Leaders from the North, including a former spokesperson of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Dr Hakeem Baba Ahmed; and a former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Professor Yusuf Usman; have visited the headquarters of 19 Northern Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) on a reconciliation mission between Muslims and Christians in Northern Nigeria.
Dr Hakeem, who led a delegation under the aegis of a newly created group called Northern Reconciliation Group (NRG) to the offices of the two religious bodies on Tuesday, said it was time for both Muslims and Christians to come together to live in peace and harmony, especially northerners.
He explained that the group included Christians and Muslims who were northerners and shared the same belief that God created them as one people despite their differences.
Dr Hakeem said they decided to come together to promote peace, unity and reconciliation in the region because the region had already paid the price due to several crises witnessed in the region for decades.
In his remarks, the 19 Northern States CAN Chairman, Reverend Joseph John Hayab, said “We will tell the world that although there has been fighting and misunderstanding in Northern Nigeria, a new voice is rising to say, ‘Enough is enough’, and we will resolve it,” he said.
Similarly, Professor Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, Secretary General of JNI, said when people came together to solve a problem, the support of Allah would come and things would work fine.
“Let us show those out there that we are strong and we’re ready and we can make it, and you have our support.”
