Runsewe urges Nigerians to embrace religious tolerance, desist from divisive tendencies

Chief Olusegun Runsewe, Director-General, National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), has called on Nigerians to be tolerant and to jettison divisive tendencies and predictions in order for the country to grow.

Runsewe worried by strange predictions and hyped religious ventilations over political issues in the country, said in a statement on Monday that if the trend was not checked, the nation would be running into crisis.

He said that the current rash of predictive political slants across Nigeria’s diverse religious and cultural ecosystem threatened the fabric of the nation’s peace and security.

“It is becoming evident that predictions and not prophecy is the new game in town.

“From football to cricket, wrestling, dancing competitions and lately, politics, some Nigerians who claimed to hear from God, now oxygenate, escalate and poison the socioeconomic and political space with laughable and troubling positions.

“They do this not minding the negative impact of such predictive actions on the emotion of the people,” he said.

Runsewe, who is also the President, World Craft Council, Africa Region, appealed to Nigerians to hold on to the best cultural and religious teachings that bind Nigerians together.

“We at NCAC are gravely concerned and had in the past worked together with religious leaders across the divide to restore peace to some troubled parts of the country, including Jos, Kaduna and Abuja.

“We also networked with our traditional rulers during each celebrations of National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST) to horn the quest to live together in peace and harmony which engenders national development.

“When our children were toeing the lines of strange foreign influences, we reached out to our national women societies and groups to nip the process in the bud.

“We shall also target this avalanche of predictions given a religious face and arrest its dangerous influence on our once peaceful and tolerant society.

“The tension created by drivers of these predictive vehicles across board is becoming increasingly worrisome,” he said.