Rebecca Ejifoma
A group of active Christian leaders has canvassed synergy with the current and retired military personnel to mitigate and prevent future attacks on the country.
The leaders made the call yesterday at a breakfast and inter-denomination discussion on how to address the challenges facing Christianity in contemporary Nigeria organised by the Cathedral Touch Bearers at the Cathedral Church of Christ, Lagos
Speaking at the breakfast, Bishop, Anglican Diocese of Ilesa, Prof. Dapo Asaju said: “We need to build conviction. We need to produce a blueprint that can get us out of the road.”
He said: “Nigeria needs apologetics for the voice of the Christians to be heard. We need an alternative form of defence. To give us the idea, we need the military and the paramilitary for preventive measures in the face of attacks.”
Asaju, former Vice Chancellor, Bishop Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo, bemoaned the dearth of leaders in the country, lamenting that Nigeria did not have leaders who have ideas in Nigeria.
While speaking on responsible reactions and strategies to deal with attacks, and killings of Christians in the worship centres, Asaju harped on the need for reasonable and non-violent ways to resolve issues.
Asaju called for unity in Christendom, urging Christians “to speak in one language. We need to see this as a Nigerian problem, not just a Christian problem.”
Also at the breakfast, Senior Pastor of Trinity House, Itua Ighodalo, decried the internal decay in Christendom. “
Ighodalo said Christianity “is under siege. The Nigerian church is deeply at stake.”
He decried the rate of anxiety and tension while listing some challenges in Christianity, noting that there “is a need for church formation, standards of the church on internally regulating ourselves.”
Ighodalo highlighted doctrinal problems where people built empires instead of the people of God, adding that the church is utterly fragmented and disoriented.
He, thus, urged Christians “to put in place an agenda. We must protect and encourage one another and have a pure church. The world needs the church. Nigeria needs Christianity. The whole world is waiting for Nigeria.”
While calling for strategic thinking in the church, the lead pastor called for a look at the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
He added: “What is CAN doing? How can we make this association more relevant? We need to sit and have an all-Christian congress to decide what we want to do and come up with standards for self-regulation.”
“We must unite against a common enemy of hunger, bad governance and lack of evangelise, LQGTB, and others,” Ighodalo explained.
