Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo says it will take more than mere words to change the world’s predisposition to intolerance.
Prof. Osinbajo stated this in a keynote address at the opening session of the sixth Assembly of the Forum for Promoting Peace organized by the government of the United Arab Emirates.
According to the Vice President in his keynote address, “no amount of words or platitudes can change the human predisposition to prejudice and parochialism. Only acts of deep humility and personal sacrifice can.
“There is no question at all that this is the responsibility leadership places on those of us who are religious and political leaders in our countries.
“The responsibility of leadership is not just words, it is not text, it is not just laws. The responsibility of leadership is self-sacrifice, it is putting our reputation on the line, it is putting our words into action.
“It is my respectful submission that the burden rests squarely on leaders, especially religious and political leaders, and others we may describe as the elite in our nations and communities.”
Continuing on the role of leaders of communities in promoting peaceful coexistence, Prof. Osinbajo said, “it is our role not only to articulate, as we are doing in this assembly today, the theoretical and doctrinal foundations for a more tolerant world but more importantly, to make the personal sacrifices that would compel our societies to commit themselves to lifestyles of tolerance.”
His statement read:
“The great conflict of our time is not between Islam and Christianity, or between Islam and other religions, but between extremism and human solidarity, between the forces of hate and intolerance and those of empathy and peace – that is the great conflict today.
“We must emphasize the central place of the principle of empathy; this is a thread that runs through our moral traditions, and is summed up in the Golden Rule in the words of Jesus Christ where he said, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Jesus Christ goes further to say that “we must love our enemies; we must even pray for our enemies.”
“This is the notion of self-sacrifice. In other words, all of these is summed up in the general principle that we must treat others as we ourselves would like to be treated, and this is embedded in the Abrahamic traditions and other major religions.”
Speakers and participants at the conference were drawn from across the world, including countries like the United States, and there were representatives of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Among representatives from Nigeria were the Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, and the celebrated Imam from Plateau State, Abubakar Abdullahi.
