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Welby visited Mrs Tinubu ahead of a major interfaith dialogue convened by the Global Forum for Peace in Abu Dhabi under the patronage of Sheikh Abdallah Bin Baya, scheduled to be held next week in London, United Kingdom.
The First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has called on the international community to stop misreading the security crisis in Nigeria.
Speaking during the meeting at her office in Abuja, Senator Tinubu said proper understanding of the country’s realities was essential to finding lasting solutions to its challenges.
In a statement by her media aide, Busola Kukoyi, the First Lady noted that while Nigeria continued efforts to promote peace and harmony among different groups, the global community must support such initiatives by avoiding what she described as inaccurate framing of the nation’s security situation.
“The world must get the right perspective of the various challenges in the nation to be able to proffer appropriate solutions.
“Listening to one side of the story and then concluding is a wrong approach to conflict resolution.”
Mrs Tinubu kicked against the tendency to attribute Nigeria’s security crises to religious or ethnic fault lines.
She accused external observers of doing that without proper verification. The former senator said the Nigerian government has consistently raised concerns in response to international coverage of farmer-herder clashes and insurgency in the North-East and Middle Belt.
The First Lady commended the former head of the Anglican Church for acknowledging that Nigeria’s challenges were best understood and resolved by Nigerians themselves.
“Listening to one side of the story and then concluding is a wrong approach to conflict resolution,” she said.
She also welcomed moves to deepen interfaith dialogue, urging that security agencies be included in such engagements.
“Thank you for opening up this interfaith dialogue, and I believe that you should also invite not just the Christians and Muslims but also the Nigeria Security to the dialogue to know what they have been doing,” she added.
Senator Tinubu used the opportunity to praise Nigeria’s Armed Forces for their continued sacrifices and gallantry in tackling insecurity across the country.
She also called on churches in Nigeria and around the world to continue preaching values that encourage responsible living and peaceful coexistence.
In his remarks, Welby said he was bringing his experience to bear on issues relating to peace and security in Nigeria, while also highlighting the country’s image as a nation that protects freedom of worship.
He disclosed that an interfaith dialogue meeting would be convened next week in London by the Global Forum for Peace, Abu Dhabi, under the patronage of Sheikh Abdallah Bin Baya.
According to him, the dialogue would host 12 Christians and 12 Muslims aimed at fostering understanding and finding workable solutions to interfaith conflicts in Nigeria and beyond.
“We want to contribute to what President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is doing to promote peace, interfaith wise. All we are after is enduring peace,” Welby said.
“I am here to smooth the way ahead of the interfaith dialogue and make sure the meeting addresses all that it should.”
Welby was accompanied on the visit by Richard Montgomery.
The meeting came barely a month after President Bola Tinubu’s state visit to the United Kingdom, where the First Lady participated in sessions on interfaith dialogue and attended a church service at Lambeth Palace.
