2019: Akwa Ibom Christian Youths Endorse Buhari, Ekere

 •  NDDC boss gets kudos for Ikot Akpaden – Okoroette road

Akwa Ibom Christian youths under the aegis of Christian Youths Leaders Assembly on Saturday endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari and the Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr Nsima Ekere, for the 2019 presidential and governorship elections.

The duo was endorsed and presented with symbolic keys to State House, Abuja, and Government House, Uyo, during a solemn assembly held at Uyo Township Stadium and attended by members of the organisation drawn from 329 wards and 2,273 villages in the state.

This is coming as youths from Eastern Obolo, an Ijaw-speaking Local Government Area in Akwa Ibom State, have commended Ekere, for the completed reconstruction of Ikot Akpaden – Okoroette Road, the only access road to their area.

Accepting the endorsement, President Buhari, represented by his Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly (Senate) Matters, Senator Ita Enang, appreciated the christian youths for his endorsement and that of Ekere and urged them to take advantage of the Not-Too-Young-To-Run bill, which he recently signed into law, to participate more actively in politics.

He said his government was addressing the security challenges in the country which have wrongly been given religious colouration, assuring that he will not do anything to make one religion look superior to the other.

President Buhari said he was adopting all proper measures to free Leah Sharibu, the Christian girl still in captivity by Boko Haram terrorist group.

In his speech, Ekere commended the Christian youths for choosing a different path from some Christian leaders in the state who have been going round preaching hate.

“Today, you have redeemed Christianity. Before I came here, I heard all sorts of stories about Christian leaders turning themselves into a political organization and going from church to church, preaching hate. Christianity teaches us that we should love one another. I think it is not Christianity for a father to choose a child over another. The Spirit of God will go with us and He will be our enabler, our strength,” he said.

 Ekere lauded President Buhari for fighting the ills of Nigeria and putting the country on the path of progress.

Chief Don Etiebet, the Akwa Ibom State Leader and Caucus Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), thanked the Christian youths for their endorsement of President Buhari who, he said, loves all Nigerians including Akwa Ibom people.

He also appreciated the endorsement of Ekere to run for the governorship position of Akwa Ibom State on the APC ticket.

Senator Godswill Akpabio, former Senate Minority Leader, who was honoured as the Grand Patron of the organisation, criticised the politicisation of religion by some messengers of hate, admonishing that “you cannot hate somebody on the basis of his religion or ethnicity, we are all one.”

Meanwhile, youths from Eastern Obolo, an Ijaw-speaking local government area in Akwa Ibom State, have commended  Ekere, for the completed reconstruction of Ikot Akpaden – Okoroette Road, the only access road to their area.

The youths, coming on the platform of ONE Sure Project and drawn from all 10 wards of Eastern Obolo, made the commendation during a solidarity visit to Ekere at his residence in Uyo on Saturday.

Speaking through their leader, Mr Ama Williams, the youths also appreciated the NDDC boss for the ongoing construction of the Okoroette – Amadaka Road, internal roads in Okoroette, the local government headquarters, and Iko Town as well as Okoroette Health Centre.

They urged Ekere to contest the 2019 gubernatorial election in Akwa Ibom State, promising him total support in Eastern Obolo as grassroots’ mobilizers in the creeks.