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Joshua Idowu-Fearon, a Nigerian Anglican archbishop has bared his mind to the BBC that the Nigerian government effort to conquer insurgency in the country is being thwarted by Christian leaders in the country. He said the Christian leaders are of the opinion that militant activities in the country are being promoted by Muslim leaders, hence their unsupportive stance.

Joshua Idowu-Fearon is the newly appointed secretary-general of the Anglican Communion and he had made a name for himself in promoting Christian-Muslim dialogue in Nigeria. He made this known while speaking with the BBC on his assumption of office.

The archbishop insisted that the Christian leaders have truncated several efforts to bring about peaceful coexistence between the two main religious groups in the country. He said the Christian leaders have failed several times to engage with Muslims.

He sent out warnings to the Christian authorities in Nigeria to allow peace to reign between the two main religious groups, stating that failure to do this may amount to complication of the whole issue in the nearest future. He implored Christian leaders to give the Muslims listening ears so that the two can resolve the Boko Haram issue together.

Archbishop Joshua Idowu-Fearon insisted that the Muslims are not the ones responsible for or sponsoring Boko Haram activities. He said Christians across the nation should not listen to any leader that tells them to the contrary.

He however noted that the Christian community in Nigeria is having some measure of change of attitude, but he said this is coming somewhat too late since many lives had been lost already. He further revealed that the number of Muslims that have died as a result of the Boko Haram menace is more than the number of Christians.

The archbishop declared that he had made several efforts towards promoting peaceful coexistence and unity between the Muslims and the Christians in Nigeria all to no avail. He however regretted that his efforts have always met with brick walls. He said the Church of Nigeria is not happy about his appointment as the secretary-general of the Anglican Communion.

This is coming in the wake of the accusation leveled against Bishop Ayo Oritshejafor, the president of Christian Association of Nigeria by an Islamic group for fueling religious discord between the two religious groups. The Islamic group, Muslim Ummah of Southwest Nigeria (MUSWEN) warned the CAN President not to misuse his position as CAN president by misrepresenting the Islamic religion in the country.

The warning was a reaction to a July 19^th comment of a CAN official, which verbally attacked the president-general of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar and Professor Ishaq Oloyede, the Secretary-General of the group.        

Additionally, some Nigerians have suggested that the government should ban the use of hijab for the time being until the government is able to put an end to the Boko Haram insurgent issue, but this had been rejected by the Federation of Muslim Women’s Associations in Nigeria (FOMWAN).  The group claimed that the solution sought by the government to Boko Haram will not be positively affected in anyway by the banning of hijab.

By Anthony Olawale Ojo