The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Prof Nentawe Yilwatda, has warned political leaders against using religion and ethnicity to gain political advantage, saying such actions could deepen divisions and cause lasting damage to Nigeria.
Yilwatda spoke on Tuesday at the International Conference on Security and National Unity organised by Jama’atu Izalatil Bid’ah Wa Iqamatus Sunnah in collaboration with the Muslim World League.
The conference brought together political leaders, religious authorities, traditional rulers and other stakeholders to discuss Nigeria’s security challenges, peaceful coexistence and the need to strengthen national unity.
The APC chairman said Nigeria’s religious and ethnic diversity should be treated as a source of strength rather than a reason for division.
He said Nigerians, regardless of their religious or ethnic backgrounds, shared a common future and should not allow differences to destroy their sense of belonging to the country.
Yilwatda drew from his personal experience as a displaced person during the Bauchi crisis to explain the devastating effects of violence.
He said violence did not distinguish between Christians and Muslims and often affected everyone caught in its path.
“When violence comes, it does not ask whether you are a Christian or a Muslim before it destroys either your home, or your humanity, or your dignity,” he said.
The APC chairman said his experience of living in an internally displaced persons’ camp taught him that Nigerians might worship differently but still face the same fears and share similar hopes and aspirations.
He said the experience also showed him that Nigerians had a shared destiny and could either build the country together or suffer the consequences of its failure together.
“We may worship differently. Or we may suffer together. We dream together. We can build together. And ultimately, we can rise and fall together,” he said.
Yilwatda therefore appealed to politicians to avoid exploiting religious and ethnic sentiments during political campaigns and other activities.
He warned that while such tactics might provide short-term political benefits, the damage they cause to national unity could last for generations.
“To our political leaders, let us resist the temptation to exploit religion or ethnicity for sentiments, and sentiments for temporary political advantage,” he said.
“No political victory is worth the permanent damage inflicted on our nation, and we’ve been seeing it every day,” he added.
The warning comes against the background of Nigeria’s long history of political competition along religious, ethnic and regional lines.
Although Nigeria is a diverse country with hundreds of ethnic groups and two major religious traditions, political disputes have at times taken on religious and ethnic dimensions.
Such divisions have been linked to communal violence, discrimination, mistrust and political tension in different parts of the country.
The APC chairman said politicians had a responsibility to ensure that their actions did not worsen existing divisions.
He also urged religious leaders to use their influence to promote peace, reconciliation and responsible citizenship.
Yilwatda called on religious institutions to become places where Nigerians could find support and encouragement rather than platforms for spreading hatred.
“You as religious leaders, let our mosques and our churches become centres of peace, of reconciliation, and responsible citizenship,” he said.
He urged religious leaders to preach their faith without attacking people of other religions.
“Preach faith without hatred, conviction without contempt, and truth without incitement,” he said.
The APC chairman also called on traditional rulers to promote dialogue and reconciliation in their communities instead of allowing conflicts to grow into violence.
He said traditional institutions remained important in resolving disputes because traditional rulers often had close relationships with communities and could intervene before conflicts became worse.
Yilwatda further called for a collective commitment by politicians, religious leaders, traditional rulers and ordinary citizens to reject hate speech and protect vulnerable communities.
He warned that hate speech could have serious consequences when it is allowed to spread unchecked, particularly in a country where religious and ethnic identities remain sensitive issues.
“We will not use religion to justify violence, and we will reject hate speeches where it comes from a pulpit, or a mosque, or the palace, or a political platform, or the keyboard of our social media,” he said.
The warning also extended to social media users, where political and religious comments can spread quickly to large audiences.
Social media has become an important part of political communication in Nigeria, but it has also been used to spread inflammatory messages, false claims and material capable of increasing tension between communities.
Yilwatda urged Nigerians to use these platforms responsibly and avoid messages that could encourage hatred or violence.
He said Nigerians should build a society where people protect one another not because they belong to the same religious or ethnic group, but because they are human beings with equal rights and dignity.
“Not because we share the same faith or ethnicity, but because we share the same humanity,” he said.
He said Nigeria must make a deliberate choice in favour of peace so that future generations would inherit opportunities and stable communities rather than displacement camps and memories of violence.
The APC chairman’s remarks came amid continuing concerns over insecurity in different parts of the country, including terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and communal violence.
These challenges have displaced thousands of Nigerians from their homes and disrupted education, farming and economic activities in affected communities.
Yilwatda said the country should learn from the suffering caused by such crises and work to prevent future generations from experiencing similar conditions.
He stressed that national unity could not be achieved by government alone, saying all sections of society had a role to play.
Political leaders, according to him, must avoid inflammatory campaigns, religious leaders must promote tolerance, traditional rulers must strengthen dialogue, and citizens must reject hate speech.
The Nigeria Inter-Religious Council also supported the call for unity, urging Nigerians to reject attempts to use religion, ethnicity and poverty to create division.
The council stressed that humanity remained the common bond among Nigerians and should form the basis of peaceful coexistence.
The position reflects growing calls for stronger cooperation among religious and political leaders as Nigeria continues to face security and social challenges.
For Yilwatda, the survival and progress of Nigeria depend on the ability of its citizens to recognise their shared interests and resist attempts to turn their differences into political weapons.
He urged Nigerians to choose cooperation over division and peace over violence, saying the country’s future should not be sacrificed for temporary political gains.
The APC chairman said the goal should be to build a Nigeria where citizens can live, worship, work and raise their families without fear, regardless of their religion or ethnic background.