July 16, (THEWILL) – The President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Archbishop Daniel Okoh, has urged Nigerian leaders to put aside their personal interests and work together to fight the insecurity and hunger currently bedevilling the country.
Dr. Okoh spoke at an event organised to inaugurate newly-elected North-East CAN executive members in Maiduguri, on Tuesday.
Okoh, who was represented by the National Director of Education, Youths and Women, CAN, Rev. Ozumba Emmanuel, decried that the North-East region and entire nation are now being faced with untold crises due to Boko Haram terrorists, banditry and economic hardship.
“Today, Nigeria has been bedevilled by so many challenges of insecurity that have brought many setbacks and the North-East has been the worst hit by the crisis. Today, insecurity is now a general thing everywhere and we as Christians must ensure we preach peaceful coexistence irrespective of our religion, belief, tribe and ethnicity.
“I urge the leaders to put aside personal interests and work together to restore peace. Peace is not one man’s affair, it is an affair that everybody must be involved in. There is no good leadership without good followership; when the people are hungry they won’t be able to understand the government. So, we leaders should work in the interest of the common man.
“I urge the new zonal executives to be united and fight for justice. Justice doesn’t require you to fight for your religion, it means you are fighting for the interest of the common man. Today, we need voices, we need men who are courageous enough to speak about the injustice that is going on in our nation and we need people who will speak to power, to point out the areas where the government needs to improve on welfare and develop the society,” he said.
In his acceptance speech, the new North-East CAN Chairman, Most Rev. Mohammed Naga, said the northeast zone has gone through several challenges of insurgency and economic hardship suffered by already overstretched people.
“We are appealing to our Governors to continue cautioning against this unwarranted hardship. Our people have been dependent on the strength God has given them. We urge our security operatives to continue doing their best in curbing this unrest so that people can have the air of freedom to go about their daily legitimate businesses,” Naga urged.
The State Chairman of CAN, Most Rev. John Bakeni, urged the newly inaugurated executives to work tirelessly towards the common good of the Christian community and the people of the region.
Other North-East CAN members inaugurated include: Chaplain Jechonia Gilbert, Vice Chairman; Apostle Sunday, Secretary; Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Obidah, Assistant Sec., and Rev. Dr. Dauda Zambuk, Treasurer, amongst others.
