IF you think the title of this story is 'religious intolerance' in Nigeria then you have been swayed by recent stories from the international media.

You-and they-are wrong. Much of the international press covering the unrest and violence in Nigeria recently had been inaccurate, irresponsible and even dangerous.

Nigeria is 'on the brink' many claim, because of conflict between Muslims and Christians.

It is true that at least 40 people were killed on the Christmas Day bombing of churches.

This is horrific and has been condemned not only in Nigeria but also around the world.

Boko Haram has claimed responsibility, and those responsible must be found and held accountable-something that does not happen in Nigeria regularly.

The week of protests and strike related to the removal of subsidy fuelled even more fears, concerns and inaccurate reporting.

There were strikes; there were major protests. This is a common reaction that occurs around the world when people have to pay more for a basic commodity.

Strikes shut down Greece last fall when public spending was cut and taxes increased.

Three died in Greece, probably 10 died in Nigeria.

Has there been religious conflict? There have been deaths in churches.

There have been deaths in mosques. It is very difficult to disentangle what happened with each of these deaths-an ambiguity that opens a window for manipulation and inaccurate reporting.

Here is a story that has not been written, spoken, or sung from the rooftops, churches and mosques around the world-the story of Christians and Muslims coming together to protect each other, and develop their communities.

In the last week alone, in the large city of Kano, Muslim leaders attended Sunday church services as a show of faith and tolerance.

'We are here to deliver a message of hope, a message of peace, a message of solidarity, said Bashir Ishaq Bashir who led the Muslim delegation.

In Minna and in Lagos, the same thing repeated itself as Christians joined hands to protect Muslims as they prayed.

In the last week, Christians and Muslims protested against bad governance and corruption beyond the falsehood of religion.

Once freed from the grip of these dark forces, religion will be able to play its role as a force for harmony, truth and the common good. And in our small town of Yola, several remarkable stories are emerging.

Our Interfaith Mediation Centre Dialogue Forum, released the following statement:

In the wake of recent security challenges, Muslim and Christian communities across Nigeria have resolved to be their brother's keeper during religious congregations in the future.

This resolution is fast gaining momentum around the country.

In key cities such as Lagos, Kaduna, Kano and Abuja Christians have shielded Muslim faithful from any possible attack during the weekly Friday congregational prayers.

This past week, on our own university campus, we invited major religious leaders for a dialogue-including a representative of our local traditional leader, the Lamido, and Jama'atu Nasril Islam (JNI) as well as the Christian Association of Nigeria, (CAN).

Senior business leaders came as well as union representatives, government and other academics, representatives of the Nigeria Police Force, State Security Service, Muslim-Christian Forum, the Muslim Council and the traders' associations.

All were in attendance as we crowded together in one of our conference rooms.

We decided to create what we called the Adamawa Peace Council.

After four hours of sincere and open discussions about the things that could divide us, we decided to work together to build a community based on peace and harmony.

We identified some of the root causes of violence and distrust - unemployment, poverty, inadequate security, depletion of cultural values, unchecked movement of persons via the border posts, political divisions and lack of information.

We agreed that over the long run we needed to work together on joint projects such as public forums on the basis for conflict and strategies to develop our society, literacy and enlightenment programmes in the community, inter-faith, social and economic programmes, and community scholarships for indigenous students.

The Peace Council agreed unanimously in its first meeting to release a statement to the press and the country.

The individuals at today's meeting, representing various religious groups, government, business, police and other security agencies and academia strongly condemn the killings in Adamawa State last week and any killings in the country, and pledge to work together to build a more peaceful community based on trust and understanding.

Clearly, Nigeria is experiencing major challenges.

It is one of the fastest growing countries in the world-with its population doubling every 23-25 years.

Because of this rapid population growth it has a very youthful population.

Access to high quality education and health care is very limited--especially in the North.

Power and infrastructure are inadequate for the current-much less the growing population. Government has not responded with widespread solutions to these problems.

These problems are not unique to Nigeria. They are the ones faced by every country that is poor and trying to improve the well being of its citizens at a time of global recession.

Nigeria has many problems. At the moment religious intolerance is not one of them.

We all pray that the inaccurate reporting does not fuel fear, hatred and more deaths.

We all hope that the story of faiths coming together in harmony and support is recognised and celebrated.