‘FG’ll address causes of agitations’
By Abdullahi M. Gulloma
Abuja
Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, has called on church leaders to ostracise and expose their members who grew rich through fraudulent means.
Osinbajo made the call yesterday at the Aso Villa chapel during a special service to mark this years’ Father’s Day.
The acting president, who is also a senior pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), said each time worshippers go to church, they are told about giving, adding “but we need to talk more about honesty.”
He said: “Just now, His Eminence said Nigeria’s great problem is not an absence of prosperity, but that we have enough for our needs but we don’t have enough for our greed. The greed of many is what has landed this country to where it is today.
“It is the greed that has landed us to where we are. Many say the reason they are stealing is because they need to have an arsenal for future political experiment. It is a lie! It is greed.
“And if the church says you are not allowed to steal and we will ostracise the thieves in our midst, if a man’s resources, what a man has does not measure up to what he earns, if you found that a man has more money than he should have, if a man is earning a salary in a civil service or public service and he has houses everywhere, we have to hold him to account. He must first be held to account in the church. He must first be told in the church, we will not allow this.
“If the church ostracises the thieves; if the church says we will not accept thieves here or we will ensure that we expose you, you are stealing the resources of our nation, you are stealing the resources of a private company or other establishments, then we will not have the kind of problems that we have in this country. If only the church can.”
Addressing the Father’s Day celebration specifically, Osinbajo called on all fathers in the country to be exemplary leaders that build generation of righteous men and women.
The acting president urged all fathers to follow the foot-steps of Abraham in the scripture who, he said; God chose in order to “command His children and household in the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice.”
On his part, Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, who spoke with reporters after the service, warned against the collapse of family system in the country, urging the government to invest more in the family.
“We should invest more, really as a nation, in fatherhood or in family. And when children are properly brought up, you will see that most of the resources we channel towards the control of crime and so many other government programmes, there will be no need for them. Because we will have some kinds of transformation that only take place at the family level,” he said.
Earlier, in his sermon titled: “Fathers to the Rescue of Our Beloved Nation,” the Prelate of Methodist Church of Nigeria, Samuel Uche, said God established the family as a basic foundation unit of a country.
“God has made fathers as the head and this assignment must be exercised in love, honesty, gentleness and unity. The responsibility of a father makes him to be accountable to God. A father must render a selfless service and he must be faithful to his wife,” he said.
FG assures agitators
Meanwhile, Acting President Osinbajo has assured that the federal government will address all reasons that are responsible for the present agitations in the country.
He gave the assurance during a consultative meeting with South-east traditional rulers at the Presidential Villa, Abuja yesterday.
Osinbajo however, reiterated his warning that agitators who violate the laws of the country would be sternly dealt with.
He noted the agitation from the south-east and the swift response of a northern youth group were both wrong in their approaches.
Osinbajo added: “But we must be sensitive to the reasons there are agitations by the various young men across the various zones of this country.
“Many have to do with perceived marginalisation, some have argued safety in the different zones have been compromised. But I want to say the only way to make things right is to do things right.
“And it will be wrong of us to approach even our grievances by threatening to disobey the laws or by threatening the integrity of our nation.
“What the federal government is committed to do is by ensuring we listen to all the reasons, the various suggestions and the various agitations and the reasons for those agitations and to ensure that we do justice by all persons, regardless of where you are from in this country.
The South-east royal fathers, consisting chairmen, council of traditional rulers in each of the five South-east states, were led by Eze Udo 1 of Mgboko Ngwa Amaise in Abia state, Eze Eberechi Dick, who is also Chairman of South-east traditional rulers.
