Bishop Lamido advises Kaduna Government to withdraw religious bill

Bishop Ali Buba Lamido of Anglican Communion, Wusasa Diocese of Kaduna State has called on the state government to withdraw the religious bill sent to the state Assembly and to as well repeal the 1984 edict.
He made the call at the Church’s seventh Synod held at the Gen. T . Y. Danjuma Hall, St. Barth’s Schools Wusasa, Zaria.
Bishop Lamido said there was no need creating a rancorous atmosphere that was capable of inciting members of the public and creating the very religious acrimony and hostility that the bill purports to cure.

According to him, no government in Nigeria can validly subject Nigerians that had elected them to manifest or propagate their belief as Christian or Islamic preachers to the requirement of obtaining license.
“The constitution cannot allow any state to dabble into religious affairs of the citizens to the extent of establishing the so called Inter faith ministerial committee to regulate the practice of religion.
“We are duty bound to uphold the secular character of the Nigerian state, the various offences in section 12 of the bill are ultra vires,” he observed.
Bishop Lamido said the religious bill aimed at checking the activities of preachers in the state was a replication of the 1984 law enacted by the military, with some slight modification.

In order to move the country forward, the Bishop advised government to be true to its programmes and appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to avoid sycophants.
He noted, “As the country is gradually moving to the edge of a precipice, the point at which Nigeria crosses the thin red line is so close and the forces pushing us to destruction are more than those pulling us away from it, so we need to raise altars for our country Nigeria.
“We must press on, we will not give up, our God is on the throne and has promised to be with us through thick and thin, our nation can be a better place if we look up to this God, if we depend on him.”
On the pipeline vandalization in the Niger Delta, Bishop Lamido observed that it seemed Nigeria’s problems were unending because while government was trying to resolve a crisis in one region another one crops up.
He said this was sending bad signals to investors coming to Nigeria.
“Government should fight those vandals who are sabotaging the development of our country and they should be treated as common criminals