Christian Association of Nigerian
has said it would be compelled to make it a law for any Christian believer to
produce his or her own voter’s card before being allowed to attend any mass or
service.
The Chairman, Plateau State
chapter of the CAN, Rev. Soja Bewarang, gave this hint on Saturday at the third
annual Plateau State prayer day organized by the state CAN in conjunction with
the Plateau State Government.
The prayer session, with the
theme: “Endless Love Of Christ Brings Unity,” had its Bible passage from John
15: 12-14.
Bewarang expressed dismay over
the lack of unity among Christians, saying political or denominations’
differences between Christians remains the impediment of the progress of the
Christian faith in Nigeria.
He however charged Plateau State
Christians to shun such sentiments and love one another for the progress and
development of the state, adding that the church as a body would be compelled
to take stringent measures against any member that fails to obtain a voters’
card to exercise his or her civic responsibility in future elections in the
country.
Also in his address, the Governor
or Plateau State, Simon Bako Lalong, begged the people to always verify any
information at their disposal before taking it to the market squares
According to Lalong: “Don’t go on
using Facebook to backbite my government and don’t listen to voices of enemies
who instigate crisis to tear the unity of the state.
“All of us as God fearing should
use God’s talents, time and treasures positively in proclaiming, educating and
telling the truth not just to the authority but their congregation.”
“Without prejudice to the giant
strides being made in the development of the state, we have been witnessing pockets
of crises between herdsmen and farmers.”
Lalong told CAN that there are
challenges of understanding the issues of grazing reserves and ranching, but
for the sake of posterity, there was the clarification of the current position
and intentions of the government on the matter.
He said grazing reserves are
simply tracks of land acquired, developed and reserved or set aside for farmers
or nomads to use in grazing their livestock or domesticated animals, while
ranch or livestock production centre is a plot or piece of land dedicated to
raising any livestock within a large area or even at a backyard.
The Governor lamented that but
for the propaganda by some people who have chosen to politicize the issue, his
government has never initiated the establishment or creation of grazing
reserves.
According to him, the inherited
April 2009 gazette made by former Governor Jonah David Jang, which recognized
and established grazing reserves in Plateau State, and as well approved
budgetary allocations to effect the development, is being peddled to blackmail
him.
Lalong added that his
administration didn’t embrace the concept of grazing reserves as solution to
abating the series of clashes in view of the fact that in this 21st century and
modern times, they are outdated, unacceptable and recurrent recipe for crises
as being witnessing.
He explained: “We presented our
score card in the light of gains and successes such as engendering peace, hope
and harmony amongst the citizenry, initiating and executing new projects across
the three geopolitical zones of the state.”
On his part, the Catholic
Archbishop of Jos, Most Rev. Ignatius A. Kaigama, commended Lalong and CAN for
organizing the prayer session, saying the event has helped the Governor in
clearing the air on fundamental issues disturbing the minds of the people.
Kaigama then prayed to God to
heal Plateau land and comfort those who lost their loved ones in the recent
attacks in the state.
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