By Alimi Ibn Fattykolly
Former Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola has disclosed how he converted to Islam and how he has been living peacefully with his wife and other family members who are Christians.
In an interview with TVC News, Fashola disclosed that he was born into a family where his father was a Muslim and his mother, a Christian. He said growing up he practiced Christianity and attended the cathedral Church of Saint Jude in Ebute-Meta, Lagos with his mother, however, when he became an adult he simply told his mother that he wanted to worship God like his father and that was how he converted to Islam.
Speaking further, he revealed that his wife who is a Christian holds a respected title in the Catholic Church where she worships and their separate way of worship has never triggered dispute in their home. According to Fashola, he and his wife celebrate both Muslim and Christian festivals together.
In Fashola’s exact words: “In my own home, my father was Muslim, my mother is Anglican. I grew up in the Anglican Church in Saint Jude’s Church, Ebute-Meta before I just said as an adult okay mommy I am leaving you I am going to worship like my father. How you worship and all of that really do not ….. the important thing, do you serve God?
“So my wife is a Dame of the Catholic Church. she is a title holder in that Church and so is her mother and we haven’t had a religious conversation in our house. She fasts with me during Ramadan and I join her sometimes in length. We celebrate Christmas, new year, and Ramadan. I have eight siblings: some are Muslims and some are Christians but we are one big happy family”
Once again, Fashola’s exposition sheds more light on the liberality of the southwesterners when it comes to religion. When I look at how some people now hammer Tinubu and Shettima ticket as a Muslim-Muslim ticket, it makes me wonder if we are now a different people from what we used to be in the South-West
Fashola has Muslim and Christian children living under the same roof and the same with Tinubu. Isn’t this enough to show us that there is no muslim-muslim ticket anywhere. What we do have is a North-South ticket that is capable of standing the test of our religious tolerance. Those who are bent on dividing us based on religion will fail; the God of love will make them fail before our own very eyes.
