Corruption: Spare no sacred cows, Pentecostal churches tell Nigerian govt

The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, on Thursday urged the federal government to ensure there are no sacred cows in its fight against corruption in the country.

Felix Omobude, the National President of PFN, spoke at the end of its 2nd quarter National Executive Council meeting held in Lagos at the Bishops Court, its National Headquarters

The body, while commending the government for fighting corruption, urged it to be fair to all and to pursue the cause within the ambit of the laws of the land.

Mr. Omobude said there should be no “sacred cows or sacrificial lambs’’ in the fight.

He said the PFN was glad that some economic measures to revive the economy had been put in place.

“However, the PFN is still concerned about the hardship the ordinary Nigerian is facing.

“We are aware of the Social Intervention programmes, but we call for a more concerted on the part of Federal Government to mitigate the pains and generate more employment opportunities, especially for the youth.

“We commend the efforts put into shoring up the naira in recent times, but we push for more concerted efforts in this regard.

“The government’s drive to promote patronage of locally produced goods is a commendable one.

“We urge Nigerians to fully embrace this initiative and consume what we produce locally,” Mr. Omobude said.

He commended the government’s effort in tackling the insurgency in the country, urging it not to relent in its efforts at ensuring the release of the remaining Chibok girls.

“PFN calls for more attention to be paid to the plight of the victims of the Southern Kaduna crisis.

“PFN is worried at developments in Southern Kaduna, especially the lack of prompt response to guarantee the security of lives and property there, leading to a loss of lives of many indigenes of that area.

“A delegation from the PFN recently paid a visitation to Southern Kaduna and made a presentation of N15 million worth of relief materials to the different groups, irrespective of ethnicity or religion.

“From this visit, we can see that there is much more that urgently needs to be done for the people of Southern Kaduna and urgently too.

“We call on the Federal government and Kaduna State Government to immediately improve on their rehabilitation efforts,” he said.

The PFN leader also urged the government to ensure that Christian Religious Studies stands on its own as a separate subject as it has always been.

“The PFN is concerned at the controversy that has attended the revised Basic Education Curriculum, especially the collapse of Christian Religious Studies as part of an omnibus subject known as Religion and National Values.

“We noted the explanation by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) on some of the issues raised.

“There is really no justification for the uncertainty the NERDC has created which has opened up the implementation of the curriculum to the whims and caprices.

“Collapsing CRK as only a part of Religion and National Values forecloses the opportunity of the subject being studied at the tertiary level by students and is unacceptable,’’ he said.

Speaking on the compulsory study of foreign languages, the PFN appealed that windows be opened up to more languages beyond French and Arabic, to accommodate other languages.

“Windows of other languages should be open so our children can enjoy greater flexibility in foreign language study and not be compelled to study a language they have no interest in,’’ he said.

He said that the PFN condemned the wanton killings by herdsmen, urging the Federal Government to take the issue of security more seriously, especially the spate of kidnappings all over the country.

“We call for adequate and appropriate response of government to put an end to the activities of these killer herdsmen across the country,” he said.

Mr. Omobude urged government of states where cattle rearing is a part and parcel of their culture to build ranches and develop reserves where cattle owners can husband their animals.

“State governments should build ranches, so that cattle can be kept there without travelling long distances where they stray into farms, destroy crops and constitute nuisance and threat to other communities,’’ he said.

The group urged government at all levels to do all they could to assuage the fears and concerns of everyone and ensure the practice of Federalism in its true form.

“The PFN notes with concern the restiveness in different parts of the country and the increasing calls for a breakup of the country on the part of those purporting to speak for ethnic groups.

“We restate our belief in the unity of Nigeria and a commitment to one Nigeria where people of different faiths and tongues can continue to live together as one.

“We urge the government to pay attention to the calls for restructuring and find a way to push for further devolution of powers, while adopting an all-inclusive approach to governance and development in the country,” he said.

(NAN)