REPORT
ON THE NIGERIA RELIGIOUS LEADERS ROUNDTABLE MEETING ORGANIZED BY CHURCHES IN
ACTION FOR PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT(CAPAD) HELD AT BRIGHTON HOTEL LIBERTY ROAD
IBADAN ON THE 9TH -12TH
OF APRIL 2014 FOCUSED ON PILGRIMAGE TO THE HOLY LAND ISRAEL/PALESTINE AND
PROSPECT FOR JUSTICE PILGRIMAGE. (WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE KARIBU FOUNDATION
NORWAY)
In recognition of the fact that
it is of value to embark on the journey to see and connect with the holy sites
of our Lord Jesus Christ in Israel, Christians must see the pilgrimage journey
as an act of worship which mirrors our devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ.
The pilgrimage journey of
Christians in Nigeria to the holy land does not largely include a visit to the Palestinians
Christians who are experiencing gross human rights violation from the Israeli
government. There are indications that the situation in Palestine today can be
likened to the then apartheid policy in South Africa. Israel since 1967
occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank and as a result shut out Palestinians
from gaining access to their land. The fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 and the
Hague Regulations of 1907 both forbid occupying power from altering the ways of
life of occupied citizens, they likewise prohibit members of the occupying
state from settling in the occupied territory . This means that Israel’s action
in East Jerusalem throughout history as well as today constitutes gross
violation of International Law. Palestinian women and children are arrested
indiscriminately and kept in detention all across Israel. Palestinians right of
residency is withdrawn once they go abroad to study thus separating families
and loved ones. The roundtable did justice to the following Agenda:
AGENDA
Wednesday 09 APRIL
14:00
Hour- Arrival
18:00
Hour- Welcome Gathering and watching of the film- KAIROS PALESTINE
20:00-
Brief comment on the film
20:30-
Dinner
Thursday 10 APRIL
9:00 Introductory remarks/ re-caps by organizer
The search
for a just peace in Palestine is urgent. While the world talks, Israeli settlement
building continues unabated with the borders of any future state of Palestine
literally collapsing. Pilgrimage
presents a strategic avenue for just peace advocacy and its potential continues
to be tapped and developed. This religious roundtable on Pilgrimage to the Holy
land of Israel/Palestine and Prospect for Justice pilgrimage is the third in a
series of advocacy efforts on promoting and supporting Christianity in
Palestine, with a view of achieving justice and defending the rights of
Palestinians.
9:45-12:45 SESSION 1:
THE STATUS OF CHRISTIANITY IN THE HOLY LAND OF
ISRAEL/PALESTINE: EFFECT OF OCCUPATION
“The Bible
begins the story of salvation by telling how God called Abraham to leave his
home and his people, and apparently also his ancestral gods, and to become a
pilgrim, and how he promised that through Abraham and his descendants blessing
would come to all the nations…The true sons of Abraham … know themselves to be
a pilgrim people who have here no permanent quarters. … The Church … has understood itself more as
an institution than as an exhibition. It’s typical shape … has been not a band
of pilgrims who have heard the word ‘Go’, but a large and solid building which,
at its best, can only say ‘come’.’’
·
The
Global effort and status of promoting just peace
·
Prospects
for moving the agenda forward in established forums
·
Positions,
Initiatives and priorities on promoting peace in Holy land
12:45 -13:00 Coffee Breaks
13:00-15:00 Session 2
THE NIGERIA PILGRIMAGE APPROACH TO HOLY LAND
JUSTICE/PEACE ISSUE
·
The
concept of Pilgrimage Theology
·
Pilgrimage
as a tool for Peace and support
·
How
contextual and ethical is pilgrimage from Nigeria, in the face of Ignoring
Occupation?
15:05-16:00- Lunch
16:10 -19:10- Film : “The Village under The forest”, Discussion and comments on
the film
20:30 Dinner
Friday 11 APRIL
09-00-13:00:
SESSION 3
THE ROLE OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS IN PROMOTING
JUSTICE PILGRIMAGE
A
pilgrimage can be thought of as a micro-journey by means of which one explores
the macro-journey of one’s life. Thus Christian Pilgrimage to Israel would be
aimed at helping one to live out the Gospel more comprehensively when one
returns to one’s daily life. It is vital that this connection with the whole of
life is present in pilgrimage: the
journey in, as it were, becomes the foundation for the journey out. And this
should be true not just at a personal level but at a communal and societal one
too.
·
Opening
this session with Sabeel film- “The
Stones Cry Out”
·
Nigeria-specific
issues and effect of the traditional Pilgrimage system
·
How
to involve Churches in the organization of Pilgrimage from Nigeria
·
How
can Churches take ownership of Pilgrimage to address injustice in the Holy lnd
of Israel/Palestine
13:00-13:30 Coffee break
13:45-15:00
SESSION 4:
THE ROLE OF NIGERIA CHRISTIAN IN ADVANCING A
FREE PALESTINE
It
is a scandal, and pilgrimage of a much distorted sort, when so many Christians
visit Jerusalem without a second thought about the Church in Israel/Palestine
and the suffering in the Middle East. In his fascinating From the Holy Mountain, William Dalrymple exemplifies a healthier
type of pilgrimage in the Holy Land. In the context of his arrival in Jerusalem
he is attentive to the change in the fortunes of Christians in the old city. In
1992, 52 per cent were Christian; now Christians make up fewer than 2.5 per
cent of the population. In the context of his pilgrimage in Jerusalem, Dalrmple
connects the ancient Christian sites to present-day oppression of Christians in
Israel/Palestine by the Israel government. Without the local Christian
population, the most important shrines in the Christian world will be left as
museum pieces, preserved only for the curiosity of tourist. Christianity will
no longer exist in the Holy Land as a living faith; a vast vacuum will exist in
the very heart of Christendom.
If
Christians are genuinely concerned to follow Jesus who was born and died in
Israel, then like him, they need to take the whole of life, including politics,
seriously. The Old Testament prophets were deeply concerned for justice in
Israel and, while human bombs are immoral and unacceptable, so too is Israel
oppression of the Palestinians. Part of all Christian pilgrimage to Israel
ought as a matter of principle to connect with these issues.
·
Exploring
ways to support the Boycott Divestment and Sanction strategy
·
The
role of Nigeria in promoting Just Peace in Israel/Palestine
·
Justice
Pilgrimage- where do we go from here?
Communiqué, closing/
concluding remarks
15: 00-16:00 LUNCH
16:30- 17:00- Media
interview with Religious leaders on Corruption in the Nigeria Pilgrimage System
At the conclusion of the agenda
and discussions, the Roundtable has the following as recommendations and issued
as a communiqué:
COMMUNIQUE
I.
Christian pilgrimage from Nigeria to the holy
land must not sacrifice the act of worship and piety which our Lord Jesus
Christ exemplified.
II.
Christians in Nigeria should develop a policy
paper to mirror a common approach in respect of justice issues arising from
visit to the holy land.
III.
Test tours to the holy land should be organized
for Nigeria religious leaders to include visit to Palestine and visit holy
sites in order to understand the Palestinians situation.
IV.
Nigeria Christians should be encouraged to
embrace pilgrimage to the holy land facilitated by licensed Christian tour
groups in a bid to visit Palestine and encourage the growth of local economy.
An example of such tour group is the ATG (The
alternative tourism group in Palestine).
V.
Pilgrims from Nigeria are encouraged to identify
with Christians in Palestine in the course of their visit.
VI.
The come
and see document, The Kairos document must be made available to churches
for use in their study sessions so that intending pilgrims will have awareness
about the Palestine and current situation
VII.
The
films, The village under the forest, The Kairos Palestine and The stones cries
out,
should be watch by Christian congregations at synods and meetings across
Nigeria, so as to create pictorial and visual education to a large number of
Christians, in a bid to prepare them for supporting the peace and justice
course in the Holy land.
VIII.
The BDS
should be encouraged amongst Christians at every available opportunity and
further find ways to promote it amongst ECOWAS countries. One practical way is
to sensitize pilgrims from Nigeria to be vigilant to buy only made in Palestine
goods during pilgrimage, so as to avoid the risk of promoting the growth of
companies in the occupied Palestine lands.
At the
roundtable, religious leaders adopted a joint statement pledging increased
activism by Christian religious community in Nigeria towards enhancing peace
and human rights of Palestinians. The statement also frowned at the massive
corruption both in selection of Pilgrims and funding by government, of
pilgrimage exercise, it therefore align with the position of Bishop Felix
Ajakaiye, the catholic Bishop of Ekiti State and the representative of
Christian Association of Nigeria at the on -going national conference in Abuja,
that the Oransanye commission report on pilgrimage be upheld, noting that total
freedom must be given to Christian churches to organize, and government provides
only consular services. Diplomatic relation should be established with a view
to networking and intervening in the Palestinian situation. Hence the need for
a Palestine embassy in Nigeria to provide education services to teaming Nigeria
Christians especially during pilgrimage Season
The statement and the
communiqué will be presented to the National Executive of the Christian Association
of Nigeria, Christian Council of Nigeria, and the Nigeria Christian Pilgrims
commission, synods of Dioceses and independent Pilgrimage /Tour operators.
In order to continue in the
tone and tempo of renewed activism, the roundtable have the followings as
action point, not in any order of priority but with a view that all are
imperative and critical to achieving desirable results as soon as
possible.
ACTION
PLAN
1. Church
leaders should be encouraged to re-orientate their members toward the concept of
good neighborliness.
2. CAPAD
should organize awareness programmes for lecturers and students in tertiary
institutions on happenings in Palestine.
3. CAPAD
should establish partnership with Nigeria theological institutes and other
faith based organizations in order to facilitate the re-orientation of people
about the history and developing world stories. E.g. helping people to have the
right understanding of the situation of the Palestinians.
4. Diplomatic
relation should be established in networking and affecting the Palestinian
situation.
5. CAPAD
should partner with The Full Gospel Fellowship at the grassroots level to
promote information dissemination at the grass root level.
6. A
newsletter should be developed to share the news of the Palestinian situation.
7. CAPAD should
facilitate meeting of church leaders to formulate policy relating to what
should be considered as holy sites.
8. CAPAD
to explore interfaith intervention against the wrong treatment melted out to
Arab Christians and Muslims by the Israelis.
9. Possibility
of having a round table discussion and approach with the leadership of Christian
Association of Nigeria should be explored.
10. The BDS
boycott should be encouraged amongst Christians at every available opportunity
and further find ways to promote it amongst ECOWAS countries.
It is hope that continue advocacy will be done
as a result of the action plans, monitoring of impart will also be done through
feedbacks from participants and reactions from synods, media opinion and
editorials as well as conduct of opinion poll on intended pilgrims of
2014. The option of starting a
theological discussion on Pilgrimage, using Immanuel college of Theology as a
centre is germane. Graduating ministerial
students will be trained and exposed to the reality in the Holy land, so that
their informed position will rub positively on their congregations.
PARTICIPANTS
1.
Most Rev. Michael Kehinde Stephen- Archbishop of
Methodist Church/CAPAD
2.
Rt. Rev. Bankole Fabusoro (Bishop representative
of the Primate Church of the Lord, Aladura)
3.
Rev. Dr. Testimony Onifade – Represent the
National President, Nigeria Baptist Convention
4.
Ven. Dr. Ayo Atowoju- Theologian/Lecturer, Ajayi
Crowther University Oyo
5.
Very Rev. Dr. Williams Egbetakin-
Theologian/Philosopher, Lecturer Immanuel College of Theology and Christian
Education
6.
Johnson Olukunle Akanmu- Full Gospel Business
Men’s Fellowship International
7.
Mr. Akin Thomas-All Saints Church Ibadan/KAIROS
NIGERIA
8.
Prof. Segun Oke- All Saints Church Ibadan/KAIROS
NIGERIA
9.
Captain Happiness Uzoho- The Salvation Army
10. Rev.
Dr. Paul O. Kolawole- Conference President
Osun Baptist Conference
11. The
Ven. Dr. Olasode Olagbaju- Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion
12. Rev.
Dr. Kehinde Babarinde- Chairman Christian Council School Advisory Board
13. Mr.
Gbenga Opadotun- Chairman Nigeria Union of Journalist Oyo State Council
14. Very
Rev. Msgn T.O.A Fadeyi- Catholic Archdiocese of Ibadan
15. Rev.
Ezo G. Udofia- Represent Archbishop of Uyo Methodist Church
16. Very
Rev. Opeyemi Awe-Presbyter Methodist Cathedral, Agbeni (CAPAD)
17. Rev.
Stephen Owolabi- National Youth Council
18. Iyabo
Oyekola –The Church of the Lord ( Aladura) world wide
19. Rev.
Joseph Adegboye Adediji- Nigeria Baptist Convention.
20. Rev.
Joshua Tunji Ojuwoni- Conference President Lagos Baptist Conference
21. Pastor
Bidemi Olu- Davies- Household of David online Church
22. Mr.
Kunle Oluwasusi- National Mirror Newspapers
23. Rev.
Adefolurin Orekoya- Methodist Church Nigeria, Diocese of Ibadan
24. Mrs.
Taiwo Odejayi- Methodist Church Nigeria, Diocese of Ikorodu
25. Rev.
Kolade Fadahunsi- Kairos Nigeria/CAPAD
Rev. Kolade Fadahunsi
