CAN Blames Religious Violence on Lack of Inter-religious Education

The President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Samson  Ayokunle, has blamed what he described as a surge in religious violence in Nigeria on the lack of basic knowledge of Christianity and Islam, saying that when history is no longer taught, inter-religious education has become more difficult.

In his introductory remarks during panel discussion at the two-day high level meeting organised by KAICIID in Vienna, Austria, the CAN president urged all religious groups in Nigeria and the world to make concerted effort towards government's inclusion of inter-religious education in the schools curricula. 

He said the trend all over the world was that educational institutions were actively looking for ways to respond to the issues of education in a religiously multi-faceted world.

According to him, these institutions seek to entrench a transformational process through which students could be educated to become global citizens with an understanding of the diversity of religious traditions and with strategies of pluralism that engage diversity in creative and productive ways.

He argued that inter-religious education is increasingly essential for equipping people to be citizens of the world, stressing that all academic institutions irrespective of their theological affiliation or inclination should be obliged to foster a religious dimension to citizenship.
“I do not think we are doing enough presently about Inter-religious education more than teach seminary students about world religions.
In those days in Nigeria when we used to study history and civics in primary and secondary schools, basic knowledge of at least Christianity and Islam were taught, but today,  when history is no longer taught, Inter-religious education has become more difficult. This to an extent may be responsible for a surge in religious violence more rampart now in Nigeria,” he explained.

“As mainstream culture begins to recognize a growing need for inter-religious understandings and endeavors, the church must follow suit; otherwise, it runs the risk of falling behind. Unless it actively invites inter-religious inquiry and education, the church will be forced to follow the lead of secular society and spend years "catching up" to the educational initiatives created there,” he added.
Ayokunle cited a New York-based programme, which brings Christian, Jewish and Muslim theological students together in a setting of mutual engagement and exchange as a good example of this step into inter-religious education.

“Students and staff of various theological schools spend several days visiting each other’s institutions. Here they immerse themselves in classes, worship and dialogue. At the end of each seminary exchange, the students come together for an intensive weekend of debriefing. They share what the experience meant for them both personally and in light of their own religious tradition/training. Obviously, the students learn as much about themselves and their own tradition as they do about the "other", because they are forced to work ecumenically as well as inter-religiously. The students find unexpected allies in other faiths as they recognize common challenges in explaining doctrine and policy,” Ayokunle explained.