BEVERLY HILLS, January 12, (THEWILL) – Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has warned Nigeria against the dangers of religion bigotry, asserting that the country cannot make progress unless there is moderation to the growing fanatical approach to issues of faith.
Speaking at the launch of a book, Religion and the Making of Nigeria, by Prof. Ayo Vaughan, in Abuja, he was categorical that “if we do not tame religion in Nigeria, religion will kill us,” regretting that: “Many Nigerians have paid the ultimate price because of religion and religion is now embedded in our society.”
Soyinka spoke against the backdrop of the recent killings in Southern Kaduna that have continued to fuel mutual distrust among the diverse ethnic and religious groups in the country.
He decried the handling of killing of over 800 citizens in Southern Kaduna by both Governor Nasir El-Rufai and President Muhammadu Buhari, bemoaning the admission by El-Rufai that he paid killers of Southern Kaduna people to stop the carnage.
According to him, “What astonished me was not the admission by the governor but the astonishment of others at such governmental response to atrocity. There was nothing new about it. Has appeasement to religious forces not become a Nigerian face of justice and equity? First lethargy and then appeasement. Wasn’t Boko Haram’s Muhammed Yusuf a beneficiary of appeasement in a similar fashion?
“If you ask why General Buhari did not act fast enough when these events take place, which degrade us as human beings, well it is perhaps he has been waiting for the governor of that state to send money to the killers first for them to stop the killing.”
“Very few people have been prosecuted for religious violence but none has ever been brought to conclusion; why are such cases never concluded? Too many cases of high profile murders that are not concluded in this country,” he lamented.
The Nobel Laureate, who stated that it was no longer enough for religious leaders to simply condemn violence perpetrated by their followers, regretted that religion was inducing trauma and anxiety instead of solace that it claimed it could give, and that religion had become an ironic product of human inadequacy.
He stated that given the depth of the disharmony religion had caused among Nigerians, it had become necessary for government to encourage a more in-depth knowledge of religion that should be taught in the nation’s schools.
“I would canvass for religious studies but not the study of religion,” he said, adding: “The innocent ones are the ones who often pay the ultimate price in religious crisis. Even as religious leaders cannot denounce the murdering acts of religion.”
The renowned playwright continued, “There is a monster always waiting to pounce on innocent Nigerians under the name of religion.
“What, however, concerns the rest of us no matter the internal wrangling, rivalries or controversies within any religion, is that the innocent are often those who pay the highest price. The non-adherents to one line of belief or another.”
Meanwhile, the Chief of Army Staff, COAS, Tukur Buratai has told journalists that President Muhammadu Buhari had ordered the commencement of an army exercise code-named ‘Kunama II’ in Southern Kaduna in order to address the security situation in that axis.
He explained that the exercise would cover parts of Plateau and Kano States, adding that the army was still pursuing all its operations in the North-east, South-south and South-eastern parts of the country.
On the deployment of troops to Kaduna, Buratai said, “our troops are already in Southern Kaduna. We have our special forces operating there along with all other security agencies and we intend also to have an exercise very soon in Southern Kaduna to cover some parts of Plateau and indeed part of Kano State.”
