Recently, I had the honor and privilege of
meeting with the Conference of
Catholic Bishops, here in Abuja. At that
meeting, I had the opportunity to
make some remarks about our country, this
imminent elections, my personal
views, as well as record. I cherish and
appreciate this opportunity to again
reiterate some of the remarks I made at that
meeting.
As our nation approaches perhaps the most
crucial election in our history, all
true patriots are called to deeper reflection of
the basic ingredients that bind
the nation together- our common freedom,
peace and unity. This reflection is
even more relevant in the face of the illegal
postponement of the general
elections- a feat achieved through various
sinister ploys and with the sole aim
of avoiding the will and verdict of the people.
In all of these, I feel the urgeto
communicate some of my personal vision and
thoughts to the people of our
great country, especially on the question of
religion, a sensitive matter for
many citizens that has become the most
frequently used tool by the ruling
party. This affordsme an opportunity to give
my response to the ruling party’s
false propaganda and lies against my person.
Needless to say, we must at all times hold
the unity, peace and progress of
our dear nation paramount and above all other
considerations, especially
politics. Those who deliberately disseminate
divisive disinformation and
attempt to stoke primordial sentiments using
religion or ethnicity and create
fear in the minds of our people fail the
standard of patriotism this nation
demands of them and deserves from them.
The ruling government and PDP
have adopted this sad divisive and false
narrative as their strategy to prevent
the inevitable change that our country and
people desire and require. And
they have succeeded in making some of us
victims of the tales which they
invent, propagate and sell as gospel truth to
gullible listeners, while it is all
nothing but a tissue of lies.
I would like to solemnly declare that in spite
of what our detractors say, I am
not a religious fanatic of any sort and I have
never been. In all my life, I have
never supported extremism of any kind, and
nowhere in my record of service
to this nation can this false toga, political
opponents have tried so hard to put
on me, be substantiated. Indeed, it is very
unfortunate and I feel extremely
sad that I have to give this type of assurance.
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My background is in the army, and there is
no doubt that the military is the
most integrated pan-Nigerian institution. And
even today, the military is one of
the institutions that represents the pride of
our nation’s possibilities in unity.
Compatriots from every corner of this
country come together, work and live
together, entrust their lives to each other and
integrate their families. It is a
military where many of my dearest friends,
from all faiths and parts of the
country, lost their lives defending the unity of
our nation. That was the military
I served in, and in that military it was
impossible to be a bigot.
For me, the issue of religion was, and should
always, be a matter of personal
conviction. This personal conviction approach
to religion has defined my work
and interactions all my life, including my
tenure in office as military Head of
State. The religion of all those I worked with
was never a factor in their
progress or in what happened to them. All
that mattered then, and should still
matter today, are competence, integrity and
readiness to be fair to all.
I was recently informed that we had a
balanced cabinet with key positions
such as Finance, Energy and Defence
occupied by Christians. In addition, 11
of the 19 governors I appointed were
Christians. My most memorable
recollections of subordinate service was under
Christian bosses, the finest
our country had then, and among the most
respected today. Indeed one of
the best appraisals I received in the course of
my military career was from
General T.Y Danjuma.
Government has no business preferring one
religion to the other. The role of
government is to protect lives and properties
of citizens and to respect and
protect their constitutional rights. One critical
freedom that every government
must strive to protect is the liberty for
citizens to exercise their respective
faiths, Christians and Muslims or others, in a
lawful manner without fear or
hindrance and to prosecute those who use
religion as an excuse to destroy
homes, schools and places of worship. When
governments fail in that duty,
they must then assist in the rebuilding of
structures including destroyed
places of worship and giving full restitution
for lost property. We, Nigerians,
are a religious people, and the burning of
places of worship constitutes one of
the vilest forms of abomination to all those
who believe in God. It is the duty
of governments to protect this important
sensitivity.
Let me state this categorically, that I,
MuhammaduBuhari, as an individual,
and as president of this great country by the
grace of God, given the
opportunity to serve, have no personal
religious agenda. And I will not
entertain, consider or promote the religious
agenda of anyone. I will not
condone any initiative that seeks to promote
one religion over the other.
Neither I, nor my party, or any member of
my team has any desire or plan to
Islamize or Christianize Nigeria or support
anyone with such intention.
Although I am a practising Muslim, and I have
been so all my life, I have
never belonged to, nor shared the views of,
any extremist group. I am not
even a cleric. I believe that religion is personal
and private. Most of my
bodyguards are Christians. If I have not
Islamized these people who serve
under me, how will I Islamize the likes of Chief
John Odigie-
O y e g u n ,
O g b o n n a y a
O n u ,
Governors RochasOkorocha, Kayode Fayemi,
Rotimi Amaechi or
Professor Yemi Osinbajo who is a senior
advocate of Nigeria and a pastor?
Or how will I Islamize Nigeria?
Our constitution, which in many respects, is
similar to the
American constitution does not permit a state
religion. The Sharia identified in
the constitution is almost synonymous with
customary law. It is only
applicable in matters of personal status such
as marriage, divorce and
inheritance. This has been the case since the
1979 constitution. Just as no
one can make any customary or any other
religious law the law of Nigeria, so
Sharia cannot therefore be the law of Nigeria.
My record is evidence of this strongly held
belief. Before my tenure, the
deadly and violent extremist radical sect,
Maitasine carried out terrorist
activities in the north, especially Kano; When it
erupted again in Bulunkutu
and Yola during my tenure were effectively
eliminated. Similarly, when some
Chadian insurgents attempted to occupy
Nigerian territory, I led the military
confrontation that eliminated the threat.
For all purposes, we must all learn to live
together as brothers and sisters,
because the problems that bedevil our nation
do not discriminate based on
religion or ethnicity. Poverty and hunger do
not know or respect religion or
creed. When a bomb explodes in a market, it
kills and maims without regard
for religion or ethnicity. The millions of the
unemployed youth of our country
cut across all tribes and religions.
Wicked propagandists continue to spread
vicious lies about me for political
gain, including claiming that I once asked
Muslims not to vote for Christians.
This must be the height of absurdity. How
could I ever say that, when
whoever voted for me would be voting for
the Christian running with me on
the same ticket? And how could I ever say
that of Christians when my own
holy book, the Qur’an, tells me that in the
entire world those that are nearest
in love to me are those who believe in Jesus
Christ [AS]? I ask, who,
intending to win any election, ever does that?
How can I choose southern
Christian running mates [Chuba Okadigbo of
blessed memory,
Pastor Tunde Bakare and Pastor
YemiOsinbajo] and with them by my side
make such silly utterances?
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Because they have no record, they must seek
to destroy our own; and
because they have no integrity, they feel they
must impugn our own.
We must reject those who propagate hatred,
ethnicity,
divisiveness, sectionalism or seek to
manipulate our religious differences in
such cynical fashion. On our part, we will
remain undeterred: our commitment
is to bring about change in the way we live
and think and work in this nation;
and our goal is to ensure a decent existence
for all. And, by the Grace of
God, that is what we will do—we will remain
true to our commitment and we
will achieve our goal.
May God bless Nigeria and its people for all
time.

General Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR