Prominent northern leaders on Tuesday in Kaduna unveiled a new movement, the 'Northern Reconciliation Forum,' aimed at healing divisions in the region, promoting peaceful coexistence and tackling the twin challenges of insecurity and social dislocation, Arewa PUNCH reports.
The Forum, led by a former Secretary of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, comprises eminent northerners drawn from political, religious, and civic backgrounds.
Shortly after its unveiling, the group embarked on a series of reconciliatory engagements, beginning with courtesy visits to the Northern chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria and the headquarters of the Jama'atu Nasril Islam, both in Kaduna.
At the Northern CAN secretariat, Baba-Ahmed said the visit was a deliberate and symbolic step to demonstrate that Muslims and Christians in Nigeria were not enemies and must reject narratives that fuel hatred and violence.
"This is a great day, not just for our group but for Nigeria," he said.
"We deliberately came together as Muslims and Christians to say clearly that we are not enemies and we will not continue to fight one another."
He explained that the NRF emerged after extensive reflection by concerned northerners who share core values of faith, justice, and peaceful coexistence.
"We believe that God created us as Muslims and Christians, and nowhere in our faiths did He instruct us to fight those who are not of our religion," Baba-Ahmed said.
"As Muslims and Christians, we asked ourselves where exactly in our scriptures we are told to see the other as an enemy. There is none."
According to him, Nigeria has paid a heavy price for narratives that portrayed Muslims as enemies of Christians and vice versa, stressing that ordinary citizens desired peace, stability and the opportunity to raise their children with shared moral values.
"We have come so that Nigerians can see Muslims and Christians sitting together and saying to each other: 'we are not enemies'," Baba-Ahmed maintained, even as he insisted that, "Those who benefit from constant conflict are not ordinary Muslims or Christians."
The forum lead person stressed that reconciliation required honesty, acknowledgement of wrongdoing and forgiveness, which are values he described as fundamental to both Islam and Christianity.
"We have offended each other. We have wronged each other. What God teaches us is to accept where we went wrong, say sorry, and take steps to mend those wrongs," he pointed out.
He added that the NRF's engagement with CAN and JNI was meant to show that peace-building did not have to be driven by the government alone.
"Ordinary citizens, Muslims and Christians, can come together, identify what is wrong and then embrace one of the most profound messages of our faiths: forgiveness," he said, noting that justice remained the foundation of peace.
While receiving the delegation, the Chairman of Northern CAN, Rev. Joseph Hayab, agreed that Muslims and Christians in the North had no reason to be enemies and must embrace reconciliation, forgiveness, and mutual respect.
"It is with joy that we welcome you. It is with joy that we accept this visit, and it is with joy that we are coming together as people of Northern Nigeria to show the world that, first and foremost, we are one," Hayab said.
The CAN chairman observed that conflicts between Muslims and Christians were often driven by a few selfish individuals whose voices drowned out the majority who desired peace.
He said, "The common Christian and the common Muslim on the street have no business fighting one another. Because of selfishness and the actions of some elites, people have been misled into thinking they are fighting for God."
The delegation later visited the headquarters of the Jama'atu Nasril Islam, where it was received by the JNI Secretary-General, Prof. Abubakar Khalid-Aliyu. The JNI operates under the leadership of the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar III.
Welcoming the group, Khalid-Aliyu described the visit as historic and a reaffirmation of the North's long tradition of peaceful coexistence.
Khalid-Aliyu warned that poverty, insecurity, porous borders, and the closure of schools posed serious threats to Nigeria's future.
"When you deny people education, you destroy a nation. Thousands of schools are closed, insecurity persists, and our borders remain porous," he lamented.