President
Obasanjo's Letter To CAN
PRESIDENT
FEDERAL
REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
PRES/67 May
18, 2004
His Eminence,
The Most
Reverend Peter J. Akinola,
National
President, Christian Association of Nigeria, (CAN),
c/o The
Church or Nigeria (Anglican Communion), 23 Doula Street
Wuse, Abuja.
Your
Eminence,
CHRISTIANITY AND THE COMMON GOOD
As I said to you when you formally called on me on Monday, May
17, 2004, the situation in Plateau State of Nigeria portends
grave danger for the State and its citizens in particular and
for all Nigerians in general. And I have always thought that men
and women of goodwill especially those in positions of
leadership, religious leaders in peculiar circumstances, should
use their God-given positions not to exploit or inflame such a
grave situation no matter their personal losses or grievances.
To accuse
me of taking sides against Christians in a situation of mutual
genocide in Plateau State by anybody at all but particularly by
a Christian who calls himself or herself a leader of the
Christian body in Plateau State is to say the least
destructively insulting. It is also tantamount to accusing me of
dereliction of duty and failure to perform my constitutional
duties and Oath of Office which I took to do justice to all, at
all times and at all places. I will, of course, not take kindly
to such unwarranted, undeserved, unfair and un-Christian
allegation.
Such an
accusation also terms me as anti-Christ, anti-Christian,
anti-justice and anti-love against what the Holy Bible teaches
and
what our Lord and Saviour prescribed. I found it extremely
provocative and like Paul said in Ephesians 4:26, I reacted
properly and instantaneously and rebuking but without bitterness
and without allowing the anger to linger.
As a
Christian, I believe that is what Jesus taught in Matthew 11 :23
when, out of anger, he condemned the unbelievers of Capernaum
his adopted home base. He even went further in John 2: 15 when
He whipped out of the Temple area the money changers and
merchants of evil. I would, of course, not put myself in
Christ's position not to talk of whipping a man for doing what I
consider to be grossly unexpected of him but will rebuke such a
person publicly or privately. I have no regrets for doing
exactly that in Jos. I was performing my Christian and political
duty of rebuking when it was necessary.
It is my
duty and responsibility just as it is your responsibility and
duty to mount the pulpit and pronounce cathedrally and condemn
what you think is wrong. I also do so politically, economically,
socially and even spiritually in the interest of Nigeria and all
Nigerians.
I believe that all Christians' must cultivate the habit taught
by St. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians that we should
conquer evil with good; not an eye for an eye or a tooth for a
tooth. And I also believe that good begets good, confidence
begets confidence and I will rather
stoop to show to people of other faiths that Christianity
teaches tolerance, patience and love. As you very well know, our
Lord Jesus did not say that we would not have tribulations. John
16:33 is clear on the fact that we should take heart to overcome
the world. Jesus did
not say to us to kill, maim or even carry the sword in order to
live a Christian life. I still believe that the best way of
conquering the world is through exemplary virtues of peace,
tolerance, forbearance, love, forgiveness, kindness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control which
are the fruit of the Spirit as Galatians 5:22-23 teach us.
I also believe that all men and women of goodwill, particularly
leaders and in a specially particular way, Christians, should be
builders of love, peace and bridges of harmony in the embattled
and embittered Plateau State within the gulf of the State's
ethnic and religious groups.
I write
you these words in the true spirit of humanness and belief in
the ultimate power of God. My belief tells me that God is the
ultimate judge and we, as mortals, must use our blessings from
God carefully in uniting and not dividing people; building and
not destroying bridges: leading and not misleading our folk; and
in laying a viable, holistic, peaceful and sustainable
foundation for the present and the future. If we learn no
lessons from the past as well as from the unfortunate
experiences of other lands, then we have no business in calling
ourselves leaders.
Let me,
once again, disabuse your mind about my response to Revd. Yakubu
Pam, the CAN Chairman in Plateau. My response and
comments were to him and not to CAN as an institution. I have
great respect for all religious institutions and not least CAN
which is an
umbrella organisation for the religion which I practise.
It is my
hope that, you and other leaders of CAN will join me and
governments at all levels in the honourable and christianly
endeavour of building and sustaining peace, love, harmony,
tolerance, justice, inclusion, and development in Plateau State
in particular and Nigeria
at large.
Yours
sincerely,
Olusegun
Obasanjo
