Ighodalo, Emmanuel, Farounbi encourage Christians to embrace politics

Senior Pastor of Trinity House Church, Itua Ighodalo; Lead Pastor, Livingspring Chapel International, Femi Emmanuel and former Nigerian Ambassador to the Philippines, Dr. Yemi Farounbi, yesterday, admonished Christians that prayers, holiness and aspiration to make heaven should not be an excuse to permanently stay away from politics or avoid taking active part in political party activities.

The trio, who spoke separately during the lecture series entitled: “Democracy and Good Governance in Nigeria: The Role of Christians in Politics,” organised by Pastor Emmanuel in Ibadan, emphasised the need for Christians to wake up to their ‘political responsibilities’ if they wish to see and experience a developed, progressive and viable Nigerian nation.

They said Christians must get actively involved in politics at all levels if they want to see a change in governance.

Ighodalo, who was the guest speaker, said Christians were totally wrong to say that politics is dirty and therefore would not participate.

He said: “It was due to this negative disposition that we allow people of lower or no value to take charge of governance in the country.”

The cleric said Christians should not only get their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), but must also join political parties at all levels to have a say and determine who gets the parties’ tickets to represent them in government.

He lamented the present state of the country, saying: “Things are not good in Nigeria. Most Nigerians are uneducated, poor, unskilled and the country is no longer conducive for decent living. It is unsafe and unfortunately, those of us who should have known better, chose to remain silent.”

He said that people embraced Christianity but that while they were busy praying, aspiring to live holy and descent lifestyle to please God, they abandoned their civic responsibilities, leaving the room for non-chalant characters to take away their heritage.

Farounbi said that while it is good to obtain PVCs, the cards are useless if Christians do not participate in politics to inculcate values and ethics on the people.

He said: “Churches emphasised on their members to get PVCs but the cards are useless unless people join a political party and use the cards to make a choice. When you are in a party, you are involved in the process of electing the right candidates.”

Similarly, Emmanuel said: “That unbalanced teaching that removed Christians from politics is what we are suffering today.”

“I went into politics out of protest. We have prayed long enough and God has answered our prayers long ago. God had to send Moses to the household of Pharaoh to understand what they do there.

“All our prayers will change nothing if we are not involved in politics.”