RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE IN UNDERSTANDING/MANAGING THE NATURAL RESOURCES IN NIGERIA
A very successful international Investment Summit in Taraba State, today, 21.05.2025.
“RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE IN UNDERSTANDING/MANAGING THE NATURAL RESOURCES IN NIGERIA,” A SPEECH PRESENTED BY MOST REV. IGNATIUS A. KAIGAMA, OFR, CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF ABUJA, ON THE OCCASION OF THE TARABA STATE INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT SUMMIT, JALINGO, TARABA STATE, 21ST MAY, 2025
The Taraba State international investment summit, the brain child of the Governor of Taraba State, His Excellency Gov. Agbu Kefas, is a great innovation and today, Taraba State like a magnet, with its multiple gifts bestowed by no one other than God has attracted you high-level international, government and private sector players, men and women of calibre, to come and see, and from seeing, to do all you can to translate what you see into something productive.
Our beloved Taraba State, often referred to as “Nature’s Gift to the Nation,” is no doubt a land of immense natural beauty and largely untapped economic potentials. It boasts of fertile land, majestic landscape, ranging from the Mambilla Plateau to the expansive Gashaka Gumti National Park and the enchanting rock formations of the northern frontier. Here, opportunities abound in every sense of the word, whether it is in agriculture, solid minerals/mining, renewable energy, tourism and hospitality, information and communication technology, manufacturing and industrial development, etc.
My early formative years were all here in Taraba State, having been born in Kona, some few kilometers from here, but of all of my nearly forty-four years as a Catholic priest, I have spent only two years as a priest and five as a bishop in Taraba State. They say out of sight is not out of mind. My love for Taraba State is undying. Wherever I go I am proud to say it loud and clear that I am a Tarabian.
Taraba State’s strategic location should be very inviting to investors. As the state government continues to develop its infrastructure and human capital, we hope that Taraba State will stand as a promising destination for global investors seeking sustainable and profitable ventures.
I have been asked to speak on “Religious Tolerance in understanding/managing the natural resources in Nigeria.” Rather, I chose to speak on “Taraba State, a land of immeasurable investment possibilities: the need for positive religious practices to create the common good from Taraba’s many natural resources.”
Peace and security can only become attainable in a society that encourages ethnic and religious tolerance. Lack of tolerance undermines the benefits of development by obliterating natural and economic resources and infrastructure, which in turn obstructs societal progress.
Religion should build its adherents, not to destroy or to dominate, or to alienate others. This offends God terribly. Religious tolerance is the act of accommodating and accepting people of other faiths or beliefs in the course of interpersonal or group relationships. Tolerance is an inevitable ingredient for peace, which harmonizes differing religious and ethnic groups in a heterogeneous system.
Thus, the pathway to peace, security, and sustainable development among individuals from diverse ethnic and religious affiliations is tolerance and mutual acceptance.
There is no question or doubt that tolerance creates room for dialogue and good relationships, which in turn bring about enduring peace, development, and security. People should be educated to desist from religious fanaticism and embrace peace for sustainable development because no religion preaches violence. During football matches, Nigerians watch collectively and celebrate goals scored without saying it is a Muslim or Christian goal. There are several intermarriages between Christians and Muslims which have lasted several decades and have produced children. The current President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is a very good example; as a Muslim, he has been married to a Christian woman (a pastor) for several years, and their marriage has been successful. Four of us Catholic Bishops were together with President Tinubu in Rome for the inauguration of the new Pope last Sunday, a good sign on his part of concrete interreligious dialogue. I was in Senegal recently, and I saw what it means to live in harmony between the Muslim majority and the Christian minority. In the Gambia, also, with a Christian minority, they coexist peacefully. Trivial matters about religion do not result in hostile confrontation or the destruction of human lives, as it happens in some parts of our beloved country.
Religion should serve as an instrument of social harmony and development. Paradoxically, however, it has also served as a motivation for violence, hence its indication in some literature as a “double-edged sword.”
For any nation to live in peace and ensure development, the citizens must imbibe the spirit of tolerance irrespective of religious or tribal affiliation. Religion has always been a vehicle of peace and tolerance. It is only the abuse of religion that engenders violence. Every religion should preach love and peaceful co-existence.
Peace and security can only be accomplished in a multi-faith and multi-ethnic country like Nigeria in an atmosphere of tolerance for sustainable development.
To tolerate someone else’s religion is an act of power and wisdom. To fail to tolerate someone because of his or her religion is an act of weakness. Tolerance is the pivot for nation-building in every pluralistic society. It is an inevitable ingredient for peace, which harmonizes differing religious and ethnic groups in a heterogeneous system.
For Nigeria to join the league of developed nations, the government must be sincere and forthright in its fight against religious or ethnic issues that retard our progress.
May the Lord who has begun the good work in Governor Kefas with the support of all of us bring it to completion by making Taraba State a famous business hub, to offer Tarabians multi-dimensional opportunities through sound education, productive use of our large and fertile land through mechanized agricultural activities for the benefit of the children, the youth, the adults, the retired, the old and feeble.
All we need to do is to appreciate God and to stop unhealthy rivalry, use the land to produce food rather than quarrel and fight over it, at the end of which nobody gains.
If in Christianity “peace” is the keyword, in Islam the greeting is assalamalaikum (peace be with you), we should allow industries that will be built here to flourish and to benefit us as well as the investors on the solid foundation of peace.
Ufuk Dialogue Foundation, a Nigerian-based Turkish organisation geared towards the promotion of dialogue and a culture of co-existence, has this famous line: “Reserve in your heart a seat for everyone.” Please, reserve in your heart a place for everyone, and I can assure you that peace will flow like a river, and our God-given natural and human resources will bear immeasurable dividends.
May the peace of God be with us all.
