Christians Urged to Join Political Parties

Mary Nnah

As the road to the 2023 general elections draws closer, a religious pressure group under the umbrella of Nigeria National Christian Coalition (NNCC) has urged Christians to join political parties rather than mortgage the church.

As groups converged to speak in a unified voice to elect credible leaders that would guarantee the welfare and security of citizens during its Lagos Summit with “The Voice of the Church in the Nation,” the National Executive Director of Media, NNCC, Dr. Bola Adewara, said that the old assumption that the church should not get involved in politics remained a critical issue for debate in light of the country’s realities.

Adewara said: “A lot of Christians believe that politics is a dirty game, but if politics is truly dirty, Christians should get involved to sanitise and clean it up to serve the good of all. That is the only way Christians can be relevant in governance.

He charged Christian leaders to encourage their faithful to be actively involved in politics by joining political parties. You cannot change a thing if you are not part of a system. The only way to effectively end the current challenges of bad governance is the readiness of Christians to join political parties, including the ruling party.

Hon. Femi George said if Christians refused to engage in politics, thugs, miscreants would rule the Church.

Admonishing the Church, George enjoined Christians not to mortgage the Church. Don’t collect money from them. You can make them accountable and tell them the type of Nigeria you want. They have used the money to divide the Church.

He added: “We can only use celestial solutions to solve the terrestrial problem. The change we desire as a people can be achieved but we need to get it right.”

Also, speaking at an inter-denominational gathering of Christians, the Chairman of CAN, Lagos State, Mr. Stephen Adegbite, stated that the dynamics of politics in the country had changed and that Christians were beginning to wake up to their civic responsibilities.

Adegbite said that leadership would no longer be game as usual because the church as an entity would go all out to ensure that our leaders were responsible and held accountable to Nigerians, particularly Christians who had been sidelined in governance for too long.

He stated that whoever we elect into government, be it at national or sub-national levels, must be responsible and worthy of such positions, adding, “We are going to come after our leaders this time. We won’t just elect you and leave you. We shall ensure that you must deliver. Mark my words, If you know that you are not going to deliver and be held accountable, I beg you to not near power. We are going to ask you questions and you must answer us. The suffering of Nigerians is enough.”

Adegbite decried the deplorable state of the nation and assured that CAN, NNCC and other Christian bodies in the country are working tirelessly to ensure that a better Nigeria is achieved and the voice of Christians is heard.

The clergyman believes that Nigeria would be better if everyone was involved in the process of formulation of governments and their policies. “Nigeria would be better if everyone is involved. Nigerians are not asking for too much, all they seek is good governance, basic infrastructure, and social benefits as is found in other parts of the world.”

The group played host to religious leaders from several Christian denominations, government officials, politicians from diverse political affiliations and well-meaning Nigerians who converged to deliberate on ways to move the country forward.