Presbyterian Church seeks faith in Nigeria

PFN urges transparency, honesty among Nigerians

The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria (PCN), Most Rev. Nzie Eke, has called on the citizens to have faith in the country as the panacea to the present economic hardship.

In a message to Nigerians to mark the country’s 56th independence anniversary, the church leader gave assurance that God was aware of the challenges Nigerians were passing through and that He would make the country rise again. He charged Nigerians to have faith in God and in the country, and like Nehemiah, approach the challenges through prayers and positive action, which, according to him, God needs to help us in transforming the nation back to glory days.

He said: “I know that the walls of Nigeria as a nation are in disrepair. The economy is in recession. Nigeria has relied on the oil industry for almost all our life as a nation and the industry is suffering distress. Other key areas of the economy such as agriculture had been neglected and it has dawned on us that our failure to diversify the economy all this while has been our undoing.

“Industries are collapsing and thousands of people have lost their jobs. Many who are still working are not being paid their salaries as and when due. Salary arrears have piled up. Pensioners are gnashing their teeth as they are left in long queues in the hot sun for long hours and even days without their pension benefits. Prices are skyrocketing and there is hunger in the land.”

In a similar vein, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Cross River State Chapter, has said that the only way out of the present recession was total commitment to transparency and honesty by the citizens.

Chairman of PFN, Pastor Lawrence Ekwor, who stated this in Calabar during a solemn assembly of the organisation on Nigeria 56th Independence Day, advised leaders to be humble by admitting their limitations and seeking help from the people, including the opposition.

According to him: “The way out of the present recession in Nigeria is humility, transparency, honesty of purpose and total commitment to the Nigeria cause by the present leadership.

“What Nigerians want now is to be delivered from the pangs of unnecessary hunger and hardship.“If the truth must be told, let it be known that the blame game, deceit, outright lies, hurtful propaganda, tribalism and arrogance will not provide the solution to our present predicament.”

Eke also expressed appreciation for President Muhammadu Buhari’s concern and resolve to tackle the socio-political problems of the country, some of which have given rise to the clamour for restructuring.

Some of the efforts, he said, were the on-going war against insurgency and corruption as well as plans to diversify the economy. He added: “These are noble steps towards restoring national security and the socio-economic transformation of the nation. I want to enjoin the President, in his fight against insurgency, to equally turn his attention to the need to rein in the Fulani herdsmen and stop their bloody killings. The fight against corruption deserves every support and encouragement in view of the devastating effects the malaise has on the life of the nation. I agree with many Nigerians that the fight should not be selective.”