Former Kogi West senator, Dino Melaye, has slammed the Federal Government over its financial support for Nigerians on religious pilgrimages to Mecca and Israel.
Melaye argued that churches, mosques, and wealthy individuals should sponsor religious pilgrimage and not public funds.
NEWSNGR reports that Melaye shared his reservations during an interview shared on social media.
He insisted that matters of faith and an individual’s relationship with God should remain personal.
“That is the function of churches. That is the function of billionaires who have made money who can sponsor people on religious pilgrimage. And there’s no hadith in the Quran, there’s no chapter of the Bible that says if you did not go to Mecca or if you did not go on Umrah, or if you did not go to Israel for pilgrimage, you will not make heaven,” Melaye said.
Questioning the justification for spending public money on religious trips, he pointed to the poor state of critical infrastructure and essential services across the country.
Melaye also made a controversial remark about the environment surrounding some religious pilgrimage destinations, using Jerusalem as an example to question the sincerity of some pilgrims.
“Even Jerusalem that you are going to, just close to Mount Sinai where you go to pray, there’s an ‘ashawo’ joint by the edge there.
“I’m a spiritual person, but my spirituality and celestial relationship with God is personal. You cannot make what is meant for the development of the people and then place it on religion. It’s myopism. So those who want to insult say you don’t touch churches, you don’t touch mosques are being myopic.
“They are being intellectually stagnant. United Nations is successful. They don’t say prayers. I’ve gone for many United Nations, including United Nations General Assembly. There’s no opening prayer. There’s no closing prayer. And they are successful. You know why? Religion is personal. It’s individualistic,” he said.
The former senator further stressed that individuals would ultimately be accountable for their relationship with God,
“Because I repeat, on Judgment Day, it shall be you and your God. Federal government will have no role to play. We need to reprioritise. We need to build our economy. We need to build our technology. We need to build our education. We need to build our industries. We need to build the small-scale industries in this country. That is what government should be about,” Melaye said.
