The pledge by more than 50 Muslim and Christian leaders in West Africa to promote the authentic values of their religions and reject the exploitation of both faiths to create conflicts, engage in violence and display extremism prompted me to write this article.
Media outlets in Nigeria reported on August 13, 2026, that the Interfaith leaders made the pledge (it read like the terms of reference for NIREC and the defunct NARECOM) in the Abuja Accord published at the end of a two-day International Conference on Diversity and Social Peace. The Conference was co-sponsored by the Saudi Arabia-based Muslim World League and the Nigeria-based Jama’atu Izalatil Bid’ah Wa Iqamatis Sunnah (JIBWIS).
The conference was a platform for fostering understanding and peaceful co-existence between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria, a country experienced in creating such mechanisms.
Previous administrations in Nigeria have established mechanisms for monitoring the social, religious, security and political pulse of the nation, including tackling crises and restoring citizens’ confidence in the ability of the country’s leaders to keep it united and relatively peaceful.
The mechanisms were in the forms of commissions, panels, councils, special development projects and the creation of development units such as districts, divisions, provinces, local government areas, states and geo-political zones.
But this item focuses on the sleeping Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) and the forgotten reports of the National Reconciliation Committee (NARECOM).
The focus on NIREC and NARECOM is simply because I served both institutions as a Press Officer; witnessed and publicised their worthy activities while touring the 36 states of the federation.
Their terms of reference (TOR) were excellent. NARECOM was established on December 28, 1995, by the military administration of General Sani Abacha during a period of intense national political crisis following the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
Chief Alex Akinleye, a former Minister of Information, chaired NARECOM. It was mandated to reach out to aggrieved political groups, pro-democracy factions and prominent political figures nationwide to ease tensions. There is a need for our political leaders to stem today’s political tension as members of opposition parties currently feel squeezed and fear muzzling.
NARECOM was also tasked to promote national unity, engender reconciliation, facilitate understanding and advise the government on strategies for healing political division to ensure an atmosphere conducive for peaceful governance. This task was and is still needed.
Alhaji Asheik Jarma, former Governor of Borno state is the only member of NARECOM alive. All other members who were drawn from diverse geo-political backgrounds have died. While many NARECOM recommendations may still be deployable, Alhaji Asheik Jarma may be consulted by the current administration with the view to tap his knowledge for enriching the process of improving national security and easing political tension.
The Terms of Reference (TOR) handed down to NIREC at its inauguration on September 29, 1999 by the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo included making it a structured regular forum for leaders and followers of Islam and Christianity to promote serious interactions, mutual respect and religious understanding. It did this by touring all the 36 states of the federation and preaching these virtues to gatherings similar to Town Hall meetings.
The meetings encouraged dialogue, urged an end to recurrent destructive ethno-religious conflicts that threatened Nigeria’s socio-political stability and unity. This aspect of its purpose is still relevant and ought to be vigorously pursued by regularly bringing religious leaders, traditional rulers and followers of Nigeria’s two main faiths together. The theme of the International Conference on Diversity and Social Peace was perfectly consistent with what NIREC was established to do regularly.
The eminent members of NIREC, which is co-chaired by the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria and the President of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, should wake up and do that duty robustly.
NIREC was mandated and expected to lay a strong and enduring foundation for religious harmony, peace, and national stability. A huge and difficult task, but not impossible. Indeed, through its activities NIREC really calmed some frayed nerves on several occasions.
Another assignment for NIREC in its TOR was that it should engage in theological dialogue and practical “dialogue of action,” through both faiths, to address broader societal challenges like corruption, poverty, unemployment, insecurity and public health crises: a big responsibility that was useful yesterday, is relevant today and will be vital tomorrow. It is possible with the appropriate wherewithal beyond sermons in churches and preachings in mosques.
Salisu Na’inna Dambatta Writes from Dambatta
