Former president of Ghana, Dr. John Kufuor has advised African leaders to use religion as a tool for development rather than divisive machinery to cause disaffection. Kufuor gave the charge yesterday as the guest lecturer at the 10th anniversary lecture of The Sun Newspapers that held in Abuja.
He admonished that for Nigeria and other African countries to overcome current security challenges, and chart a development path religion must be separated from politics. Other eminent leaders at the lecture shared Kufuor’s position on the proper use of religion as a tool to further the cause of democracy in the continent beset by religious crises that always have political trappings.
He spoke on “Religion, Strife and the Future of Democracy in Africa.” The former Ghanaian president noted that democratic rights and that of religion were inseparable. He, however, cautioned that politicians should not take advantage of it to cause strife among the people He lamented that conflicts arising from religious differences were holding sway in most parts of Africa, thus distracting the leaders from focusing on developmental challenges facing the continent. More»
