Do you think Mallam el-Rufai was right to engage in such 'expensive' joke?
The Christian Association of Nigeria on Wednesday in Abuja reacted to the allusion to Jesus Christ by a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, on a social media.
CAN urged religious leaders and political associates to advise him on the need to be sober and circumspect, in his comments to avoid "setting the country on fire.”
The body condemned el-Rufai, saying he was only tring to whip up sentiments around religion for a selfish agenda. Calling on President Goodluck Jonathan to check the former minister, CAN added that from his unbridled assault on the Christian faith, el-Rufai is capable of destroying the peace in Nigeria.
The ex-minister had, in an attempt to discredit the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku; Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe; and Presidential Adviser on Media and Publcity, Dr. Reuben Abati, retweeted, “”@zebbook: If Jesus criticises Jonathan’s govt, Maku/Abati/Okupe will say he slept with Mary Magdalene.”….LWKMD…..”
The sarcastic post elicited angry reactions from his followers on Twitter and Facebook friends, who saw his comment as blasphemous. The twitter post sparked public outrage on the social media so much that he had to offer an apology on Twitter and Facebook.
The General Secretary of CAN, Dr. Musa Asake, who read the assocation’s first official reaction on el-Rufai's careless utterance to journalists, described the statement by the former minister as reckless and a reflection of deep-seated moral bankruptcy.
He said, “We must not allow him to turn Nigeria into a cauldron of fire by his reckless, bigoted and twisted commentaries about our Lord and our faith, and we must view him for exactly what he is.
