Senate President David Mark Sunday warned some individuals he described as desperate against hiding under the cloak of politics and religion to destroy the unity and peace of Nigeria. Mark, according to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh, gave the warning at the installation of the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Methodist Church of Nigeria, Joseph Oche Job, in Abuja and urged Nigerians of all faith to be committed to the principle of social justice, peace and religious tolerance.
Also at the occasion, President Goodluck Jonathan urged Nigerians not to relent but to continue to pray for the peace, stability and unity of Nigeria.
Represented by Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, the president, according to a report by News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the situation in the country would have gone worse were it not for payers.
“We should continue to serve God in our nation. We need to continue to cry out (pray) to him; if we have not been doing that it will be much worse.
“Even though things don’t seem to be the best, it will have been worse if we are not crying out and telling people not to do the wrong thing,” he said.
Earlier, Mark, who read the first lesson at the service, decried the resort by some desperate politicians to using religion and politics to promote violence.
He said: “To sponsor or promote violence, destruction and uncharitable utterances in the name of politics or religion is totally unacceptable and must be condemned in the strongest terms; in words and deeds.” He cautioned those fanning the embers of war and disunity to think twice, noting that “current insecurity and political confusion are avoidable distractions that we certainly do not need now.”
While denouncing the idea of using politics and religion to achieve selfish objectives, Mark said: “What we need now is to embark on serious political and inter-religious dialogue with the spirit of frankness, honesty, openness, acceptance and understanding in order to move forward.”
He also assured Nigerians that government is doing everything possible to contain security and socio- economic challenges facing the country.
He said God did not make any mistake by creating the people as one nation and therefore urged all Nigerians to continue to pray for the unity and peace of the country.
He congratulated the new archbishop on his elevation and urged the clergy to continue to pray for the nation, saying “with prayers and concerted efforts, the challenges we are facing can be overcome.”
In a remark, Job advised the people to shun selfishness, negative political ambition, tribalism, among other vices. “We should pray for good and love one another and things will get better on daily basis,” he said.
Prelate of the church, His Eminence, Dr Samuel Uche, called on government at various levels to provide for the welfare of the citizenry.
“In any nation, there is what we called intangibles, honesty, integrity, transparency, high morality that make a country stable; these are what the church provides.
“The government provides the tangibles like the roads, water supply, energy, employment, ensure there is security and make sure that citizenry are well cared for. “In other words, the church takes care of the soul and spirit, while the government takes care of the physical needs of the people,” he said.
Uche urged Nigerians to do things that would sustain the unity of the nation, adding that remaining together would make the nation stronger and viable.
