Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, in Borno State and
also Secretary of Northern Bishops Incorporated. The
Christian leader hails from Gwoza, once occupied by
Boko Haram.
You answer the name Mohammed, mostly associated
with Islam and you are a Christian. How come?
Yes, in Southern Borno, it is common to see a family
made up of both Muslims and Christians. My father was
a Muslim and my mother a dedicated Christian. We were
living in the same house, eating the same food and
sharing the same culture. At Christmas, my mum would
give money to my dad to buy whatever animal for us to
slaughter. The same thing when it was time for Eid El
Kabir (Sallah), my dad would buy ram for us to slaughter.
There was no discrimination in the family on the basis of
faith.
As a bishop, some persons would probably expect you to
drop the ‘Mohammed’ in your name. What do you say to
that?
Someone cannot replace either of his biological parents.
Mohammed is my father’s name, he was a Muslim and I
cannot replace or change my father. That was his
identity and I am his son.
You talked about religious harmony in your family. How
do you compare that religious suspicion all over Nigeria?
Waoh! In the past there was absolute tolerance to the
extent that you don’t know this man’s religion from the
other. We tolerated each other’s religion. Infact, in my
mum’s house, she had a kettle called ‘Buta’ in Hausa.
Muslims use it to perform ablution. While growing up, I
was raised to see Muslims from a positive perspective.
All I knew was that Muslims were doing what they were
supposed to do, and we Christians were doing what we
were supposed to do in terms of worshiping and
peaceful co-existence in our communities. In Southern
Borno, where most of the Christians in Borno State hail
from, most of our families are inter-faith based. I used
to know of a family where the father and his six children
were Christians, while his three wives were Muslims,
and they lived peacefully.
Christians have sizeable population in Borno but they still
constitute the minority in the state. Tell us how
successive governments have been responding to the
challenge of insurgency faced by Christians in Borno.
If you go back to recent history, our first major problem
was in February 2006 when a Danish man whom I learnt
was not even a Christian drew the picture of the prophet
of Islam which was negatively perceived. The incident
triggered a protest here in Maiduguri and Christians were
attacked. A total of 56 churches were razed in Borno,
and scores of shops belonging to Christians were
destroyed. There was no compensation from then
government.
You mean then Governor Ali Modu Sheriff didn’t
compensate victims in any way?
There was no compensation of any sort. And I repeat, no
compensation; nothing was given to the victims.
Governor Ali Modu Sheriff merely promised to
compensate for all those properties destroyed but ended
doing nothing. I was in the high powered administrative
committee constituted by then Governor Sheriff
representing the Christian community. I think only
N150,000 was given to each pastor whose church was
destroyed. At a point, we compiled all the destroyed
properties including churches and submitted the report
to the Borno government.
If Christians didn’t receive compensation from the Borno
government after the 2006 Danish cartoon crisis, one is
tempted to wonder what the situation is under a more
vicious Boko Haram that has caused more havoc on
communities that include Christians.
Those who are not from Borno may not know, but you
and I know better. In the history of the state, there is no
governor that has been fair to the Christian community
as much as Governor Kashim Shettima. I am saying this
in the presence of God Almighty and this is nothing but
the truth. Shettima, in the history of Borno, is the only
governor that has sponsored the highest number of
Christian pilgrims every year since 2011. I am speaking
without fear or favour because as CAN Chairman I do
not receive salary or kobo from government or any
institution, but the facts need to be told. This governor
has shown compassion to the Christian community. For
example, when Gwoza people were driven from their
ancestral homes, they fled to Maiduguri, and the
governor personally came to CAN Centre in Jerusalem
Ward, two times in June and July 2014. He gave N10
million for the IDPs upkeep initially. But then, the victims
were not many. By the end of October 2014, the IDPs
from Gwoza increased to 42,000 in that camp alone.
Shettima came again and gave another N10 million. He
gave additional N5 million for Christians from Borno who
fled to Cameroon to be returned home. He gave another
N5 million for non-indigenes who fled to Cameron to
come back to Nigeria. The Governor even directed the
Borno State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, to
supply food directly to the IDPs in under the Christian
leadership. In fact, the governor insisted that he wanted
Christian IDPs to stay together with their Muslim
counterparts in various designated IDP camps here in
Maiduguri but we the leaders felt it wise to separate
Christian IDPs to avoid friction between displaced
persons dealing with trauma.
You said Governor Ali Modu Sheriff didn’t pay
compensation to Christians after the 2006 crisis which
led to the destruction of 56 churches. We know
churches and mosques were destroyed by Boko Haram
from 2011 to date under Governor Kashim Shettima.
Has any of these churches been rebuilt by the state
government just like mosques are being rebuilt?
On the churches that were razed, we had a meeting with
Shettima on how his administration could come in to
assist in rebuilding some of them. Last year when the
governor visited Gwoza, Askira-Uba and Chibok Local
Government Areas for on-the-spot-assessment of the
situation, he saw how some of these churches were
dilapidated, some burnt to ashes; in fact, some
churches were not only razed but grader was also used
to pull down the structures to ground zero as if they
never existed there. Like in Gwoza, the report we
received was that after some of the churches were
demolished, the terrorists packed the debris and threw it
far away from the premises. During Governor Shettima’s
visit to these areas, he released N100 million for the
rebuilding of some of the churches.
A committee was set up for that purpose. I am a
member of the committee headed by a Permanent
Secretary, Mr. Justus Zare, and I am happy to inform
you that presently we have used that money to rebuild
11 key churches which our people are now using to
worship. I am surprised when some people were saying
why not rebuild all the churches? We cannot do that
because there are so many places that are still unsafe
for people to return, and you cannot expect us to go to
the Christian communities on the fringes of Sambisa
Forest to start rebuilding their destroyed churches, when
the security situation has not improved. After the initial
N100m, Shettima approved another N105 million for the
second phase of rebuilding destroyed churches.
This was made possible when CAN officials led by me
had a meeting with him on Thursday, March 30, 2017 at
the Government House. So far, the governor has
released N210 million for the reconstruction of our burnt
churches. He also approved the sponsorship of all our
local pastors to participate in the 2017 Jerusalem
Pilgrimage. During the meeting, Shettima approved
Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) and land for church
buildings in the state. This has never happened in the
history of Borno since 1979. In fact, one of my
neighbours who was a journalist with an Abuja based
newspaper, died last year. He was a Christian, and when
the governor heard of it, he gave the family N1 million
for the burial. So also, when Archbishop Emmanuel Kana
Mani (whom I succeeded as CAN Chairman) died, the
governor visited the family residence in Maiduguri and
gave N10 million to the family. He gave N5 million for
the upkeep of his family, while the other N5 million was
for funeral. There was a time we complained to him to
give us additional Christian Permanent Secretaries;
initially we had only one in the state, and he immediately
approved additional three. As it is now, we have five
Christian Permanent Secretaries in Borno Civil Service
and we have to appreciate him.
His government has given us the opportunity to even run
a collective programme on television and radio, we work
with the Jama’atul Nasril Islam to sensitize our people
on peaceful co-existence. They trust us, we trust them.
In fact, it may interest you to know that there was a
time I was asked to lead in a Christian prayer at a
gathering where we were only three Christians in the
midst of many Muslims.
The government under Shettima is bringing harmony
between religious leaders through his fairness.
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