The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has expressed dismay at what it described as incessant insensitivity of the Federal Government to the clarion calls by Nigerians to stop playing religious kite at the expense of peace and unity of the country.
The CAN President, Rev. Samson Olasupo Ayokunle, in a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, accused President Muhammadu Buhari of paying lip service to the security architecture of the country, with a view to balancing the religious dichotomy.
Ayokunle also lamented that Buhari’s administration has failed to stop the unending killings by those he described as criminal Fulani herdsmen in some parts of the country, especially in the Christian dominated North Central.
According to the group, the only reason why Leah Sharibu and other Chibok girls remain in the captivity of the outlawed Boko Haram terrorists is because they are Christians.
The association alleged that in the 2018 Appropriation Bill, the federal government reportedly appropriated over N600 million in the 2018 budget, for execution of capital projects at the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS), just as it has committed N200 million to rehabilitation of the board’s buildings ceded to it by the government.
He alleged that Arabic language was made compulsory for Muslims and Christians during the just concluded Nigeria Police entrance examination conducted by the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB_ Computer-based test (CBT) .
This development, Ayokunle said, was targeted at Christians, adding that it was another dirty slap on the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
‘’To many Christian youths, who sat for that examination, the display of the Arabic language questions came as a rude shock. Many could not recover from the setback until JAMB logged them out of the CBT platform. Obviously achieving the aim of the Islamic extremists, who are hell bent on fostering their religion and culture on the Nigeria Police Force.
While it is true that in some police examination centres, some officiating officers advised the candidates to ignore the Arabic language questions, but that, again, ran contrary to the examination instructions, wherein a candidate was required to answer 180 questions viz- Use of English 60, Arabic language 40, Fine Arts 40, and Agriculture 40, hence, summing up the 180 questions each candidate is required to answer.
The CAN leader said this was an attempt to deliberately undermine Christians in the country, where the Inspector General of Police and the President are Muslims.