By Bashir Adefaka

Primate Elijah Babatunde Ayodele, Founder and Spiritual Head of INRI Evangelical and Spiritual Church, Oke-Afa, Isolo, Lagos, celebrated his birthday in a unique way: invited the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, leader of the Muslim Ummah of Nigeria, and other prominent leaders as a mark of a deliberate effort to blend Nigerians together as one united in peace and harmony.

Ayodele also gave out gifts, including a car, tricycle and cash donations, in appreciation of dedication and sincerity of some of his Church members and gave pilgrimage tickets of Jerusalem and Makkah to Christians and Muslims, respectively.

All of those gifts, the Ikere Ekiti-born member of the Lord’s Vineyard, said were things he needed to do to foster peaceful coexistence between Muslims and Christians just like, according to him, the Sultan of Sokoto had done since he ascended to the throne both as Sultan and as President-General, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA.

Jesus on the cross

Primate Ayodele said there was the need for an inter-religious body, which would ensure that Nigerian religious groups actually co-exist peacefully without hate and fight. Only by doing this, he said, the country could progress.

… on Kaduna crisis

Primate Ayodele, who addressed the press supported by another man of God and astute broadcaster, Mr. Taiwo Akinsola, said he would not comment on Southern Kaduna crisis until he had gone to see and hear things for himself at the scene of crisis.

He said: “I want to go to Southern Kaduna and see things for myself before I make my comment. If I don’t do that and I make comment, you will criticise me and I will be helpless because I cannot defend my position as I would only have spoken on hearsay.

“Look at a pastor saying don’t eat cow. That is not the best. If you don’t eat cow, are you breeding any cow that you and others can eat? There should be regulation even in Christendom. I don’t belong to Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN; Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, and I don’t want to belong to any of them because they don’t tell themselves the truth.”

The Primate, however, warned that there should be no killing of Christians or Muslims in any part of the country.

Ayodele, who, during the thanksgiving event, honoured the Sultan, who was represented at the event by Sarki Hausa of Lagos State, Alhaji Yaro, said: “The Sultan has done greatly in ensuring peace and harmony among Nigerians. I can only urge Christian leaders to buckle up and do the same thing by bringing everybody together for the peace of the nation.”

The spiritual leader INRI Church said there were jobs for CAN to do other than what it was currently doing. He said there were a lot of Christians in prisons, whose case had not been decided.

He had expected that CAN, if active, should have visited the various prisons to determine the extent of such problem and take up their matter.

He reiterated his advice that President Muham-madu Buhari should work on the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, for things to get better with management of the economy.

On prophecies, he said any time his negative prophecy was fulfilled, he felt bad because the people concerned paid no heed. He, however, expressed the belief that prophecies were not meant to deplete but to help the shapers of the society in their duties.