Easter: Why I am proud of Borno Christians, Muslims – Zulum
For agreeing to be together as a family despite the hostility of Boko Haram, Borno state governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, said he is externally proud of the Christians and Muslims in his state.
Governor Zulum said this as he felicitates with all Christians in the State on the Easter celebration.
In a statement released to The Humanitarian Times by his chief spokesman, Isa Gusau, Governor Zulum said the unity between the two religions has been one of his greatest accomplishments.
The governor said he is “very proud of Christians and Muslims in Borno State for maintaining peaceful coexistence in all the 27 Local Government Areas of the State, despite facing tough situations from Boko Haram since 2009, whose fighters have undertaken numerous attacks on places of worship.”
Zulum’s words:👇
“As Christians all over the world mark this year’s Easter celebration, which began Friday, I felicitate with my Christian brothers and sisters in Borno State.
“A season like this which calls for deep and shared reflection on our lives in general, should remind us of not just the challenges we continually face, but also, to be grateful for some accomplishments we have made together as citizens with equal stakes in the Borno project.
“For me, one great accomplishment recorded in Borno State is the peaceful co-existence between Muslims and Christians across the 27 Local Government Areas despite being faced with all manner of inciting tactics deployed by those who wish to knock our heads.
“I am immensely proud of the people of Borno for the religious harmony between Christians and Muslims in families, communities, schools, all our social and political gatherings, at Government institutions, private workplaces, markets and other business places, in our sporting activities and other aspects of our shared existence.
“I thank and commend our traditional rulers, elders and religious leaders in both faiths, for being role models for younger ones and our children. Indeed, I am proud of the religious peace we have, and I urge us all to continue to do whatever we can to nurture and preserve that precious harmony between us.
“Government is continually committed to sustaining that bond of peace, and critically, we are determined, more than ever, working behind the scene to find a lasting end to the Boko Haram insurgency.
“I salute all our armed forces, the multinational joint task force, and our volunteers in the civilian JTF, hunters and vigilantes, for all the sacrifices towards finding peace in Borno.
I urge all of us never to relent and to always take steps ahead of the insurgents in both our preventive and responsive approaches.
“May God grant us enduring peace in Borno, other parts of the northeast and rest of Nigeria”
Borno state is a multi-religious state with Muslims predominantly occupying the north and central parts of the state, while the south has a large chunk of the Christian population.
Members of the armed opposition group had in the early stage of the insurgency targeted churches and Christians in most of their attacks, leaving a skewed impression that it was a Muslim war against Christians. But as some Muslim clerics and the state government rose to condemn it, the insurgents turned their arsenal against their fellow faith members as they massively attack mosques and killing more Muslims. This unified the state across religious lines, as they all see the insurgents as terrorists and a common enemy.
