The Bishop of Ibadan Anglican Diocese, Most Rev. Joseph Akinfenwa, has urged governments at all levels to concentrate more on addressing the security challenge currently confronting the country in order to prevent hunger and famine.
Akinfenwa stated this on Sunday during the closing of the Second Session of the 24th Synod of the Ibadan Anglican Diocese, held at the Anglican Church of the Ascension, Akobo, Ibadan.
The bishop expressed regret that the current wave of insecurity had prevented farmers from going to farm, thus affecting food production in the country.
“As long as people cannot go to the farm safely, we will not have enough food to eat, and that’s the most dangerous thing for us.
“Nigerians have been very resilient, enduring several things; we may even endure not wearing clothes, but we cannot endure hunger.
“We implore our leaders to also cut down on their salaries and allowances and the number of vehicles at their disposal. Let all of us manage for at least five years, and we will all see that normalcy will return to our country.
“Also, when the citizens see that those leading them are managing, they too will be happy and willing to manage. Let’s all continue to ask God for mercy and pray for our leaders,” he said.
Akinfenwa also enjoined the government to ensure that the distribution of palliatives got to the right people, using district heads.
“Government should use traditional rulers and district heads to reach out to the grassroots.
“Also, President Bola Tinubu should please do more. He is trying anyway, but we need him to be faster and provide solutions.
“He should provide more solutions to our problems, and by so doing, his name will never be forgotten in the book of remembrance in the country,” he said.
In his sermon, the pastor of Immanuel Anglican Church, Ashi, Ibadan, Ven. Joseph Woranola, urged the congregation to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and personal savior to receive eternal life.
According to Woranola, being the mediator of the New Covenant means that it’s through Him that one can have access to God and His kingdom.
“You need Jesus to be victorious in the battle of life and free from all bondages; patronising prophets or prophetesses to be praying for you cannot save you anyone.
“Christianity should be ‘operation; do it yourself’; get to know the Lord personally; your title can’t save you; only Jesus can,” he said.
Woranola also advised the Christian faithful to show anyone around them that they truly belonged to Christ.
“We should do our best to get our names written in the Book of Life in order not to be cast into the lake of fire,” he said.
Woranola further urged ministers of God to ensure that God’s sanctuary remained a life-transforming centre and not an entertainment platform.
“Our sanctuaries should remain life-transforming centres where people will be transformed, receive God’s touch, and have their burdens lifted,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the synod, which started on April 4, had as its theme “In the Beginning: Covenant-keeping God.” (NAN)
