Cleric Backs Buhari’s Anti-corruption War, Subsidy Removal … Laments silence on Christians’ plight

Cleric Backs Buhari’s Anti-corruption War, Subsidy Removal

… Laments silence on Christians’ plight

Sunday Okobi

In order to sanitise the system and rid the economy of various blockages, a prominent Christian leader in Nigeria and head of Wordbase Assembly Church, Lagos, Bishop Humphrey Erumaka, has rallied all Nigerians to support President Muhammadu Buhari’s war against corruption and the planned removal of oil subsidy.

The clergyman lamented that the economy is desperately down; therefore, all Nigerians must back the present administration to come up with measures that will help cushion the effects of the present global economic downturn.

“We shall all overcome the current economic, political and social problems,” he declared, adding that:  “We should be focused and pray for our president, support him in the areas we can because kings are made by God. I implore both the Muslims and Christians to accept Buhari as God’s choice to lead us this period. Working with him, not fighting him will help us. Nigerians should cooperate with the president even in the area of anti-corruption for the good of the country, even if not all the stolen monies are recovered, his anti-corruption stance will put a check in the heart of whoever that is in government that there is a day of accountability.”

Erumaka who made the clarion call to all Nigerians at a recent press conference to herald the annual sixth edition of ‘Festival of Power Prayer Crusade 2016’ taking place at Okota, Lagos, from January 4 to 17, meanwhile, decried he plight of Christians in the North-east region, saying: “Their pain should be felt, echoed and ameliorated all over the country because endurance has elastic limited. We don’t want this country to explode or implode; therefore fairness should be the government watchword.”

According to him, “With all perimeters of evaluation, in my opinion, there is nothing wrong in probing the activities of the past administration, but let it be done without losing focus on the people’s welfare because what is ahead of us is greater than what is behind us. Corruption has really dragged us as a nation backward. From my interaction with a lot of people, especially this Christmas, I learnt that many Nigerians are celebrating the yuletide in pain because of lack of resources. Things seem not to be moving financially well, and the economy is desperately down, therefore, the present administration needs our support to salvage the situation.

“Our economy has been oil-dependent, and it’s like oil is failing us right now. But for a nation as big as Nigeria, with the various mineral resources imbedded in our land among other endowments, this is the time the leadership of the country should rise up and give the people alternatives. I also subscribe to the removal of fuel subsidy so that whether it is by importation or local refining, let there be strong competition in the oil industry, and all over the world, the pump price of oil has also dropped.

 

In Nigeria, the crude oil price has dropped, which means the refineries are getting crude oil at a very cheap price, and put in a little to refine it. So there is no reason for us to even pay N87 per litre. If there is competition in the oil sector; you will find out that petrol is supposed to be sold as low as N60 because crude oil price has gone down tremendously.

“So President Buhari government should be courageous to remove the oil subsidy and things will normalize in their own accord.”

 

 

While encouraging Nigerians to believe in their government, he quoted the scripture saying ‘we shall hear rumours of wars but we should be of courage because the end has not yet come’, “so to all Nigerians, no matter the tribulation, the rumours, the end has not yet come.”

 

On the alleged nonchalance of Christians leaders over perceived persecution of Christians globally, he said he does not believe that Christian leaders have done nothing on the issue. “For instance, Nigeria is one of the Christian nations with a louder voice on the matter, Nigerians are speaking out against it and the Pope is equally speaking loudly against Christians’ persecution and violence worldwide.

The cleric added that: “The Nigerian government has also been silent on the plight of Christians in the country. For instance, there are reports that former National Security Adviser, Col Mohammed Dasuki (rtd),  gave out money to individuals and private public organisations to cushion the effect of Boko Haram attacks but the Christian community was neglected by the same government, not even a penny was given out to rebuild destroyed churches and rehabilitate demoralized Christians.

“The present administration should therefore learn from what happened to the past government and avoid the mistake it made before with their insensitivity to the plight of the Christians. The pains of Christians in the North-east should be felt, echoed ameliorated all over the country because endurance has elastic limited. We don’t want this country to explode or implode; therefore fairness should be their watchword.”

Still on the persecution of Christians, Erumaka further said: “The only difference is that the doctrine of Christians does not allow us to march violence with violence, and apparently, violence is a louder voice than peace. But because people like ISIS and other terrorist groups are killing people and we are not retaliating does not mean we are not speaking against it. Also, in the past, United Nations was a very loud voice for Christian but its current leadership and that of United States are softer on global violence than past leaderships. It is not only about religious extremism, every form of violence must be discouraged. We cannot also forget the contributions of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the North-east region.

It is therefore the government, not Christian leaders that are silent over their plight.”

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CAN Not Conspiring with Army to Destroy Shiites, Say Christian Elders

 CAN Not Conspiring with Army to Destroy Shiites, Say Christian Elders

The National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF) has said there is no iota of truth in the allegation by the Iranian government that it is conspiring with the Nigerian Army to fight the Shiites movement in the northern part of Nigeria.

In a statement made available to THISDAY yesterday which was signed by the forum Chairman, Solomon Asemota (SAN), the group urged the federal government not to allow the crisis degenerate.

The group said: "The National Christian Elders Forum wishes to express grave regret and sadness at the recurring decimal of violence and destruction that seem to presently define the northern region of Nigeria. Rather than diminish, this cycle of violence and destruction escalates and expresses itself in differing modes.

"The forum commiserates with the governments, the people of northern Nigeria, and in particular the surviving victims and families who have been affected in the various orgies of violence and destruction that have afflicted Nigeria in general and northern Nigeria in particular."

Asemota further stated that in "view of the need to find lasting solutions to these crises, the NCEF wishes to recommend as follows:

"The traditional, political, religious, academic and commercial leadership of northern Nigeria are under obligation to ensure that religious intolerance, which has become the bane of the North, is eradicated."

The group also observed that: "Lasting peace can only exist in an environment where justice, equality and fairness reign. Northern Nigeria has to imbibe the spirit and the letter of Section 38 (1) of the 1999 Constitution that guarantees freedom of religious belief.

"The current crisis between the Nigerian army and the Shiites occurred as a result of religious tension. Before now, Muslims in the North have consistently waged destructive attacks on Christians and we pray that this current violence will not deteriorate into another Islamic insurgency.

"The forum appeals for calm so that the present security challenges do not degenerate into a Sunni versus Shiite conflict in Nigeria."

The group said: "We are fully aware that contention between these two groups contributed in no small measure to the terrible escalation of the Syrian crisis. Every effort should be made to ensure that (Shiite) Iran does not enter into this conflict under its global contention with (Sunni) Saudi Arabia.

"These nations have a habit of exporting their conflicts into foreign lands which then becomes the battleground."

“We therefore called on President Muhammadu Buhari not to drag Nigeria into the Saudi Arabia led Muslim/Arab coalition against ISIS. Nigeria is neither an Islamic nor an Arab nation.

"The President promised Nigerians before his election that he is now a democrat and has no intention of imposing Sharia or any form of religious domination on the nation.

"If Nigeria should participate in the Saudi Arabia-led coalition, it would be a negation of all that the president promised before his election. Such a denial would be a terrible betrayal of the trust that Nigerians from all over the country reposed in him.

"The Christian elders’ forum is persuaded that if Nigeria should identify in any way with the Saudi Arabia-led coalition, it would send provocative signal to Iran, the main backer of Shiites that Nigeria has aligned itself with Saudi Arabia (Sunni) to the detriment of the Shiites in Nigeria."

Asemita contended that: "It is imperative that Nigeria maintains its neutral, non aligned status on internationally contentious issues, whether it is politics, ideologies or religion. Nigeria should maintain its non-aligned status.

"Already, statements that cause concern are emanating from Iran concerning the conflict between the Nigerian army and the Shiites led by Sheik El-Zakzaky.

"The forum therefore wishes to refute publicly and stridently that there is no iota of truth in a video report credited to an Iranian television station in which an Iranian lecturer posited that a "triangle of evil" composing of the Nigerian Army, Boko Haram, and Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) have combined to destroy Shiites in Nigeria!

"We wonder under which ideology would CAN team up with Boko Haram to destroy an Islamic sect. Apart from its sheer absurdity, this dangerous statement should not be dismissed because it is calculated to beat the drums of war in far away Iran to mobilise Muslim Shiites to attack Nigerian Christians."

The group maintained that: "The Nigerian Church has suffered tremendously under Sunni Boko Haram, therefore, the emergence of Shiite backed insurgency in Nigeria must be avoided at all costs.

Onitsha Mayhem: Sultan Warns Muslims against Retaliation

Onitsha Mayhem: Sultan Warns Muslims against Retaliation

Sultan of Sokoto and President General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, yesterday urged Muslims in the country to resist the temptation of retaliating the last Wednesday's attacks on Muslims and the Central Mosque of Onitsha, Anambra State.

Addressing a press conference on behalf of the NSCIA in Ilorin, Kwara State, yesterday on the Onitsha mayhem, the   Secretary-General of the NSCIA, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, urged Muslims to consider the perpetrators as criminals and not representative of any ethnic or religious group.

According to him, "The NSCIA is fully aware of the development and is working round the clock to put the situation under control. Muslims are warned against the antics of those who seek to whip up religious sentiments to further their clandestine political motives.

"Vengeance is for Allah and Muslims should exercise maximum restraint in these trying times.

"We call on Muslim brothers and sisters not to embark on reprisals attacks on Christians and their places of worship in any part of Nigeria. We are already engaged in discussions with various security and relevant government agencies to forestall further aggravation of the situation.

"We also call on all religious and interfaith organisations across the country to step up their peace-building initiatives in order to support the government and strengthen the enabling climate, peace and good relationships.

"In addition, we want to request all Imams and Muslim scholars to cooperate with the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs to douse the tension created by the unfortunate incidence.”

Oloyede expressed distressed the unfortunate and unprovoked attacks on the Central Mosque of Onitsha, adding that the perpetrators of the dastardly acts, which culminated in the loss of lives and burning of trucks owned by a prominent Muslim businessman only sought to provoke inter-religious crises and thereby getting the country further embroiled in needless bloodletting.

He, however, appealed to the federal government and the relevant security agencies to take urgent and appropriate steps to safeguard the lives of Muslims brothers and sisters and any other vulnerable community living in any part of the country.

The Muslim leader pointed out that: "In line with our religious injunctions, preserving a single life is similar to preserving the lives of the whole of humanity. We should not allow the current unfortunate development to negatively affect interfaith relationship between Muslims and Christians in this country which is needed for the achievement of peace and development of our nation.

"In the same vein, we want to appeal to various groups to always resort to the use of the appropriate channels provided by the constitution, the law and our democratic structure for resolving any grievances.

"We also call on the government to investigate the incidences surrounding the killings and wanton destruction of the mosque in Onitsha and bring the perpetrators to justice.

"We pray for God’s continued guidance and support of our leaders and the citizens of Nigeria in the effort towards building a nation where peace and justice shall reign.

"Importantly, Muslims are enjoined to heed the call of Allah by upholding the virtues that guard against the demolition of “monasteries, synagogues and mosques in which Allah is much mentioned (Q 22:40).

“They should remember that the position of Islam is that the unsavoury development requires reflection. The consequences of swallowing the bait of drawing Muslims into the hideous agenda would only be disastrous. Therefore, the key words are patience, steadfastness, discipline, restrain and prayers.”