The Christian Association of Nigeria on
Wednesday in Abuja reacted to the allusion to Jesus Christ by a former
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, on a
social media.
The body condemned el-Rufai, saying he was only tring to whip up sentiments around religion for a selfish agenda.
CAN urged religious leaders and
political associates to advise him on the need to be sober and
circumspect, in his comments to avoid setting the country on fire.”
The organisation, which also asked
President Goodluck Jonathan to check the former minister, added that
from his unbridled assault on the Christian faith, el-Rufai was capable
of “setting the country on fire.”
The ex-minister had, in an attempt to
discredit the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku; Special Assistant
to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe; and Presidential
Adviser on Media and Publcity, Dr. Reuben Abati, tweeted, “”@zebbook:
If Jesus criticises Jonathan’s govt, Maku/Abati/Okupe will say he slept
with Mary Magdalene.”….LWKMD…..”
The sarcastic post elicited angry reactions from his followers on Twitter and Facebook
friends, who saw his comment as blasphemous. The twitter post sparked
public outrage on the social media so much that he had to offer an
apology on Twitter and Facebook.
His apology stated, “Hello friends. I
have been travelling and trying to catch some sleep in between the last
24 hours and missed all the furore arising from my retweet of Ogunyemi
Bukola’s (@zeebook) joke, Maku et al and Jesus. I must say I am taken
aback by the extent of desperate misrepresentation of what was an
innocuous attempt to show the godlessness of the Jonathanians to
denigrate anyone that dares to ask them to be accountable.
“To those who were genuinely offended by
the retweet, I apologise. I did not meant to offend anyone, neither did
the @zeebook I know and featured as one of the Young Voices in my
Friday Column. Jesus or Isa Alaihis Salaam is a respected prophet of
Islam. Every Muslim accepts this in addition to his miraculous virgin
birth. It is therefore absurd for any Muslim believer to disrespect
Jesus Christ.
“I hope those in this class will see my
point of view and accept my apologies for any offense or disappointment
caused. And I advise everyone to read @zeebook’s timeline and mine to
read exactly what was tweeted, rather than the second-hand reports of
certain people who always twist whatever I write or not write to achieve
their morally-repugnant objectives.”
The General Secretary of CAN, Dr. Musa
Asake, who read the assocation’s first official reaction on the alleged
careless utterance to journalists, had described the statement by the
former minister as reckless and a reflection of deep-seated moral
bankruptcy.
He said, “We must not allow him to turn
Nigeria into a cauldron of fire by his reckless, bigoted and twisted
commentaries about our Lord and our faith, and we must view him for
exactly what he is
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