The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Clerics

  • Rivers community, clerics make case for Ogoni, Jonathan

    Politics is in the air and there is no dull moment for socio-political groups. Even communities are seeking relevance in a game that will climax in 2015. In the spirits of 2015, Rivers community in Bayelsa State trooped out recently to announce their preferred candidates for the election year.

    Displaying placards and banners, members of the Rivers community under the aegis of the Federated Union of Rivers State Indigenes in Bayelsa (FURSIB) State marched the streets of Yenagoa. Under police protection, the enthusiasts chanted songs to create awareness about their mission.

    They are rooting for two persons – President Goodluck Jonathan for reelection and an Ogoni indigene for the Governor of Rivers State. In fact Prof. Don Baridam is their preferred candidate and they want him to run n the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    In unison, they asked President Goodluck Jonathan to stop foot-dragging and declare for his reelection in 2015. They also asked President Jonathan to support Prof. Don Baridam’s ambition to govern Rivers State in 2015 on the platform of PDP.

    The President of the group, Emman Ubaka, said  Jonathan’s Transformational Agenda was being felt in critical sectors of the economy.

    He said: “And whereas key infrastructure such as roads, economic empowerment of citizens and improvement of the well being of Nigerians are effectively developed and promoted despite all the distractions.”

    “Nigerians have never had it so good until now and if Jonathan achieved so much in less than four years it is obvious that if given a second term, he would achieve more and the glory of Nigeria will fully return.”

    He said the call on Jonathan to support Baridam was based on “fairness, equity and justice as the Ogoni ethnic group in Rivers State had not produced a governor, deputy governor nor speaker since the creation of Rivers State.”

    Ubaka said an Ogoni governor would give the ethnic group a sense of belonging and urged all other ethnic groups in Rivers State to throw their weight behind Baridam’s candidature.

    “We believe that Prof. Don M. Baridam represents equity, justice, peace and prosperity in Rivers State and will not antagonize the Federal Government or undermine the interest of the Southsouth zone.”

    The community is not the only voice.  Clerics under the aegis of Concerned Clergies for Good Governance (CCGG) also asked Nigerians to bury their selfishness and follow divine direction to avert looming bloodshed in 2015 general elections.

    The National President of the group, Prophet Lawrence Okorie, in Yenagoa warned Nigerians against hauling insults against the President.

    Okorie, who claimed to have predicted the militancy in the Niger Delta in 2015, said the country was drenched in injustice and bloodshed.

  • ‘Why clerics, business owners must collaborate’

    The International President of Fellowship Covenant Ministries International (FMCI), Dr. Philip Goudeaux, has canvassed for strategic partnership among church leaders and business owners.

    Such partnership, according to him, will foster the gospel and create mutual benefits for both partners.

    Goudeaux made the call at a two-day regional conference of the body in Lagos.

    He said the body exists to make such synergy work, saying, “It is an international collaboration of pastors, teachers, and businessmen and women created to build and improve the leadership and business management skills of leaders in the body of Christ.”

    The American blamed ignorance on why priests and kings must complement for the rising injustice and corruption in countries.

    He debunked the notion that most preachers in the country are living fat on members.

    According to him: “I don’t believe that pastors should be poor but I hold on to the fact that they must live and lead by examples.

    “The church of Christ was not established to fail but to succeed and for it to succeed, these two must come together.

    “You see, the connection between kings and priests is powered by the anointing. That is why we also refer to FCMI vision as two anointing for one vision.”

    The Senior Regional Director for Nigeria and Africa for FCMI, Prince NnanyereNwachukwu, said the challenge with some pastors is that they do not develop or educate the kings on their responsibilities and anointing.

    He said: “The church of Jesus Christ does not belong to the priests alone or the kings. God’s purpose is that kings and priests work together because if you separate any one from the bond, there will be no church.”

  • Politicians, activists, clerics hail U.S. over $23m bounty on terrorists

    Politicians, activists, clerics hail U.S. over $23m bounty on terrorists

    Politicians, activists and clerics yesterday lauded the United States (U.S.) for its efforts at ridding Nigeria of terrorism.

    The National Chairman, New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Dr Boniface Aniebonam, praised its $23 million bounty on leaders of militant groups accused of spreading terror in West Africa.

    Aniebonam said such assistance, including placing rewards on the heads of five leaders of militant groups in West Africa, would help to track them down.

    The highest reward of $7 million was offered for the Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, who last week called on Islamists in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq to join the bloody fight to create an Islamic state in Nigeria.

    Aniebonam said:“Nothing is wrong in the U.S. wanting to assist Nigeria in the fight against terrorism. Terrorism is a worldwide evil that is condemnable. The U.S. bounty is part of its efforts to rid the world of terrorists because human life remains sacrosanct to all countries.’’

    The Lagos State Chairman of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Mr Ehi Omokhuale, said Nigeria should cooperate more with the American Government and any other super powers willing to help eradicate terrorism in the country.

    “This is why we supported the state of emergency by the Federal Government. Terrorism is not something that should be handled with kid gloves,’’ he told NAN.

    According to him, the only way to handle terrorism is to match force with force.

    “Our mantra remains never to negotiate with terrorists,’’ he said.

    The CLO chairman urged Nigerians to volunteer information on the Boko Haram sect.

    “What is important is to rid the country and indeed the world of terrorists,’’ Omokhuale said.

    Human rights lawyer Mr Bamidele Aturu said what was important was an onslaught on terrorism.

    “Every country has a right to choose how it wants to fight insurgency. Nigeria, therefore, should also develop a home-grown approach that will yield more results in the fight against insurgency,’’ he said.

    A cleric, Femi Asiwaju, Vice President, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), said it was commendable for the U.S. to come to Nigeria’s rescue, adding that the new initiative against terrorism was a move in the right direction.

    “The world is paying attention to what is happening in the country and we thank God for that. We appreciate the U.S. for coming out because what we have in our hands is not a domestic issue. ‘Placing such a huge amount on them is to tell terrorist organisations worldwide that the U.S. is interested in what is going on in the country. Whatever steps they are taking to put a stop to the mess, the better for all of us.’’

    Another cleric, Monsignor Gabriel Osu, the Director of Social Communications, Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, said the action was a signal that the U.S. meant business.

    He noted that America’s move was part of its own strategy for fighting terrorism, adding that it is in its interest to stop terrorists.

    “America is not a Father Christmas government and nothing goes for nothing; for them to place such amount of money on terrorists in our zone, they must know more than we know about them and they mean business too.They do it all over and often see beyond what we are seeing,’’ Osu said.

    Osu said the action was also a challenge to Nigeria to do more in the anti-terrorism fight.

    The Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja Branch, Mr Taiwo Taiwo, said the prize would help to track down Shekau and other leaders of Al-qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, spreading terror in Nigeria and other West African countries.

    Taiwo said rewarding informants on the whereabouts of the suspected terrorists could help in reducing their attacks across the world.

    “You must know that the issue of terrorism is a global phenomenon and the U.S. has been at the receiving end of the onslaught by terrorists.

    “So, they have their reasons for putting cash rewards on the heads of those they suspect to be terrorists or having links with terrorist organisations,” he said.

    The NBA chairman lauded the cooperation among many countries of the world in the fight against terrorism.

    T he President of the Christian Association of Nigerian-Americans (CANAN), Dr James Fadele, described the news as great and an encouraging.

    “We want to commend the new U.S. Secretary of State Senator John Kerry for this decision. This move is an indication of greater forthrightness in dealing with the bane of terrorism in Nigeria and the West African sub-region,” Fadele said.

    Fadele heads CANAN, an association of U.S-based Nigerian pastors and top professionals which alongside other American groups have together been piling pressure on the U.S government to designate Boko Haram an FTO.

    “This decision by the State Department is in line with what CANAN has been clamouring for since September last year when the association was formed,” Fadele added.

    He said: “Boko Haram is a band of brutal terrorists who should be dealt with seriously, promptly and effectively to preserve the peace and stability of the West African sub-region.

    “And also secure the freedom of worship of Nigerian Christians.’’

  • What manner of clerics!

    Book: When Clerics Kill
    Playwright: Shehu Sani
    Publishers: Kraftgriots, Ibadan
    Year of publication:2013
    Reviewer: Edozie Udeze

     

    When Clerics Kill, a play written by Shehu Sani, one of the most seasoned human rights activists from the Northern part of Nigeria, is a treatise on the nation called Nigeria. It is a compendium of both political, religious and social vices in this society where bigotry, avarice, hatred, ethnicity and narrow-mindedness have become the order of the day. But in compiling the many issues that bedevil some certain groups of people in the North, the playwright is somewhat hard in both his use of language and the way he apportions blames here and there.

    The core issue here is the never-ending hatred between Muslims and Christians in the North. Sani is certain that it is the utterances of religious and community leaders that incite people to violence. Over time, people from various backgrounds have lived harmoniously together as brothers and sisters. Now, some certain groups of people from both religious groups come on to preach discrimination, hatred and intolerance. The play abhors this in its totality.

    The playwright is sure that with these half baked preaching, embers of hatred have been built. As it is with Christians so it is with Muslims. The problem still remains the core issue of those who are settlers or those who are regarded as sojourners and those who originally own the land. The people used in the play rummage in this problem, while the Hausa-Fulani keep tormenting those around them with threats and counter-threats with the way they invade people’s farmlands.

    The issues raised are so heavy that they drip with flood and unfathomable fear as you read through the pages. They are not the kind of issues that should be raised in public glare. This is so because, even if you want to use them to illustrate an issue, it would have got out of hand before you realise it. The playwright is deliberate in pitching the two groups – the two foremost religions in Nigeria – against each other in the play.

    The tone is heavy, the language too strong to make for a stage play. Even though Sani says it is to help reconstruct and make amends, the rancour and bitterness recorded in the book can explode on stage if it is allowed to go that far.

    Moreover, making references to other issues of unemployment and social vices in the society where the youths, the leaders of tomorrow, are perpetually idle, adds a serious dimension to the play. In a way, it is a play anchored on the state of the nation. There is hardly any aspect of the societal problem, since fifty years ago, that is not included in the drama. It all shows how Sani, as a versatile writer, has been following Nigerian problems over time. It shows an author who can preach as well as chronicle issues that affect the larger society. His sequential presentation is commendable.

    To him, both the government and the people around them have been the ones distorting the progress of the society. There is no more honesty in the system. And leaders – both secular and spiritual – have found time to intimidate everybody with their divisive and obnoxious sermons. It is this tendency that has become worrisome.

    But everybody can come together to harmonise their differences and make the society a better place for all. The issues raised in the play are too binding to be wished away just like that. That is what the playwright is saying.

    However, if it goes on stage, the play director can try to water down on the abrasive and tenacious usage of divisive expressions employed by the playwright. This is so because the play is meant to correct and not to play up more sentiments in the minds of the people. And again preachers or clerics, no mater where they come from need to be more cautious and careful with their tongues.

  • Amosun tasks clerics on peace

    Amosun tasks clerics on peace

    Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State on Thursday called on clerics in the state to collaborate with his administration to sustain the existing peaceful religious harmony in the state.

    The governor made the call in Abeokuta at the 2013 Annual Retreat and Award ceremony of the state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), held at the Cathedral of St. Peter Ake.

    Amosun, who spoke through the State Head of Service (HOS), Mrs. Modupe Adekunle, said the church needed to do more to re-awaken the moral senses of Christians.

    He counseled religious leaders to preach sermons that could re-direct their adherents to the path of truth and peace needed for socio-economic growth of the society.

    The governor declared that no meaningful development could be achieved in an atmosphere devoid of peace.

    He said that his administration would support religious programmes “that seek to promote peace for the socio-economic development of the state.’’

    Amosun enjoined the awardees to rise to the challenges of the time by sincerely offering themselves to serve God, through selfless service to the people of the state.

    “No sacrifice could be greater than the one paid by our Saviour on the Cross of Calvary by exhibiting the attributes of genuine love,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the governor as saying at the retreat.

    Earlier in his sermon, Archbishop Magnus Atilade, the National Vice Chairman and Chairman South-West of CAN, urged clerics to shun tendencies that could lead to crack within the Christian fold.

    He said the nation would only flourish in an atmosphere of peace and prayed that God should `touch’ the hearts of all those formenting trouble for Nigeria.

     

  • Clerics extol Lam Adesina at third day prayer

    Clerics, politicians, notable indigenes and the people gathered yesterday at the Felele, Ibadan, home of the late Lam Adesina for the third day prayer.

    The former governor of Oyo State, who died on Sunday, was eulogised by the clerics who ministered at the prayer session.

    The state government has set up a seven-man Funeral Committee to give the late politician a befitting funeral.

    In a sermon at the prayer session, the Chief Imam of the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS) Mosque, Alhaji Azeez Ariyayo, extolled the late Adesina’s virtues and urged other politicians to emulate him.

    He described him as a responsible politician who never allowed emotions to prevail over reason, adding that he prioritised the well-being of the people in his programme.

    The cleric also described the deceased as a devout Muslim and a caring father to all, adding that he promoted peace, justice and fairness.

    Also speaking at the prayer, the Imam of Gbademosi Olowoporoku Adesina Memorial Mosque, Felele, where the deceased worshipped, Alhaji Musiliudeen Arowopoko, described the politician as a man who supported aspiring youths financially and morally.

    At the event were the Speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly, Monsurat Sunmonu and some lawmakers, Senator Femi Lanlehin, state ACN Chairman, Chief Akin Oke, Saheed Fijabi and Senator Lekan Balogun, among others.

    The Chairman of the Funeral Committee, who is also the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Waheed Olajide, said the committee would work with the Adesina family.

    He said the late Adesina was a man of immense achievements, who deserved great honour.

    Other members of the committee are the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Dr. Adeolu Akande; the Head of Service, Alhaji Tajudeen Aremu; Commissioner for Information and Orientation Mr. Taiwo Otegbeye; the Special Adviser to the Governor on Political Matters, Alhaji Fatai Ibikunle and the Special Adviser on Special Duties, Alhaji Segun Bolarinwa. The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, will be the secretary.