This article was originally published in The Global Post
An excerpt from the article:
“The current push to find a negotiated solution to interreligious violence originated with the Sultan of Sokoto, the traditional leader of Nigeria’s 80 million Muslims. In a recent interview, the Sultan — who heads Jama’atu Nasril Islam, the Muslim counterpart to CAN — said that in the absence of creative initiatives from Christian officials in Jos and the rest of Plateau State, getting at the root causes of the country’s regional violence must become a priority for national political figures.
‘When you are holding public office you should then be a leader,’ he said. ‘But the Plateau government profits from the status quo. Big politicians there are hiding behind religion.’
Though there is no shortage of rancor on either side of Nigeria’s religious divide, the Sultan said that promoting tolerance and stable economic development is in the interest of all Nigerians, who are consistently ranked as some of the most ardently religious people in the world.”
Click here to read the full article.
Nick Street was a senior writer with the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture.
