From Cyriacus Nnaji, Lagos
Governor ofBayelsa State, His Excellency, Douye Diri, has urged Christians in Nigeria tojoin active politics.
He also revealedthat the challenges besieging Nigeria is as a result of loss of family values.
Douye tookthe positions while answering questions from Journalists when he attended theLord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Movement’s International crusade titled ‘WhatGod Has Determined Shall Be Done’ which took place at Ijesha, Lagos State onSaturday, January 6, 2023.
Dirispeaking on how to improve on the nation’s electoral process said “The problemis not actually with the laws, we have the laws, but it still boils down to thecharacter of the people who are engaged in politics, and that is the reason formy clarion call that Christians should come into politics. Why are they stayingaway? Look apart from the power of God, the next power on earth is that ofgovernment.
“And so ifyou stay away, you are encouraging those who do not know God to come intopolitics and become your rulers or your leaders and you would be subservient tothem,” Diri stated.
He saidNigerians have good laws but people break the laws with impunity with no fearof any punishment. “It all boils down to the people and the operators. You seewe have good laws governing our electoral process, beginning from partyelections, primaries, but we are not, as a people, as politicians, we do notobey our own party rules and regulations, even when they are broken there areno sanctions; people break it with impunity because of the positions they findthemselves, who they are or the kind of resources they have, that they can buyover a party or buy over the legal system.”
The Governoralso stated that the problem with Nigeria is traceable to loss of family andnational values. “The basic challenge in Nigeria is in character, how are youbringing up your own children, that your children will not be tempted by moneyand fall in for money? How are Nigerians bringing up their children? How is thechurch also impacting the members of the church because these are the basic keyinstitutions when we were growing up; those of us that are Christians, on theother hand and those of them that are Moslems.”
He maintainedthat with the right values, issues of terrorism, kidnaping and people beingliabilities to societies would be over. “So the moment we are able to get itright in our families, to bring up our children the way that they should grow, andwhen you teach them, and you give them that knowledge of God and they grow upin Him, certainly our society would be a better society. We would not havethese issues of terrorists; we would not have the issue of people who are gropingin the dark, who don’t understand why we are human beings, why they must beassets to the society rather than being liabilities.”
Earlier,Governor Diri told journalists the reason he attended the crusade tagged Mgbidi2024: Lagos Experience. He said “It is an annual attendance, not just becauseof election or that I secured victory in the governorship election last year; Iwas here last year and the year before last year, I was here. It is my usualway of coming to acknowledge the presence of God in my life and my state.”
