Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, has said Nigeria needs God-fearing leaders to steer the country in the right direction and achieve meaningful progress.

Fubara regretted that Nigeria is where it is today because it lacks God-fearing leaders.

The governor also noted that religion should go beyond defending one’s faith to making a positive impact on society.

“Our country is where it is today because we lack the fear of God. If you have the fear of God, there should be a limit to what you can do because you understand the supremacy of God. But when God is not in your equation, you’ll go beyond the line, and that is what has brought us to where we are today.

Fubara further attributed many of Nigeria’s challenges, including social inequality, poverty, corruption, and crime, to the absence of God-fearing individuals in positions of authority who can make decisions that positively impact society.

He stressed the need for a system where the average Nigerian can afford quality education for their children, access quality healthcare, and earn a living wage that guarantees a decent standard of living.

He said: “If the wages people earn can provide quality healthcare and, after working for 15 to 20 years, enable them to own a home, why should they engage in crime?

At that point, they will feel secure, and the fear and uncertainty about the future that fuel many social vices will no longer exist.”

Fubara spoke yesterday when he received the World President of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Pastor Erton Kohler, his wife, Adriene Marques Kohler, their daughter, Mariana Marques Kohler, and other senior ministers of the church at the Government House in Port Harcourt.