Ohuabunwa, Adelusi-Adeluyi, at Foursquare lecture, proffer solutions

The Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria recently organised a public lecture in Lagos with the theme: Making Nigeria Work: A Job For all. The lecture, which was the fourth in the series, was part of activities marking the church’s 62nd yearly national convention billed for November 13 to 19, at its Camp Ground in Ajebo, Ogun State.

In attendance were former Federal Minister of Health and Human Services, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, who was chairman of the occasion; founder and chairman of Sam Ohuabunwa Foundation for Economic Empowerment (SOFEE), Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, who was the guest speaker; Chief Host and General Overseer of the Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria, Rev. Felix Meduoye and his wife and other church leaders, among others.

Speakers at the event agreed that the country is in a fix and only meaningful contribution from Nigerians starting from the church, family to state and national level can make it work.

Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, who praised the church for choosing a timely topic, described Nigeria’s situation as a complex one, which according to him, must require the effort of all Nigerians at all levels to make it work.

The former national president of Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria/Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce, who did not spare the church in the effort to make Nigeria work, reminded Christians in Nigeria that they have a tool in their hands, which can easily unlock peace of this nation.

Even though the country is going through a distress, chairman of the occasion believes that with the right leadership in place, Nigeria can be great once again. He cited India as a country that was colonised, just like Nigeria, but the country has moved ahead technologically.

He said: “Nigeria is a nation, which now exposes every citizen to a situation of uncertainty. Nigeria becomes more and more complicated with each passing day, unless something is done to arrest that direction. The first thing every Nigerians must realise is the spiritual injunction, which says ‘heaven helps those who helps themselves.’ What we are saying is that Nigerians are full of analyses of what is going on and what should be done, but they are not known for implementing them. Implementation should not be at the national level only, but individually. Therefore, if Nigeria is bad, if it is broken, lets fix it individually at the family level, as well as the community, state and national levels. The blame game should be arrested. The question we should ask ourselves is: What have I done today to make sure that Nigeria becomes a better place not just for me but for generations to come? We in this generation must suffer a bit so that the future can be better for our children. Everyday as you wake up, your chance is an opportunity for you to make a choice. To make choice out of these chances is by demonstration.”

In his speech, the guest speaker, Ohuabunwa, identified factors militating against Nigeria’s growth as political, economic instability; election rigging, poor governance, disunity, unemployment, endemic corruption and insecurity, resulting in armed robbery and kidnapping, as well as Boko Haram insurgency. He suggested a radical approach towards making Nigeria proud in the comity of nations.

He said: “There is generally low level of patriotism. People do not feel proud of belonging to this nation. In fact, the only people that feel proud of belonging to the nation are those in power. The way out is to empower jobless Nigerian youths. Nigerians should be able to have two square meals a day, if three is not possible. We need to live in a country, where there is respect for human dignity, where if somebody is killed, we mourn but here people are killed in their dozens we only give statistics.

It does not bother anybody any more. So, how can people be patriotic, when there is so much indiscrimination and corruption?”