The Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), Sunday attended the 10th Justice Muri Okunola Memorial Ramadan Lecture at 
LTV Blue Roof Multi-purpose Hall on Lateef Jakande Road, Agidingbi, advocating religious tolerance as the sine qua non for peace in multi-religious Nigeria.
The Governor of Lagos State, who spoke before a capacity audience of muslim faithful, prominent Islamic Scholars, Imams and members of various Islamic societies as well as top government officials, urged members of the different religions to respect each other’s belief adding that it is the only way to ensure religious harmony among the Faith.
The two topics for the Memorial Lecture were “Parenting in the 21st Century: The Realities and Islamic Disposition”, delivered by Alhaja Monsurah Alli-Oluwafuyi ,“Sustaining Peace In a Multi-Religious Society”, delivered by Imam Abdul Hakeem Kosoko.
Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, who emphasized the importance of tolerance and respect for each others belief as the bedrock of religious harmony in any society, argued that at the centre of every religious conflict is intolerance and lack of respect for the belief of others adding, that “If we rubbish other peoples religion they will do so to us as well.
“When we were born, we did not know the religion we were going to belong to; even we did not know anything whatsoever”, Fashola said adding, “I implore everyone to be tolerant in whatever religion that we are practicing because tolerance is the only pillar of development in our Society”.
The Governor further argued that the personality of an individual is not dictated by who he or she is but his behaviour toward what he believes in and those he serves, adding that it is only by being tolerant of each other’s religion that our nation would make progress.
The Lagos State Governor commented on the first lecture, stating that it is not only women that should cater for the children, men also have a lot of responsibilities to take and therefore should give a supporting hand to the women, likewise, the parents should be cautious about leaving everything concerning their children to a “Nanny” and give more attention to them.
Also in his lecture titled, “Sustaining Peace in a Multi-Religious Society”, Imam Abdul Hakeem Kosoko, noted that God created human beings to reflect His own image and that in any multi-religious society efforts must always be made to embrace peace at all times.
He added that in order to let peace reign in a multi-religious society, citizens must avoid undue rivalry and should strive to emphasise the unifying rather than divisive tendencies in the society.
