Archbishop of Canterbury promises to pray for Buhari over 2019 elections

The symbolic head of the Anglican Communion worldwide and Archbishop of Canterbury - Archbishop Justin Welby has expressed his best wishes to Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari over his declaration to run as President in next year’s elections.

He expressed this when he paid a visit to Buhari in London. Buhari is currently in London ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting starting next week.

Welby, the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury, said it was always a delight to see Buhari, "whom I have tremendous respect for," adding: "You have my best wishes on your recent decision. I read your declaration speech. We are neutral as a church, but we will pray for you. Great Statesmen are those who run for the good of their country. We will be praying for you."

Responding to his Welby's comment on the clashes between herdsmen and farmers in different parts of Nigeria, Buhari said: "The problem is even older than us. It has always been there, but now made worse by the influx of armed gunmen from the Sahel region into different parts of the West African sub-region. These gunmen were trained and armed by Muammar Gadaffi of Libya. When he was killed, the gunmen escaped with their arms. We encountered some of them fighting with Boko Haram. Herdsmen that we used to know carried only sticks and maybe a cutlass to clear the way, but these ones now carry sophisticated weapons. The problem is not religious, but sociological and economic. But we are working on solutions."

Buhari lamented that "irresponsible politics" has been brought into the farmers/herders’ crisis, but assured that enduring solutions would be found, and justice done to all concerned.

On Leah Sharibu, the schoolgirl from Dapchi still being held by insurgents, reportedly because she refused to renounce her Christian faith, the President said: "We are managing the matter quietly. Making noise would not help. We are collecting as much intelligence as possible, working with the Red Cross and other international organizations. There are too many fraudulent people around, who claim they can do this and that. We won't deal with them. That was how we got the Dapchi girls back, and the Chibok girls."

Welby was accompanied on the visit by the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion Office - Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon. Also in attendance was Nigeria's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom - Ambassador George Adesola Oguntade.

During the visit, Welby presented a copy of his new book: Reimagining Britain - Foundations for Hope, a book which explores 'our Christian heritage for the values that will help us build a future on foundations of hope.'