The Chaplain and Tutor in Theology of St John’s College, Oxford, the Rev Dr Liz Carmichael, introduced Imam Muhammad Ashafa and Pastor James Wuye from Nigeria as ‘an iconic peacemaking and peacebuilding team’ at the opening of a seminar on 11 November, 2010. It was organised by the Oxford Network of Peace Studies (OxPeace).
Some 80 students, academics and professionals, from a variety of disciplines concerned with peace, gathered at St John’s College to hear from Ashafa and Wuye, and from Dr Nic Cheeseman, Hugh Price Fellow in African Studies at Jesus College.
‘We must draw a line between what is religion and what is political process,’ said Imam Ashafa, attacking the politics of manipulating religion. ‘Religion has a positive role in social engagement and transformation.’ Religious scholars could be divided into three categories, he said: ‘ideal, incapable and mischievous’. While incapable scholars didn’t know what they didn’t know, the other two categories were experts. The difference between them lay in the area of ethics and motivation.
The seminar was followed by a screening of the film An African Answer, which shows the two Nigerians’ mediating work between Kikuyu and Kalenjin groups, in the aftermath of election violence in Kenya. The film was attended by 120 people. Both events were followed by a lively session of questions. One British Nigerian expressed his thanks to the speakers: ‘There are very few times that I hear things which really warm my heart about Nigeria.’
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