TheCable

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the 19 northern states and the federal capital territory (FCT) says the country needs to discourage religious and ethnic division.

Sunday Oibe, secretary-general of the northern CAN, said this on Saturday in an interview in Kaduna, as part of activities to mark Nigeria’s 62nd independence anniversary.

He said politicians in Nigeria use religion and ethnicity for their personal interests, making it difficult to achieve sustainable development in the country.

“Despite 62 years of nationhood, Nigeria is deeply divided along religious and ethnic lines and this had made it difficult for us to have good leaders,” he said.

“Endemic corruption has continued to impede our progress, as people in power continue to enrich themselves while Nigerians get poorer and poorer.

“If we remove religiosity and ethnicity, we will have good leaders that will provide good governance. But as long as we continue to allow the elite and the ruling class to use religion and ethnicity for their selfish political interests, we will not move forward.

“Religion is supposed to be a personal matter, but in Nigeria, the political elite use it to advance their selfish interests.

“America, UK, and other developed nations where our leaders always run to, don’t work on the basis of religion and ethnicity.

“These countries are dominating the world economy, not because they are religious people, but because they have good leaders and systems that work well.”