Stakeholders in interfaith dialogue have urged youths to promote national integration and unity among Nigerians.
The call for was made in Kano at the TETFUND/National Research Fund- sponsored workshop on using interfaith dialogue to promote national integration at Bayero University Kano on Saturday.
Director, Centre for Quranic Studies, BUK , Prof Muhammad Babangida, who is also a Principal Investigator, said the Program was sponsored by TETFUND with researchers from universities in the six geopolitical zones of the country.
Babangida urged the students who were also selected from universities across the six zones, to promote national integration.
He further called on them to promote peace, tolerance and understanding.
The principal researcher appealed to Nigerian youths to develop nationalistic feelings.
According to him, youths who form the critical segment of the country are not involved in interfaith dialogues.
He said that the TETFUND program for the students of higher institution would inculcate the importance of national integration in them.
Babangida noted that the Principal Investigators would develop a curriculum on interfaith relations which would be promoted by National Universities Commission so that a special course under General Studies (GST) would be offered in universities across the country.
Prof. Jacob Ayantayo of Department of religious studies, University of Ibadan, said the workshop would open the eyes of the students in the correlation between the two major religions to explore for unity.
Ayantayo said that the forum would foster open communication and intercultural learning among young people from diverse ethnicity and background.
“We discovered that politicians and some ill- informed religious leaders use religion to divide Nigerians.
” As a human nature, we need one another and nobody can leave alone. We can leave inter dependently.
“We want to remove ignorance that has surrounded our religious practices and also remove suspicion, mutual suspicion, fight and bigotry,” he explained.
Dr. Sa’idu Dukawa, Head of Department, Public Administration, BUK, said unity of the country could not be negotiated.
He said that the event was an opportunity for the students to learn more about peace building.
Dukawa explained that the workshop would bridge the gap between Muslims and Christians in Nigeria.
He added that the forum would raise awareness among the youth and educate them on interfaith and intercultural dialogue in Nigeria.
