A clergyman, the Rev. Patrick Ejin, has asked
the National Assembly to enact laws penalising homosexuals and lesbians.
Ejin, the parish priest of the St. Mary's
Catholic Church in Damaturu, tabled the demand at the opening of a retreat
for church members.
He said: ``Lesbianism and homosexuality negate
God's plan for man to procreate, and these acts increase indecency and moral
decadence.''
The church was fully against homosexuals and
lesbians, because they had rebelled against God, he stressed, and tasked
religious leaders ``to help through sermons to save society from decay''.
Turning to other matters, Ejin lauded the
Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation for banning ``so-called miracles''` from
television screens.
``In fact, the ban has saved a lot of
down-trodden followers of such churches, who have been lured due to their
poor economic standing and the urge for a short way out,'' Ejin noted.
``Only God can perform a miracle, and man can
only perform magic for the weak minded.''
The retreat was to enable members to re-examine
themselves, he said, ``by reflecting on past deeds with a view to improving
their closeness to God and relations with others,'' he said.
Bayelsa PMIC orders contractors back to site
The Bayelsa state project Monitoring and Implementation Committee (PMIC) has
directed contractors handling various projects in Elemebiri, headquarters of
Toru-Abubo local government to go back to site.
The chairman of the committee, retired Navy
Capt Walter Feghabo gave the directive at Elemebiri on Thursday after
inspecting some abandoned projects.
The projects inspected by the committee
included a water project, A lodge for members of the National youth Service
corps, a communication network and a secondary school all in Elemebiri.
Feghabo condemned the standard of work done and
the attitude of the contractors in handling them.
He was particularly angry with the handling of
the water project which he said was of paramount importance to the
government and the community.
Addressing the contractor, he said:
``government is serious over this water project. Please, complete the
project on time to enable the people get potable water to drink.''
He also directed the contractor handling an
abandoned science block at Elemebiri secondary school to resume work
immediately.
Feghabo warned the contractors, that government
would not condone the attitude of contractors who ''abandon jobs after
collecting mobilization fees.
He further directed Bold THEMS Nigeria Limited,
the contractor handling the youth corpers' lodge, to rebuild a collapsing
wall at the lodge.
The chairman, advised contractors to always
ensure high standards and quality in jobs executed by them to meet the
expectations of the government and the people.
Feghabo said his committee was committed to the
completion of all on-going projects in the area.
``Our physical inspection of projects is a
demonstration of the state government's concern to see that the jobs are
carried out according to specifications by the contractors,'' he stressed.
The council caretaker committee chairman, Mr
Collins Cocodia, who was conducting members of the committee round the
projects appealed to the state government to deal with contractors who
abandoned their projects or executed substandard jobs in the area.
