From Cyriacus Nnaji, Lagos
Most Reverend Benebo Fubara-Manuel, President, Christian Council of Nigeria (CCN), has frowned at the level of insecurity in the country, President Muhamadu Buhari silence on the issue and other critical national issues.
Fubara-Manuel made the disclosure in his church, the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria (PCN) Lekki Parish.
Lagos, when members of the Association of Christian Correspondents of Nigeria (ACCoN) paid him a Courtesy visit.
The Revered clergy rebuked the activities of terrorists such as Boko Haram sect, Fulani herdsmen, kidnappers, among others, that are having a field-day in Nigeria without any serious effort by the government to stop them.
“It became so worrisome the silence of President Muhammadu Buhari who would refuse to talk, while terrorists continue to claim lives of innocent Nigerians as well as kidnappers having field day, extorting money from Nigerians at this critical state of harsh economy,” he said.
He urged the President to address Nigerians and give them hope against the trauma they are being subjected to. He added that Nigerians are suffering with the level of insecurity as well as the state of economy that has made it very difficult for them to feed effectively.
Bishop Fubara-Imanuel also expressed dissatisfaction at the level of education in the country, lamenting that the decay started when the government dabbled into education and took over schools from churches.
Fubara-Manuel also ascribed recent happenings in the country to lack of political will by the government to effect change in the polity, saying government take-over of schools from the missionaries weakened the nature and concept of education in Nigeria.
“They weaken the nature and concept of education. We all know the decay in our university system; they never used to be like that. When churches were at the fore of education somebody trained at standard six can operate like today’s graduate because the stuff you got at standard six seems to some of us as equivalent to today’s graduates.”
He went further to assert that the decay in the country’s socio-economic condition is traceable to government take over like every other thing taken over by government, adding that while the churches are taking the schools back from the government, they currently lack the ability to maintain the standard because the resources required to maintain the schools are no longer in their hands.
“The businesses of the churches are no longer flourishing, their farms are no longer there; locals can no longer farm. If you want them to deliver quality education – they must be sustainable,” Fubara-Manuel maintained.
While also speaking on the role the churches are playing in nation building, Benebo said that nation building is building the minds of people to engage at the level of education to the essence that they hold members of the Churches accountable.
He went further to state that people have been empowered by the church to hold members of the political parties and politicians accountable, saying that the role of the Church extend beyond interacting with members on religious matters to freely engage on issues of public formation and decision making that takes place at the legislative and other forms of government.
“If you look at all we do at CCN where we bring education to the fore; we build healthcare, we build civic education, we bring empowerment as well as HIV/AIDs war – these are the kind of things we do to support nation building,” said Fubara-Manuel.
On the issue of Afghanistan and its implication on Nigeria, the cleric calls for caution from members of the public especially Christians and Muslim, as he believes those pushing the agenda to forcefully promote one faith against the other are not true believers practicing the tenet of the religion.
Fubara-Manuelsaid that education is the ability to think and act widely, as it broadens the individual’s horizon. Hence, those standing against a form of education do not understand the true essence of education. “Boko Haram stands for a system to oppose western education. If you make your own viable education – Islamic education, then you are opposing education,” said Fubara-Manuel.
