Ramadan: Culture minister advocates religious, ethnic tolerance

Muhyideen Jimoh
Mar, Thu, 2025

Culture & Tourism

Ramadan: Culture minister advocates religious, ethnic tolerance

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By Joshua Olomu

Hannatu Musawa, Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, has called on Nigerians to embrace religious and ethnic tolerance in order to ensure peace and economic prosperity of the nation.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Musawa made the call at a ‘Ramadan Iftar’ (Breaking of fast) she hosted for stakeholders, ministry officials and the media on Wednesday evening in Abuja.

According to the minister, tolerance and understanding are needed for unity, peace and development of a culturally pluralistic state like Nigeria.

She noted that Nigeria’s cultural diversity is an asset that should be treasured by promoting understanding, respect, and acceptance to build a society where everyone feels valued and included, regardless of their heritage.

She, therefore, enjoined adherents of Islam and Christianity to imbibe the spirit of harmony and tolerance to strengthen the bond of unity for the nation’s common good.

“As a Nigerian and being a woman of faith, this season is very special for me as both Muslim and Christian faithful are having a time of spirituality.

“We are celebrating Ramadan and our Christian brothers and sisters are also fasting and celebrating Lent. So, it is a time to emphasise the importance of unity and pray for it.

“We all belong to Almighty God, so, it is really about unity of our country.

“I really want to use this industry to look at the different diversity that we have and use it in a way that will strengthen us as one great people and one great nation.

“We are one people, we are Nigerians, and we have a very beautiful rainbow of different cultures and languages that is used to show our differences.

“That culture is a national asset and we need to open up that asset and use it as an initiative that will give us the economic expansion that we are hoping to have,” she said.

Musawa said that the ministry, under her watch, was working toward ensuring that Nigeria leverages its rich cultural and creative space to create wealth for citizens, especially its teeming youths.

She further said that besides its economic relevance, the culture and creative sector was a veritable tool for building national cohesion and stability.

She, therefore, urged industry stakeholders to embark on initiatives that foster positive relationships and unity among Nigerians with different cultures, religions, and lifestyles.

“There is good times ahead as President Bola Tinubu has been very keen in ensuring that we put up a structure that will really add a lot of value and worth to Nigerians.

“He is so interested in building something different, special, innovative and dynamic for the future generation, and it is not about this government or the next government.

“He wants us to build something very strong and fortified to give the growing population, especially the younger demography, a hope for the future.

“He has ensured in his diversification efforts that the creative industry, the cultural industry, hold a lot of worth in terms of what we can bequeath to this generation.

“So, what we have done in the last couple of months is really to put up that strong institutional framework, that infrastructure that will really allow us to tap into the bigger potential in the industry.

“We are at the beginning season, but in the next couple of months you are going to see us roll out and activate different programmes and implement them.

“The youths of Nigeria will have assurance in terms of job creation and capacity building to use our creative industry to turn Nigeria into a creative and cultural hub of Africa”, she said.(NAN) (nannews.ng)

Edited by Folasade Adeniran

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