I moved from Port Harcourt to Lagos in October, 2019 for my National Youth Service and one thing was significant. My State of Primary assignment was Ogun State and my camp was in Sagamu, not far from Ikorodu in Lagos.

However, my cousin who resides in Lagos was of the opinion that I moved into Lagos straight from camp after Corona Virus had to cut short our stay in camp on Monday, February 10, last year. So, I had to obey him immediately we were forced out of camp due to the outbreak in Lagos which was few kilometers away from us.

But before we left camp, we were told to report to our Place of Primary Assignment (PPA). I checked on my form, it showed Ado-Odo Ota as my LGA of posting. I obeyed even though I had the opportunity to circumvent and move my posting to Port Harcourt after camping, I opted to report at my PPA.

On arriving at my Local Government of posting I was sent to Dufil Prima Foods, makers of Indomie Noodles, I went there only to be told that they have stopped taking Corps members at that material time. I reported back and was subsequently reposted to Holistic Delight College, located at Onifade Busstop by Aiyetoro Junction. I went there and was accepted immediately.

But my boss was said to have died that a day to my day of visit, so, I was told to go and see Madam (his wife, Mrs. Ifeoluwa), who hails from Kwara State but was married to an Ogun State man, who was now late. I moved to see Madam, on getting to her family house, Madam was distraught out of the pain of losing her husband the previous day.

So, Madam directed that I be taking to my lodge and when I got there, although, it wasn’t something I was used to, I had to accept it because I didn’t want to give impression that I can’t manage situations that are not up to my taste. Madam on hearing that I was a “Port Harcourt boy” expected me to reject it and began to explain that, in her condition, she cannot pay for a better accommodation for me. I told her not to worry that I was okay with what she had given me.

I went back to my cousin’s place and stayed there for about three weeks because of the closure of schools due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Respite came when my new boss called me to report to work the next Monday as the Ogun State Government led by Prince Dapo Abiodun, the State Governor, had lifted the ban on schools, I did as was directed.

After the close of work that Monday, I had to go back to Lagos and that was stressful. So, I had to move some of my things to Ogun State. Fortunately, the place I was given to stay by my employer was in Ayobo Town in Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State. Ayobo is a big town but mainly populated by middle income earners and had pockets of very bad roads, especially, if you have to go to places like Ipaja and Egbeda.

My cousin advised me to go and be coming back to the house every weekend. I moved there and in two days’ time, I got to know that light comes there one day in and one day out. I have not had that kind of experience back home in Port Harcourt, so I had to get a small phone to support my Android so I can always communicate with my phone if the Android goes off. While I was contemplating which one to buy, my landlady (we call her Mama) told me that the mosque adjacent my lodge allows everyone in the neighborhood to power their phones there and that I need not bother about light.

The next day, I was taken there and introduced to the Alhaji that connected light from his house to the mosque as their new Corps member. We call him Alhaji Baba. He welcomed me and from that day, despite the fact that I was a Christian, I was powering my phone and laptop there.

In fact, I actually plug my gadgets and go to my lodge, then by 11:00pm, Baba’s children will bring the phone to me at my lodge.

So, I started asking myself, why do people say that religious differences were a problem to us. Alhaji Baba’s family will do their Moslem ceremonies and they will send food to me and other Christians in the neighborhood. We lived happily with each other and there was no day for the months that I stayed there that anyone reminded me that I am a Christian, a non-Yoruba, at that.

The point I am trying to make here is that, from Baba’s example and other Moslems that I had as colleagues in the office, religion is not our problem. The issues that we have today and attribute to religious beliefs is actually about our individual propensities to violence and deep-seated hatred for one another not necessarily religion whether as Christians or Moslems.

My colleagues at work buy food for me, I also buy for them. I bring food that I cooked from home and take it to the office, they gladly eat with me and not for once did I suspect any of them. They have language power over me who doesn’t understand both Yoruba and Arabic languages yet I was not intimidated or unduly treated. Whilst you might have your misgivings about one religion or the other, from my NYSC experience, I do not agree with the widely held notion that religion is our problem as a country.

For instance, the Doctors, who are applying to go and work in Saudi Arabia, are largely Christians. If religion was our problem why are the Christian doctors jostling to be employed in a country that is 85% Islamic in every facet? Why did none of my colleagues at Holistic Delight College not remind me of not having the same religious beliefs as them?

I do believe that as a nation we should consciously preach peace, good neighborliness and respect for the faith of one another and see how far we can go as a nation. Let’s preach religious tolerance and, God willing, we can be that great nation that we all dream off, for in the end, all, both Christians and Moslems, believe in the same Supreme Being (God). So, why the division? Think about it.

Iwor Romgbo Obi, a Media practitioner, wrote in from Port Harcourt, Nigeria.