LAGOS—LAGOS State Deputy Governor, Mr. Femi Pedro and the national president of Social Security Outreach, Rev. Moses Iloh, believe that the only way the nation can move forward is for Christians to galvanize their numerical strength and enthrone a righteous leadership in the country come 2007.
Both men wondered why Christians have always been complacent about politics, stressing that if they (Christians) fold their hands in resignation, they would be giving ample opportunity for the forces of evil, which they described as the ‘Beast’, to take over the land.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Lagos State branch of the Social Security Outreach, SSO, a non-governmental organisation established for the enthronement of righteous government at all levels in the country at the Foursquare Gospel Church, Yaba in Lagos, the deputy governor said things go wrong because Christians have kept quiet for too long.
“Everything we do in Nigeria including the policies that affect our lives, come from government,” Mr. Pedro who was the special guest of honour said, adding “so government is totally in control of our lives as a people.”
According to him, Christians must therefore not fold their hands whenever they have the opportunity to determine the future of the nation, maintaining “we must take control and take over or remain silent whenever things begin to go wrong.”
Pedro reminded the Christian community, however, that the process of such take-over was not going to be easy because for long, those who are now in control have entrenched themselves and will not give up easily.
“It is a war,” he said, adding “those who are in control now will not abandon ship easily. We have only one weapon and that is prayer.
“If it is true that the population of Christians in Lagos is about six million then they can reshape things in the state because the total votes cast in Lagos State in the 2003 gubernatorial elections were a little over one million,” he said.
In addition to participation in the electoral process, he said, Christians must also make efforts to re-orientate potential politicians for leadership so that the nation will truly move from mediocrity to take her rightful place in the comity of nations.
“If we want change to happen in 2007, we must work hard now by mobilising all our members to enthrone righteous leadership,” Pedro said, adding Nigeria and Nigerians deserve much more than we are getting now.”
He therefore pledged to give his all to SSO in her efforts to establish righteousness in our polity and as a demonstration of that commitment, he called for a “quarterly forum to tell me what our government is doing or not doing and I will have the opportunity of telling you what we are doing.”
Earlier in his sermon titled; SSO, Go and call the bluff of the Beast,” Rev Iloh called on the Lagos State council to be up and doing because the task before them was an enormous one that will require them to frontally tackle the entrenched and uncompromising powers.
He said the Outreach was an initiative of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, to install a "government that will not kill the good people to feed the robbers in our midst or a nation that will bury her pensioners without their pensions".
Iloh, who is also the president of the Eclectic Movement, maintained that the poor in Nigeria are no longer regarded as poor, but are now being addressed as down trodden in a nation that is so endowed with so much resources.
He therefore charged the new 13-man executive council in Lagos State to be conscious of the activities of the agents of the devil, adding that by the grace of God, 2007 will be a year of testimony for the nation as a whole.
