Fani-Kayode Condemns Sheikh Jingir, Calls for Caution Over Anti-Christian Remarks

Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has condemned comments attributed to Muslim cleric Sheikh Ahmad Jingir regarding Christians, accusing him of promoting religious intolerance and warning against statements capable of deepening division in Nigeria.

Fani-Kayode, in a statement, said he was particularly disappointed by Jingir’s reported declaration that he had “no regrets” over comments he allegedly made against Christians at a public event in Kano.

The former minister said it was unfortunate that a cleric who should command respect because of his religious position had, in his view, brought “so much opprobrium” upon himself through the remarks.

Fani-Kayode said he respected the Sultan of Sokoto for urging Christians and Muslims not to insult one another, describing the intervention as “fatherly counsel from a revered leader.”

He also claimed that he had spoken with four Northern Muslim governors, including one who attended the Kano event, and that all of them were “appalled” by Jingir’s alleged remarks against Christianity.

Fani-Kayode stressed that Christians and Muslims deserved equal respect, regardless of their religious affiliation.

“I am a Nigerian Christian and I deserve to be respected for who and what I am just as every Nigerian Muslim deserves to be respected for who and what he is as well.”

He said he would remain restrained despite what he described as Jingir’s lack of remorse over comments allegedly referring to Christians as infidels and suggesting that Christians should be put in their place or leave the country if they were uncomfortable with a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket.

Fani-Kayode also accused the cleric of making a claim linking the Maitatsine sect, which he described as a terrorist group responsible for the deaths of thousands of people in Kano in the 1980s, to Christians.

He described the alleged claim as false and strongly rejected any suggestion that Christians supported the Muslim-Muslim ticket in 2023 because they accepted the subordination of Christianity to Islam.

According to Fani-Kayode, his support for the ticket was based on the belief that competence, rather than religion, should be the determining factor in political leadership.

He said Christians and Muslims should be treated as equals and that religious belief should remain a matter of personal choice.

“Our belief is that these two great faiths are on an equal footing and that neither is superior to the other. We believe that religion is a matter of choice and that we have an obligation as Believers to respect one another and respect those choices.”

Fani-Kayode further said he could not accept being treated as inferior because of his Christian faith or political affiliation, adding that Jingir’s comments had, in his opinion, damaged the Muslim-Muslim ticket that the cleric claimed to support.

He said he would not associate politically or socially with anyone he believed preached religious hatred or intolerance.

“We must not cross the red line of religious extremism or intolerance because it diminishes us all as God-fearing Christians and Muslims who both believe in one God,” he said.

Fani-Kayode urged the Sultan of Sokoto and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to publicly caution Jingir, warning that religious rhetoric capable of inflaming tensions should not be allowed to escalate.

He said Christians across Nigeria were hurt by the remarks and called for greater responsibility from religious leaders in protecting peaceful relations between the country’s two major faith communities.