Special Adviser to Kaduna State Governor, Mukhtar Ramalan Yero on Islamic and Pilgrimage Matters, Sheik Halilu Abdullahi Maraya has tasked the people of the North, particularly Kaduna State to emulate the people in South-West part of the country on religious tolerance.
Speaking in a chat with the newspaper on how to achieve religious harmony in Kaduna State, Maraya noted that religious differences had never caused problem for Muslims and Christians in southern part of the country. He said religious disharmony in the North would soon be a thing of the past if the people could copy co-habitation style of the leaders in public offices, where religious difference never separated them from both their official and private relationship.
He also disagreed with some persons who said Governor Yero was too young to govern a complex state like Kaduna, saying the likes of Balarabe Musa, Ahmed Makarfi, who governed the state at the ages of 43 and 42 respectively were younger than Governor Yero when they came to power as governors.
"It is not only here in the North or in Kaduna State that Muslims and non Muslims co-habit in a particular community, but it is very lamentable that in some parts of the North, the co-habitation is not done in a peaceful manner. But if you go to the South- West where the states are popularly known as old states, Muslims and non Muslims of various extended families live with one another peacefully. This attributed to the fact that both Muslims and Christians in that part of the country are living peacefully because they are strictly adhering to the injunctions of the religions of their choice.
"Any Muslim who decides to live according to the tenets of Islam will never hurt any human being, will never hurt any preacher of God. In the same vein, a Christian who lives according to the doctrine of christianity will never hurt any Muslim, will never hurt any preacher of God.,http://m.naij.com/news/22427.html