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Tag: Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN)

  • Robbers kill Cleric in Ondo

    Robbers kill Cleric in Ondo

    A Cleric, with the Nigerian Baptist Conference in Ondo State, identified as Pastor Deji Joshua was reportedly killed in Okitipupa, the headquarters of Okitipupa Local Government Area of Ondo State on Monday night by some suspected armed robbers. 

    The deceased was said to be pastor in charge of the Goodnews Baptist Church, Igbegunrin in Ilaje/Apoi Baptist Association of Ondo State Baptist Conference.

    A source said the deceased was on his motorcycle when the suspected robbers attacked and killed him on Ode Aye road. They reportedly took away the motorcycle after the pastor was killed.

    Police source said the incident occurred at about 11.30 pm, however the police command was yet to ascertain the real cause of these death of the clergy man.

    When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the State Police Command, Femi Joseph confirmed the incident and said the command had commenced investigation on the incident. 

    He said when his men heard about the incident, they moved to the scene and saw bullet wounds on his body,adding that they would conduct an autopsy to know the actual cause of  his death.

    The state chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Revd. John Ayo Oladapo urged the security agencies in the state to fish out the killers of the deceased. 

  • CAN lauds President’s broadcast, urges Nigerians to support fight on insecurity

    CAN lauds President’s broadcast, urges Nigerians to support fight on insecurity

    The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Niger chapter has lauded President Muhammadu Buhari’s nationwide broadcast denouncing inflammatory statements capable of causing chaos in the country.

    In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Minna on Monday, Rev. Mathias Echioda, the state CAN chairman, also commended the President’s resoluteness that the country’s unity was not negotiable.

    NAN reports that Buhari, who returned from London on Saturday after a medical trip, said the government would no longer tolerate hate speeches and inflammatory statements.

    “President Muhammadu Buhari’s address to Nigerians this morning is a move in the right direction.

    “Buhari’s statement is a clear call to all sectional patriots and hate champions of our dear country to put away their swords. We are better together as a Nation.

    “We don’t only welcome Buhari home we congratulate him for such a bold step this morning,’’ he said.

    Echioda said that the state chapter of CAN was in support of Buhari’s leadership and fight against corruption and other forms of social menace.

    “As CAN in Niger state we are genuinely behind him in his fight against the social menace.

    “This makes us as Nigerians to believe in the leadership style of Mr President because the statement clearly shows that he is anti corruption, insecurity and sectionalism,’’ he said.

    The CAN chairman urged all Nigerians to continue to support the Federal Government’s efforts in sanitising the country.

  • Presidency commends CAN’s message to Buhari

    Presidency commends CAN’s message to Buhari

    Presidency has described as “touching and thoughtful,” a message received from the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) expressing joy at the news of President Muhammadu Buhari’s recovery from illness.

    In a statement in Abuja on Monday, Malam Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to President Buhari, confirmed that the President received the goodwill message from CAN President, Rev. Samson Ayokunle.

    “The CAN President referred to the news of President Buhari’s recovery from sickness as a ‘rejuvenation of hope’, and congratulated Nigerians on the joy of having their President back soon,” he said.

    Shehu added that such messages of goodwill from respected religious bodies like CAN meant so much at a time when people with ill intentions were struggling to divide the country along religious lines.

    He also thanked the CAN for its continued prayers for the President’s health.

    “The Presidency looks forward to further collaborations with CAN to ensure that Nigerians of all ethnic and religious groups benefit from the policies of the President Buhari administration which are aimed at improving the welfare of every single citizen of our great country,” he said.

  • Ondo CAN chairman urges regular marriage counseling to reduce divorce

    Ondo CAN chairman urges regular marriage counseling to reduce divorce

    A cleric, Rev. Ayo Oladapo has urged church leaders to regularly organise marriage counselling and seminars in order to reduce divorce rate in Nigeria.

    Oladapo, the state chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Ondo State Chapter, gave the advice in Ondo on Saturday at the wedding ceremony of Mr Adetosho Adejumobi and Miss Duwon Eshofonie.

    Oladapo, who joined the couple together, said that church leaders needed to harp on the importance and relevance of pre-marriage counselling for intending couple.

    According to him, many couples are unaware of the basic requirements that can sustain a peaceful and blissful marriage.

    He said that the church should be seriously concerned about the success of its members’ marriages.

    The CAN chairman admonished couples to always be grounded in the word of God, which he said was the only effective way to sustain a marriage.

    Also speaking at the ceremony, Dr Dupe Eshofonie, the Permanent Secretary of Ondo State Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said that marriage could only be successful when the parties involved overlooked each others faults.

    Eshofonie, who is the bride’s mother, said that in spite of the challenges that might be faced in marriage, divorce should not be an option.

    Earlier, the presiding pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, Ondo, Rev. Michael Abodunrin, in his sermon, stated that marriage was only for matured people who must believe in the institution.

    Abodunrin, who read from Hebrew Chapter 13 verse 4 and 11 Kings Chapter 6 verses 24 to 25 in the holy Bible, said that parties in marriage should not be forced or cajoled into it.

    He, therefore, urged the new couple to use the Bible as their daily guide and life manual for sustainable peace and fruitfulness desired.

  • Southern Kaduna killings: Diverse stakeholders meet for peace and reconciliation

    Southern Kaduna killings: Diverse stakeholders meet for peace and reconciliation

    KAFANCHAN – The Global Peace Foundation (GPF) Nigeria on Thursday, July 13 hosted an all-inconclusive meeting of critical stakeholders of Southern Kaduna as it continued its longstanding mediation for dialogue, reconciliation and peace-building in Southern Kaduna where several communities have experienced violent crisis resulting in loss of lives and destruction of properties in the past.
    This is coming after the organization successfully brokered a similar peace deal and reconciliation in June 2017 between the Fulanis and Natives of Kaninkon Chiefdom in Southern Kaduna.

    GPF Nigeria, which had held several separate meetings with each of the stakeholder groups and communities since January, for the first time brought them together for the Southern Kaduna Peace and Reconciliation Meeting.

    In attendance at the meeting in Kafanchan were leaders and representatives of Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU), Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MABCAN), Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), Jema’a Foundation, Local Fulanis and other Southern Kaduna stakeholders.

    Chiefdoms and communities that suffered violence in recent past including Kaninkon, Godogodo, Numana, Moroa, Atakar, Chawai, Kagoma, and Dangoma which is the Fulani District under Kaninkon Chiefdom were all represented by their leaders.

    In his remarks, the Country Director, Global Peace Foundation Nigeria Mr. John Oko thanked all the stakeholders and community leaders that have been involved in the ongoing consultations and mediation process over the past several months which has culminated to the meeting being held today. He said: “It is our hope that today will mark the beginning of the important part of the process of our working together for Peace-building in Southern Kaduna which is fundamental to the achievement of sustainable development.”

    “During the consultations, one point we heard repeatedly was that everyone was tired of the hostilities and wanted it to end. We believe that this meeting today should send a clear signal that the end of the violence has come, and going forward, you will all work together to resolve all pending issues. I want to assure you that Global Peace Foundation is committed to supporting you in that process until lasting peace returns to Southern Kaduna.” Oko added.

    Northern Nigeria Co-Coordinators of Global Peace Foundation, Sheikh Halliru Abdullahi Maraya and Rev. John Joseph Hayab earlier in their opening remarks reminded the people the crisis has affected every family in the State while calling for the killings to stop and give peace a permanent place. They reminded the participants that “We are One Family Under God.”

    Also speaking, President of the Southern Kaduna People’s Union (SOKAPU), Solomon Musa said the group would not support killings in the area. “We in SOKAPU will not support killing of human beings or animals, we will defend the Hausas, Fulanis, Bajjus, Jabas or any other tribe; we are committed to peace and justice.”

    Leader of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) delegates Alhaji Haruna Usman Tugga, urged all to live as brothers and sisters, stressing that, “we must forget the past for a brighter future, we must support peace for development.’’
    Jema’a Foundation President Alhaji Abdullahi Zubairu, said all parties need peace, and urged all stakeholders to go back to the olden days when everybody lived peacefully as one.

    Leaders of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) John Bwankwot and Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) Audu Barau, both urged the people to learn to live together as one to engender love and understanding.

    Several other speakers during the meeting thanked the Global Peace Foundation for her fairness, commitment, and efforts throughout the mediation process while calling on participants to take the message of peace and reconciliation to the various groups they represent.

    A highlight of the meeting was a ceremony where attendees embraced each other as a sign of forgiveness and reconciliation.

    One of the outcomes of the meeting was the consensus that Global Peace Foundation should constitute a Southern Kaduna Peace and Reconciliation Committee with membership representing the stakeholder groups and communities which will work together going forward to resolve all pending issues in order for lasting peace to return to Southern Kaduna.

  • Saraki urges all to be calm over new school curriculum

    Saraki urges all to be calm over new school curriculum

    The President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, has urged all stakeholders in  education to remain calm on the new nine-year Basic Education Curriculum to enable the National Assembly to look into various issues involved.

    Saraki made the call while receiving a delegation of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), who paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja on Wednesday.

    He assured the delegation that the Senate Committee on Basic Education would investigate the complaints by the association on the curriculum with a view to making it acceptable and satisfactory to all religions.

    Explaining the background to the introduction of the policy, Saraki said the process began in 2010 when the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan came up with a series of reforms.

    “This is with a view to reduce the number of subjects in school curriculum.

    “As leaders, we must continue to seek and find solutions to problems.

    ‘’You will remember that in 2010, the past administration came up with reforms on how to reduce the number of subjects at the basic education level.

    “There were about 20 subjects at that time, and subsequently they were reduced to 12.

    “In the process of implementing those reforms, we have this problem. Why I am saying this is so we don’t leave here and believe that it was done to favour one religion over the other.

    “Now the reform is clearly not working. So our responsibility is to look into that reform and make it work.

    “I am sure that there was no intention to make one group feel disadvantaged with this new school curriculum.

    ‘’This is why this Senate will direct our Committee on Education to look at the reform and find out why it is not working with the relevant stakeholders,” he said.

    Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Prof. Charles Adisa, called for the intervention of the National Assembly to ensure genuine respect for Nigeria’s Constitution.

    Adisa, who represented, the CAN National President, Rev. Samson Ayokunle, said: “We also call for the abolition of obnoxious laws that infringe on freedom of worship.”

    He said CAN wanted Islamic Religious Knowledge  and Christian Religious Knowledge to be offered separately, while Social Studies and Civic Education should be merged.

    Adisa also said the federal and state ministries of education should employ more teachers for religious subjects.

    “This will allow students to opt for religious studies of their choice in all public schools in Nigeria,” he added.

    Adisa noted that the Constitution was supreme over any other consideration.

    He stressed that Chapter 1 of the Constitution states the fundamental human rights of Nigerians, including freedom of religion.

  • Obaseki distances Edo govt from grazing bill

    Obaseki distances Edo govt from grazing bill

    Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo on Thursday said solution to nomadic problems in the state was not contained in the Anti-Grazing Bill currently before the House of Assembly.

    He made this known in Benin during a public hearing organized by assembly on the bill intended for a law to establish control for nomadic cattle rearing in the state.

    Obaseki, who was represented by the Solicitor General of the state, Mr Wole Iyamu, said that the state government had “absolutely nothing’’ to do with the bill.

    “If the bill had gone through the rigour that executive bills go through, it will not have generated so much controversy.

    “The bill did not address the problems on ground. It fails to define who nomadic farmers are.

    “The failure of the bill to define grazing can ruin the purpose of a law during litigation. The bill is supposed to outlive us if it is properly drafted.

    “Land is fundamental to the people, therefore, when you begin to touch issues that concern land you need to be very careful.

    “The bill did not define who designates land for ranching, because government does not own land; it only holds land in trust for the people,” he said.

    The governor pointed out that there was no provision in the bill that empowered government to designate land for ranching.

    “If there is a provision in the bill that empowers government to designate land for ranching, then consent of government would be sought.
    “Again, the solution to the problems of nomadic cattle-rearing is not contained in the bill,’’ he stated.

    In his contribution, Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the state, Mr Oyenude Kuru, said that the bill did not represent the interest of Edo people.

    Kuru noted that the grazing bill violated the Land Use Act in the state, adding that it sought to empower only the local government to allocate land for agricultural purposes.

    He noted that some sections of the bill empowered and protected the herdsmen against Edo people.

    Kuru, however, explained that the bill portended danger for present and future generations of the state.

    Also, Chief David Edebiri, announced his representation of the Oba of Benin, but said that the monarch did not ask him to contribute to the debate but to observe the proceedings.

    Edebiri, the Esogban of Benin Kingdom, however, expressed reservations over seeming disagreement between the executive and the legislature over the bill.

    Earlier, Speaker of the assembly, Dr Justin Okonoboh, said the essence of the public hearing was to get the input of the public to bill.

    Okonoboh assured that the views of the participants would be adopted holistically, in the interest of the state.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the grazing bill is a private one sponsored by Mr Bright Osayande, representing Ovia North East 11Constituency in the assembly.

    Osayande is a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

  • Ortom warns against breach of anti-open grazing law

    Ortom warns against breach of anti-open grazing law

    Gov. Samuel Ortom of Benue, on Monday, warned that any herdsman, who decided to breach the anti-open grazing law would have to face the wrath of the law.

    Ortom gave this warning in Makurdi while addressing members of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Muslim community, who were protesting the threats issued by the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association against the new law.

    The governor said that the security agencies were ever ready to arrest anybody or group of persons that decided to resist the implementation of the law.

    According to the governor, the law will be enforced fully in November after the grace period of transition which is to end in October.

    Ortom said that any herdsman, who was not comfortable with the law was free to leave the state and settle where open grazing of animals was not prohibited.

    He further warned that anybody rearing livestock must put them in ranches, adding that the law was meant to protect both the farmers and animals.

    The governor explained that ranching was not only meant for cattle but all livestocks in order to prevent them from wandering into farmlands.

    Earlier, the CAN chairman in Benue, Rev. Akpen Leva, said the herdsmen had co-existed with the Benue people harmoniously for decades and wondered why they had now resorted to the violation of the people’s rights.

    Leva said that the law was not to undermine the economic or social interest of the herdsmen or any other ethnic nationality in Nigeria.

    “The provision of the law for the establishment of ranches is to conform to global best practices for the management of livestock, which is also in the interest of the herdsmen.

    “The anti-open grazing law is the most civilised and best option to resolve this perennial problem between our farmers and herdsmen, which has unleashed a serious crisis ever witnessed in the life of our society,” he said.

    Also, Sheik Bala Ibrahim, who spoke on behalf of the Muslim community, called for the peaceful co-existence of residents of the state and stressed the need for every stakeholder to support the law.

  • Niger CAN to Bello:  Honor your campaign promises

    Niger CAN to Bello:  Honor your campaign promises

    …..Demands more Christians in cabinet

     

    The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has condemned the absence of Christians in the appointment of principal officers of Governor Abubakar Sani Bello’s administration calling on the Governor to address the political imbalance and lopsidedness in political appointments in the state.

    The State CAN Chairman, Reverend Mathias Echioda who called on the Governor to honor his campaign promises said that Christians in the state have observed that there is a deliberate arrangement to eliminate Christians from being involved in the governance of Niger state.

    Bearing his mind to newsmen Tuesday, Echioda noted that out of the 15 state executive members in the state, Christians are only three who were given insignificant portfolio while in the recent appointment of 17 new Permanent Secretaries, only three are Christians calling on the Governor to increase the number of Christians in his cabinet.

    “As a governorship candidate, the Governor promised to give us a seat in the appointment of his Principal officers, as he steps into the second half of his first tenure, we call on him to make good his promise. The lame explanation that people’s appointments were based on merit and not religious leaning is untenable. We wish to remind the Governor that a promise is actually a debt, and a gentleman is bound by his pledge.

    “Christians were once good enough to occupy the position of the Deputy Governor, then that became too much for them; they were then compensated with the SSG’S office, that also became too big for their political relevance; next they were allocated the Chief of Staff position and even that has now eroded them in Abubakar Sani Bello’s Government. This is in spite of the Christians overwhelming votes to enthrone this administration.”

    The CAN Chairman also demanded for the employment of qualified Christian Religious Studies (CRS) teachers in public schools before September to cater for the spiritual needs of Christian children in the public schools in the state.

    “Restoring the teaching of CRS back to all public School in Niger state would not only sustain the faith of our children but would also minimize the moral decadence that is prevalent in our today’s Nigeria. This is of paramount importance to us and whoever denied us this, as other rights, is set at destroying our future and destiny. We hope history is not repeating itself as with other administrations.”

    Echioda then expressed disappointment that in the construction and renovation of public schools, government built only mosques while Christians places of worship are never taken into consideration, “Since what is good for the goose is also good for the gander, the Niger state government is urged to immediately give us fair treatment here also, that is, the state government is to build Chapels for Christian children to have places of worship in our public schools.”

  • Control movement of Fulani headsmen in South-West, CAN tells FG

    Control movement of Fulani headsmen in South-West, CAN tells FG

    The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Ondo State branch on Tuesday called on the Federal Government to control the movement of Fulani headsmen and their cattle in South-West states.

    The association said that the uncontrolled movement was a security breach and threat to farmers in the South-West as they  had been chased away from their farms and deprived of their main source of livelihood.

    Primate Elisah Akinsulere, the newly sworn-in CAN Chairman in Ondo State, made this call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Okitipupa Local Government Area (LGA), Okitipupa, Ondo State.

    Akinsulere said that the incursion of the fierce-looking Fulani headsmen in the Okitipupa LGA was no longer bearable as they had destroyed so many farm produce thereby depleting the profits on their farming investments.

    He said that towns like Omotosho, Igbotako, Ilutitun, Ikoya, Okitipupa, Ode-Aye and Ode-Erinje had been vulnerable to the  ungodly behaviour of the headsmen.

    According to him, residents are afraid of these fierce-looking headsmen because they have weapons on them and they move on freely on farmlands without anybody to challenge them.

    “The recession has forced many people to go back to farms as advised by the government but now we cannot even enjoy our produce again because of the wreckage caused by cattle.

    “We are appealing to the Federal Government and our lawmakers to do something tangible to address this security breach and threat to farmers on their land,” the cleric said.

    He, however, urged residents to be calm by not taking laws into their hands but wait for the government to take a tangible step to address the menace.