16th November each year is observed as International Day of Tolerance. As Nigeria joins the global community to observe this year’s event, Emmanuel Bello of Radio Nigeria writes on the subject: “PROMOTING THE CULTURE OF TOLERANCE”
The Cambridge Dictionary defines Tolerance as ‘’willingness to accept behaviour and beliefs that are different from your own, although you might not agree with or approve of them.’’
Another popular definition of the term is the one by The Merriam-Webster Dictionary. The lexicon defines Tolerance as ‘’Sympathy for or acceptance of feelings, habits, or beliefs that are different from one’s own.’’
While there are various definitions of the term ‘’Tolerance’’ it is important to note that the central idea to the definition is ‘’the willingness to accept or bear with others opinions or behaviours.’’
The need to accept or bear with the opinions and behaviours of others in a multi ethnic, religious and political diversity like Nigeria cannot be undermined.
Nigeria is believed to have over two hundred and fifty ethnic nationalities, with the Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo as major tribes.
Besides, the country is made up of various religion worshipers with the Christians and Muslims as major religious groups. Even within the Christian and Muslim bodies, there are multiplicities of sects, with each having minor or major differences in opinions and believes from one another.
The same can also be said of Nigeria as a political state, as the country currently has 18 registered political parties. In this regard, the All Progressive Congress, APC, and the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, are the leading political parties, with the Labour Party, LP and the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, coming third and fourth in the political equation.
In view of Nigeria’s diverse ethnic, religion and political differences, there is no doubt that if Nigerians must continue to live together in peace and harmony, it is essential for them to tolerate one another; as tolerance is an important virtue needed for the development and progress of any society.
Even the holy books – Bible and Quaran teach tolerance. The strong in faith are admonished to bear with the weak in faith, with a view to uplifting them spiritually. The two books equally teach adherents to respects everyone’s God-given human dignity regardless of faith, race, gender or social status.
At this juncture, it is important to state that why it is essential to bear with the mistakes or opinions of others, tolerance shouldn’t be seen as a virtue to promote wrongdoing; but rather to encourage good behaviors as propagated by the holy books.
The United Nations, UN, equally recognizes the importance of tolerance to the peace, development and advancement of mankind; hence it set aside 16 November each year, as International Day of Tolerance.
The significance of commemorating the day is to raise awareness about tolerance and its impact on cultures and socio-economic groups.
As we mark this year’s International Day of Tolerance, more efforts should be made towards promoting a culture of tolerance. We should do away with discrimination, intimidation, violence and other acts that do not promote tolerance.
Nigerians should, more than ever before, be willing to contribute to spreading the values of understanding, patience, respect and peaceful coexistence, which are associated with tolerance.
Besides, no one should see his or her belief and ideas as superior to those of others. Even when one sees it as such, one should realize that the ideal way to present his or her opinions is through peaceful disposition and not the use of force. It is a common believe that success is better recorded in an atmosphere devoid of rancor.
Furthermore, the society would benefits from a tolerant society, if the government rise up to its obligations and take practical measures to address and eliminate incidents of intolerance.
There should also be promotion of mutual understanding among the various ethnic nationalities in the country, with a view to addressing issues of nepotism, mediocrity and disunity.
Politicians should always remember that electioneering is not a do or die affair and as such allow those from other political parties go about their campaign without recourse to hate speech and violence.
Also, everyone should be given equal opportunity to utilize their God-given talents and resources to improve their well-being.
Situations have shown that where everyone is treated equally and given equal opportunity, people are able to effectively utilize their talents and resources to improve their standard of living.
After all, tolerance is not simply an attitude, but an essential element for the peace, unity and economic well-being of a nation or society.
