Jonathan fumes over North-West governors’ reluctance to sponsor - TopicsExpress



          

Jonathan fumes over North-West governors’ reluctance to sponsor Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem President Goodluck Jonathan has accused governors of some North-West states of Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi, Kano, Jigawa and Kaduna of marginalising Christians in their states by failing to sponsor them for the annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem, The president said this in Abuja last Wednesday when he met with a delegation of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA, led by its President, the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar, and the Secretary General, Ishaq Oloyede. After responding to the complaints of alleged maginalisation of Nigerian Muslims made by the delegation, the President shocked everyone at the meeting when he announced that he had his own grouse with some Muslim leaders from the Northwest. “I still don’t understand why governors from especially the North-West do not want to sponsor Christians to Jerusalem,” Mr. Jonathan was quoted as saying. “If you sponsor Muslims to Mecca, you have to sponsor Christians to Jerusalem. If you don’t do that it is marginalization and it is unfair to Christians.” The President then told his guests that when he was governor of the South-south state of Bayelsa, he consistently sponsored Muslims, who were minority in the state, to Mecca. Mr. Jonathan then requested the Sultan and other members of the delegation to help pressure the governors to refrain from any form of religious discrimination. The President had in March 2013 raised the same concern when he hosted the Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor-led Federal Government delegation to the 2012 Christian Pilgrimage to Jerusalem at the Presidential Villa. Responding to complaints by Mr. Oritsejafor that some states from the North did not sponsor any pilgrim for 2012, Mr. Jonathan had said, “If some states are sponsoring pilgrims of one religion and leaving out the other, that is against the law. Nigeria is a secular state and so nobody should be discriminated against based on religious belief.” At the meeting with the Sultan and his delegation, President Jonathan reiterated that position, saying the governors discriminating against Christians in their states should have a change of heart and do the right thing, our sources said. The president spoke about pilgrimages and state sponsorship at a time many Nigerians are pushing for governments to withdraw from spending public funds on pilgrimages to Mecca and Jerusalem. PREMIUM TIMES
Posted on: Tue, 01 Apr 2014 21:24:09 +0000

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