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Tag: Presbyterian

  • Presbyterian Prelate mourns Maduekwe

    Presbyterian Prelate mourns Maduekwe

    The Prelate & Moderator of the General Assembly of The Presbyterian Church of Nigeria (PCN), the Most Reverend  Emele Uka has expressed shock at the death of former Minister of Transport, Chief Ojo Maduekwe who was until his death, a Ruling Elder of the Presbyterian Church.

     In a statement issued by the Church’s Director of Information & Public Affairs, Rev Kalu Eme, the Prelate described Maduekwe’s  death as an unmitigated tragedy, a national calamity and a tremendous loss to his family, the Church and the nation in general.

     The deceased,Uka said, served the nation meritoriously in many capacities as National Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Minister and Ambassador, among other portfolios, and made his mark in the political arena where he loomed large as an upright politician, serving till his death as the Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the PDP.

     Most Rev. Uka noted that throughout the many years of Maduekwe’s career, no allegation or indictment of corruption was ever associated with him in a nation riddled with corrupt allegations and practices.

  • Presbyterian leader to Buhari: ensure good governance

    THE Prelate and Moderator of the General Assembly of The Presbyterian Church of Nigeria, Most Rev. Prof. Emele Mba Uka, has urged President-elect Gen. Muhammadu Buhari to ensure good governance, when he takes office.

    In a message to the president-elect, whom he described as the “Abraham Lincoln of Nigeria”, the cleric referred to Gen. Buhari’s acceptance speech as the best “I have ever heard from our civilian/military rulers since my undergraduate days at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, when the first coup took place”.

     The cleric added: “I feel so encouraged by this acceptance speech that I no longer feel the threat of being Islamised or persecuted or denied my citizenship right to live and work in any part of this country.

    “I pray that this in-coming administration shall put the scourge of Boko Haram’s suicide bombing of churches and mosques, motor parks and schools to rest. There will be no more fears of abductions of our school children and those that have been abducted shall now be brought back to their families to continue their schooling.

     “I thank God for the firm promise of the president-elect to treat every Nigerian as his own, not as a stranger or an infidel. After all, we as Nigerians dwell in the same country, eat the same kind of food, drink the same water, breath the same air, wear similar dresses, trade in the same market and use the same currency, travel on the same planes, cars and buses.

    “Our children attend the same schools, write the same examinations and obtain the same certificates. We intermarry across tribes and ethnicities as well as religions.

    “All these form a stronger bond that ought to unite us much more than the abstract ones which often threaten to separate us. In a situation where the factors of life that unite us grossly surpass those that divide us, is there any wisdom in sacrificing unity and cooperation on the altar of conflict and unhealthy rivalry?”

    He appealed to the citizens to embrace peace, unity and eschew violence.

    He added: “Let the government help us to enjoy the privileges of our corporate citizenship as Nigerians without any fear of molestation in any part of the country.”

  • Presbyterian Prelate hails Buhari

    The Prelate and Moderator of the General Assembly of The Presbyterian Church of Nigeria, Most Rev. Emele Mba Uka has urged President-elect Mohammad Buhari to ensure that his tenure, usher in a new dawn committed not to dictatorial rulership but to principled governance.

    In a message of congratulations to the President-elect, whom he described as the “Abraham Lincoln of Nigeria,” the Prelate referred to Buhari’s acceptance speech as the best “I have ever heard from our civilian/military rulers since my undergraduate days at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, when the first coup took place.

    “I feel so encouraged by this acceptance speech that I no longer feel the threat of being Islamized or persecuted or denied my citizenship right to live and work in any part of this country. I pray that this in-coming administration shall put the scourge of Boko Haram’s suicide bombing of churches and mosques, motor parks and schools to rest. There will be no more fears of abductions of our school children and those that have been abducted shall now be brought back to their families to continue their schooling.

    “I thank God for the firm promise of the President-Elect to treat every Nigerian as his own not as a stranger or an infidel.”

  • Presbyterian Prelate condemns death sentence on soldiers

    Prelate and Moderator of the General Assembly of The Presbyterian Church of Nigeria Most Rev. Emele Uka has condemned the death sentence on 12 soldiers by the Army.

    The soldiers were convicted for mutiny in Maiduguri, Borno State.

    They shot at a car conveying the then General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Division 7, Major-General Ahmadu Mohammed.

    Prof. Uka described the death sentence as “primitive, barbaric, ungodly, inhuman and a miscarriage of justice

  • Presbyterian Church hails govt’s response

    The Presbyterian Church of Nigeria has hailed the proactive response of the federal and state governments to the Ebola virus.

    But it said it wants measures to ensure that the disease is contained and eradicated.

    The church, in a communiqué at the end of its biennial General Assembly in Calabar, Cross River State, urged government to ensure that there was surveillance at the entry points into the country so that no new cases of the epidemic would be recorded.

    It called for the production and supply of experimental drugs for those infected.

    The communiqué, signed by the Prelate and Moderator of the General Assembly, Prof. Emele Mba Uka and the newly-elected Principal Clerk, Rev. Eseme David William, welcomed the Federal Government’s initiative to set up a special fund in aid of victims of the Boko Haram insurgency and other social upheavals.

    The church also set up a fund toward the rehabilitation of the Chibok girls,  saying this was in keeping with its spirit of Christian charity and in support of the President’s initiative.

    But it lamented the “seeming inability of the government to rescue the abducted girls and contain the Boko Haram insurgency.”

    On power supply, the church noted that despite government’s efforts at improving power supply by privatising the sector, power outages were still rampant in almost all parts of the country.

    It said: “It is embarrassing that consumers are paying heavily for the services not rendered. Government should put in place an effective mechanism to ensure creditable performance by the registered distribution companies. The Federal Government should set a timeline when Nigerians and corporate manufacturing consumers will get value for the privatisation of the energy sector.”

  • Presbyterian Prelate welcomes anti-gay law

    THE Prelate and Moderator of the General Assembly of The Presbyterian Church of Nigeria, the Most Reverend Emele Uka has hailed the new law bill homosexuality and same-sex marriage in the country as a bold step aimed at reforming the society along godly ethics. In a statement issued in Calabar, Cross River State, the Prelate dismissed as unacceptable, the increasing global incidence of sexual relations such as gay and lesbian practices (homosexuality) and the legal adoption of same-sex marriages. He lamented that in the United States of America alone, about 58 percent of Americans are practising same-sex marriage with bishops and archbishops proudly being gay and ordaining ‘strange’ wedlocks. He said: “Homosexuality as one of the greatest human deviant behaviours has been with man from earliest times. Man has fought it for a long time but it refuses to die. For instance, about 40 years ago, homosexuality was listed as a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association. Today, it is considered a normal sexual behaviour and a human rights issue.” The Prelate charged President Goodluck Jonathan to remain focused and not to be intimidated by the opposition of the western world to his assent to the bill. On steps to address the issue of homosexuality, Prof. Uka said that the way forward is to follow the biblical panacea of seeking the Lord while He may be found, fleeing from the sin and confessing to attract God’s forgiveness.