Religious leaders are urging politicians to dismantle structures of violence

Interfaith Dialogue Forum for Peace (IDPF), an umbrella group of Christian and Muslim clerics, has called on political parties and candidates to dismantle all structures that entrench election violence.

The co-chairs, Bishop Sunday Onuoha and Alhaji Kunle Sanni-Ishaq, IDPF, while calling on the political leaders and their members to embrace peace, said Nigeria was already facing many issues that threaten its peaceful coexistence.

The duo announced this during the Forum’s 5th IDFP General Assembly, with the theme: “Religion and Ethnicity: Protecting the 2023 General Election”.

While speaking, Bishop Onuoha instructed Nigerians to save the country from the crisis by stopping the spread of division and focusing on promoting unity and peace.

He said unity, peace and love was all that was needed in this election season for the overall development of the country.

For his part, Alhaji Sanni-Ishaq urged Nigerians to refrain from violence, discrimination and hatred, and to play politics without bitterness, to remain resolute in the development of the country.

According to the religious leader, achieving real peace involves much more than mere speculation about what needs to be done to change the situation around insecurity and hate speech.

He also said that true peace requires building a nation where all citizens feel they can flourish and are free to live harmoniously.

In his speech, Mr. Agustin Nunez-Vicandi of the KAICIID Dialogue Center and Lead Partner of IDFP expressed his gratitude to the Forum for Promoting Peace.

He said the IDFP played a vital role in promoting free and fair elections, which will work to increase confidence in Nigeria’s political system.

“Because of your position and capabilities, you bear a great responsibility to reduce and heal this fragmentation, and to promote peaceful coexistence among all Nigerians.

“KAICIID is now regionalizing its programs and in this sense would like to see the IDFP become a leader not only at the national level, but also in the entire ECOWAS region.

“For this, we encourage the platform to expand its network and work towards long-term sustainability.

“I would like to end by expressing KAICIID’s continued commitment to Nigeria through its support of IDFP and other partners, we look forward to many more successes in 2023.

While presenting a paper, the Rev. Benebo Fubara-Manuel said that ethnic and religious issues were part of our lives as Nigerians.

“They determine our identity, but they must not cause us to live in conflict with each other.

“As people of faith, we must ensure that we do everything we can to secure the 2023 elections, applying the principles of empowerment, prevention,

proportionality, protection, partnership and accountability.