On Tolerance
Written by Sopuruchukwu Egbodo @SopuruEgbodo
The most beautiful sight I have beheld in the city of Lagos, Nigeria is not a babe nor a sky scrapper in Lekki, Ajah, Ikoyi, Victoria Island or Ikeja.
It is the sight of those four moslem kids singing Christian songs, but replacing God with Allah in places where he was mentioned.
You may believe it's a sign of competition, and you'll be totally correct.
After all, the *Masalaci (Mosque) in my street which strictly starts early morning prayers by 5:30am (done with a noisy public address system), only breaks the time protocol whenever a Christian preacher begins morning cry by 4:00am.
But come also to think of this, "Their Moslem parents allowed them to mingle with Christian kids or family that made them learn those songs". That's tolerance.
Tolerance simply means respect for and accommodation of individual differences.
Respect for individual differences makes a husband be kind to his wife, no matter how shitty her opinions seldom sound. It means you accept the fact that even though you hate smoking, that your next door neighbour is entitled to his cigar.
It means that, even though you are a jim jim brother (or sister) in Christ, pending when they "See the light", those old men in your village are entitled to worshiping their *Amadioha. It equally means that you respect other people's right to life, even though they despise Mecca.
It's time to change the man in the mirror.
Word meanings
*Masalaci - Mosque in hausa language
*Jim jim- Very strong christian or born again christian
*Amadioha- An idol in Igbo land
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