the initiative beyond the South-West, arguing that its message would have greater impact if taken to other parts of the country.

“Let them take it to all six geopolitical zones of the country, so that the message will permeate the land,” he said.

Adesina also advised young people to remain committed to the principles of their respective religions, saying this would make it difficult for politicians to manipulate them into perpetrating electoral violence.

The Assistant National Secretary of NACOMYO, Sheikh Garba Ibrahim, said the accord would provide an avenue for mobilising young people against electoral violence, particularly at the grassroots.

He stated that the organisation would work with Islamic religious leaders and institutions to spread the message of peaceful participation ahead of the elections.

“From the grassroots level, we’ll mobilise our youths to make sure that there is no violence during this election. Youths should concentrate on peace without violence during the election, during and after the election,” he asserted.

In a communiqué issued at the end of the summit, participants declared that Nigerian youths must no longer allow themselves to be recruited, manipulated or used as political thugs by politicians.

They also rejected religious manipulation, hate speech and divisive activities capable of threatening national stability, while calling on religious leaders, traditional institutions and political officeholders to discourage intolerance and the exploitation of young people.

They further urged Christian and Muslim youths to take the peace initiative to their respective states, local governments, schools and religious institutions, stressing that the accord must translate into sustained grassroots engagement.