US–Nigeria civil society coalition to address humanitarian, religious freedom crisis - ITREALMS

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The Save Nigeria Group USA, in partnership with the Convened US-Nigeria Civil Society Coalition, has issued an urgent invite for two landmark events in Washington, D.C. reports ITREALMS.

These gatherings are designed to highlight the worsening humanitarian crisis and the erosion of religious freedom within Nigeria, issues that have reached a critical level of global concern.

Drawing a line on religious fund raising by Fr George Ehusani - ITREALMS

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'A Critique of Fundraising Modalities in the Nigerian Church Today' being a paper presented at the 2022 General Assembly of the Archdiocese of Abuja, Sept 23, 2022 By Rev. Fr. George Ehusani, Executive Director, Lux Terra Leadership Foundation.

After the major scandal and embarrassment that attended the unfortunate massacre of 13 worshipers inside the St. Philip's Church, Ozubulu, Anambra State, on Sunday August 6, 2017, I addressed a memorandum to the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria, pleading that they consider it a matter of priority to come up urgently with clear guidelines on what manner of fundraising can be considered suitable in our Churches, and especially within liturgical and paraliturgical settings. 

2022 Ramadan Lecture: Makinde reiterates commitment to religious harmony, peaceful co-existence in Oyo - ITREALMS

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Oyo State Governor,’ Seyi Makinde on Tuesday, reaffirmed the commitment of his administration to sustaining religious harmony and peaceful coexistence in the state.

The Governor, who stated this while delivering a keynote address at the 8th annual Omi tuntun Ramadan lecture, held at the Government House Arcade, Agodi, Ibadan, explained that nobody can divide Oyo State people along religious lines.

US alarmed over deteriorating religious freedom, security in Nigeria - ITREALMS

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The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has been alarmed over deteriorating religious freedom conditions and security in Nigeria, reports ITREALMS.

Reacting to the seventh anniversary of Boko Haram’s abduction of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok, the USCIRF stated that the security situation remains dire.

Chinese Virus: Nigerian govt lacks citizens cooperation, blames religious leaders - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

Nigerian Government has lamented that citizens are not cooperating at this moment in combating the Chinese virus also known as Coronavirus or Covid-19, reports ITREALMS.

This is coming as the most populous nation on the continent is on the verge of community spread of this scourge.

The Federal Government through the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed gave these indications on Thursday in Abuja, blaming some Nigerians for not complying with relevant government directives at this time, especially religious leaders.

“The government is not getting the kind of cooperation that this moment deserves from Nigerians,” he decried.

In addition, he said some Nigerians defied orders to stay away from large gatherings while some religious leaders willfully flouted the directives to ensure social distancing.

As said by Lai Mohammed, the government is doing its best but Nigerians equally need to do their best as well.

“We need the citizens to do their best too,” he said.

Emphasising that Nigeria has now gone past the stage of persuasion, unto to “time for strong enforcement,” the Minister maintained.

Nigerians, he insisted, need to support the authorities in this regard.

“We are on the verge of reaching the level of community spread,” Lai Mohammed warned.
As at 10:28pm on Thursday, March 26, 2020, ITREALMS gathered that Nigeria has recorded 65 cases across 8 states; 14 new cases of #COVID19 have been confirmed in Nigeria: 1 in Federal Capital Territory (FCT), 1 in Bauchi and 12 in Lagos.

According to NCDC update available to ITREALMS, “of the 14, 6 were detected on a vessel, 3 are returning travelers and 2 are close contacts of confirmed cases.

Chuks Egbune/Editor

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Why FG rejects US religious freedom violation tag by MoIC - ITREALMS

ITREALMS: 

The Federal Government (FG) has rejected the US designation of Nigeria as a country that engages in or tolerates severe violations of religious freedom, saying the iniquitous tag stems from an orchestrated narrative that has long been discredited, reports ITREALMS.

The Minister of Information and Culture (MoIC), Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said on Sunday in Abuja, that the good people of Nigeria enjoy unfettered freedom to practice their religion, and blamed failed politicians and disgruntled elements - some of them supposedly-respected leaders - for latching on to religion as their trump card, especially in the run up to the last general elections, to oust the Buhari administration.

He said it is unfortunate that the United States (US) fell for the antics of the discontented and the unpatriotic few, who will not hesitate to hang Nigeria out to dry on the altar of their inordinate ambition and their sheer animosity towards the administration.

The Minister said the Nigerian government is acutely aware of how the political opposition, in particular, had spared no resources in deriving political capital from the various security challenges in the country

''The deliberate effort to give religious coloration to the farmers-herders clashes and the Boko Haram insurgency, in particular, has undoubtedly helped to mislead the US into concluding that the government is doing little or nothing to guarantee religious freedom in the country.

''But, as we have always said, the farmers-herders clashes have nothing to do with religion but everything to do with environmental and socio-economic realities. The religious tag given to the clashes has no basis in fact, but is very convenient for those who will very easily give the dog a bad name just to hang it. On its part, the Boko Haram terrorists are extreme fanatics who do not subscribe to the tenets of any religion, in spite of their pretense to Islamic adherence,'' he said.

Alhaji Mohammed said the good news is that the government has succeeded in curbing the farmers-herders clashes through the implementation of proactive and multi-dimensional strategy, which is yielding remarkable results, just as it has largely defeated the BokoHaram insurgency.

On the El-Zakzaky issue, which was referred to in the report by the US government, he described it is purely a criminal matter, which is being handled by a court of competent jurisdiction.

The Minister said while the government welcomes constructive criticism from any quarter, it rejects any attempt to sow the seed of mistrust among the various religious groups in the country.

Uboshe Uboshe/Editor

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Joe Igbokwe and re-definition of religious bigotry by Obienyem - Commentary@ITREALMS

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I do not have any problem with Mr. Joe Igbokwe working in Lagos. I know many of our Igbo brothers and sisters that are working in Lagos. That is how it should be and more of such should be encouraged. I, too benefited from Lagos State. I attended LASU in the nineties, when it was almost free education. Till today, I still have that sense of attachment to the school.

My problem with Mr. Igbokwe is going out of his way to denigrate the best from his state because he wants to please his benefactors. I said that the way he was going, if a Tinubu turned into a matador and mistakenly slayed an Anambra man instead of a horse, the likes of Joe Igbokwe would justify that on the ground that death was not meant for horses alone!

Minister @St Andrews centenary, insists on religious tolerance - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has stressed the need for peaceful co-existence between Christian and Muslim faithful in order to engender peace and unity in the country, reports ITREALMS.

The Minister made the remarks in Oro, Kwara State, on Thursday at the centenary celebration of the Saint Andrew’s Catholic Church Oro, saying that the massive socio economic development that has been witnessed in Oro over the years is largely due to the religious harmony in the town.

He said the lessons learnt from the 100 years of the existence of the Saint Andrew’s Catholic Church in his hometown of Oro is that of tolerance and peaceful co-existence between Christians and Muslims.

Alhaji Mohammed, who attended the centenary Mass in the church, recalled that the premises of the Church was the venue, for three consecutive years of his Annual Ramadan Lecture.

“Not only are we witnessing 100 years of Catholicism in Oro but actually we also witnessed 100 years of peaceful co-existence between Christianity and Islam and I think to me this is the most significant mark of this particular event.

“I think the lesson to learn is that no religion preaches violence, no religion preaches hatred, every religion preaches peace and we should all borrow a leaf from what is happening in this small town so that all Nigerians can live together in peace,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Minister has reiterated the commitment of the Federal Government to ensuring the safe release of Leah Sharibu, the remaining hostage from the Dapchi kidnap.

“As for Leah Sharibu, our message to Nigerians is that they should appreciate that as far as we are concerned, any of our citizens, whether boy or girl, whether Muslim or Christian, is dear to us. We do not look at Leah Sharibu from the prism of religion, we look at her as a daughter of this country. We are doing our best to ensure the safe release of Leah Sharibu,” he said.

Ayo Midele/GEE

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Pix: Front row: Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed (middle); Coadjutor Bishop of Ilorin Diocese, Most Reverend Paul Adegboyega (second from left); the Catholic Bishop of Ilorin, Most Reverend Ayo-Maria Atoyebi (second right); the APC Governorship Candidate in Kwara State, Alhaji Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq (extreme right) and the Parish Priest of Saint Andrew’s Catholic Church, Oro, Reverend Father Joseph Awoyale (back row second to the right) at the centenary celebration of the Catholic Church in Oro, Kwara State on Thursday.