Malam Fuad Adeyemi, Executive Director and National Chief Imam, Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society, Abuja, urged Nigerians to take the democratic process of electing the country’s leadership as a celebration of choice, not a season of fear.
Adeyemi said this on Wednesday at a One-Day Stakeholders’ Workshop on Electoral Engagement and Peaceful Democratic Participation in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop was organised by Mambayya House, Aminu Kano Centre for Democratic Studies, Bayero University, Kano and Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society.
The cleric said, “As we look forward to our democratic future, the challenges of electoral engagement and peaceful participation loom large. Elections should be a celebration of choice, not a season of fear.
“Allah commands you to render back your trust to those to whom they are due. The way of rendering trust, it is in the election and those that we have been elected. Our vote is a sacred trust (Amanah).
“How we cast it, how we secure it, and how we behave before, during, and after the process defines our character.
“We are here today to discuss how to educate our congregation and communities on their civic duties without bias, mitigate electoral violence by appealing to the conscience of our youth and political actors.”
The cleric said the purpose of the workshop was to discuss politics, which he described as a soul of the nation.
“We are here to promote the values of patience, tolerance, and respect for different perspectives, the very hallmark of mature democratic engagement.
“To all our distinguished stakeholders, scholars, community leaders, women leaders, youth representatives, religious leaders, and security agencies, your presence here is a pledge.
“You are the multipliers. The insights we share here today must not remain within the walls of this hall. They must find their way into our mosques, our schools, our marketplaces, and our homes.”
According to him, this workshop is a testament to what is possible when faith, academic rigour and civic responsibility align.
“The partnership between Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society and Aminu Kano Centre for Democratic Studies, Mambayya House, is a deliberate union designed to build a bridge between the moral persuasion and structured democratic education.
“Al-Habibiyah has always believed that faith must be an active force for social justice, accountability and ethical leadership.
“Currently, Al-Habibiyyah is promoting what we call developmental clericalism, in which clerics does not only stay and lead prayers, but must be an agent of development.”
Adeyemi said the two organisations collaborated to educate Nigerians on the need to participate in the country’s democratic process in a peaceful manner.
“We are leveraging our unique strength to remind our community that participating in democratic process is not just a civic right, it is a moral obligation that must be executed with integrity, honesty and absolute peace.
“Perhaps this marriage might be looking strange, but it’s one of the best things that has happened to our country.
“We cannot talk about this powerful synergy between Al-Habibiyyah and Mambayya House today without expressing our deepest appreciation to our common benefactor and partner, the MacArthur Foundation.
In his remarks, African Director of MacArthur Foundation, Dr Kole Shettima, said election should not be a do or die affair, but a matter of choice, not a matter of fear.
Shettima, represented by Dr Amina Salihu, Deputy Director, Africa Office, MacArthur Foundation, said Nigerians should borrow a leaf from Australian elections.
“In 2018, I had the privilege of attending the International Political Science Association Conference in Brisbane. And one of the things that we learned about the Australian elections is that on election day, it’s like a party.
“People wear their beach clothes, they go to the beach, they even have what they call democracy sausage, which is a special kind of barbecue on election day.
“And so you ask your neighbour, have you voted? Where are you going to vote? Oh, I have voted. I’m back. Let’s go to the beach and have a party.
“It is an aberration that we should have electoral engagement and peaceful participation in one sense. This is what I’m driving at.
“Election should not be a do or die affair. Like Imam Fuad said, it should be a matter of choice, not a matter of fear.
“And so I think the task before all of us as Nigerians is to begin to think about how we can turn this around from a behavioural point of view,” Shettima said.
In his address of welcome, the Director of Mambayya House, Prof. Abubakar Mohammed, said Al-Habibiya Islamic Society and Mambayya House have jointly developed a comprehensive large-scale proposal aimed at promoting peaceful, credible, inclusive and violence-free elections in preparation for the 2027 general elections.
Mohammed said that, with or without funding, the two organisations were always ready to pursue the project.
According to him, the proposed intervention seeks to deepen civic education, strengthen youth engagement, counter misinformation and hate speech.
“It also aims to promote interface and intergenerational dialogue, support community-based peace-building mechanisms and enhance collaboration among state institutions, civil society organisations and traditional and religious leaders.” (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Funmilayo Adeyemi
