The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has condemned the statement credited to the Jama’atul Nasril Islam (JNI) criticizing the process of selecting delegates to the national conference, describing it as provocative and inciting.
Dr. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, the Secretary General of JNI, had at a news conference in Kaduna, said that the process of selecting the delegates was not done with fairness, saying it would affect the outcome of the conference.
He had also posited that Moslems were cheated in the process in spite of having the largest population, claiming that Christians constitute 62% of the total delegates.
The JNI went on to say that of the 20 delegates of the Federal Government, only six are Moslems while no Moslem is deem fit to make the delegates of the Nigerian Economic Submit.
But, CAN General Secretary, Rev Musa Asake, faulted the claims, saying they amount to defamation of Nigeria Christians.
“The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), therefore, with grieve and concern, feel constrained to respond to the unprovoked defamation of Nigeria Christians by the Ja’amatu Nasril Islam (JNI) through its Secretary General.
“This is disappointing especially coming from a person of Khalids standing in educational attainment. To assume or suggest, as it were, that Muslims are more than Christians in Nigeria as the basis for his argument when no census anchored on religion has been carried out is logically faulty.
“When and how are these figures by the international agencies arrived at? Which of the international agencies have census figures that Nigerians do not have? Has there been any census by international agencies in Nigeria? To put forward a suggestion or theories like this one by Dr. Khalid, for others to consider should have been well thought out”.
The Christian body therefore, challenged the JNI Scribe to make public the source of his population figures which shows that Christians in this country are 40%?
“Dr. Khalid’s ideas, thoughts and beliefs about the 40% Christian population and 62% of delegates being Christians are therefore mere speculation and conjectures to buy in the idea of a region’s reluctance to attend the conference. It is another way of using religion to shoot down the conference.
“We appeal to JNI not to use religion as a basis for their reservations about the National Conference. We believe the conference will do Nigeria a lot of good.
“The JNI Secretary General should come out with the figures that make the Muslim population to be more than that of Christians as we in CAN will boycott future census in Nigeria beginning with the 2016 exercise if they do not include religion. Enough is Enough”!
