Femi Adesina urges Christian leaders to pray for those in government
Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina
The Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, has called on Christian leaders in Nigeria to always pray for those in government to encourage instead of criticizing them.
Adesina made the call at the Breakfast meeting organised by the Christian Press Association of Nigeria (CPAN), weekend at the Faith Revival Apostolic Church (FRAC), Egbeda, Lagos with the theme “The Christian in government: Issues and perspectives.”
He warned Christian not to compromise but stand out from the crowd wherever they find themselves. “The saying that if you cannot beat them join them cannot be Christianity. Christians are those who would say like the three Hebrew boys we will not defile ourselves with the portion of the King’s meat,” he said.
He expressed regret that many of the criticisms against the government have been coming from the church people and leaders, urging Christians to pray for leaders instead of peddling hate speeches. He also noted that the Buhari-led government has a lot of Christians in the cabinet.
“This government despite the hate speech and animosity against it has a large number of born again Christians,” Adesina noted, adding that, “Before the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Barrister Ocholi died, we had more Christians in cabinet than Muslims. After he died the number became equal.
“I believe that to serve in government you must know who you believe, there is nothing that can happen to your testimony if you hold on to the God you believe. Unfortunately many of the comments I have heard against the government are from the church,” he lamented.
“A senior pastor in Abuja was telling me about an agenda against Christians in Nigeria. I said the Vice President is a Pastor, he is a believer and I can vouch for him anywhere. The pastor said, he doesn’t believe in Osinbajo anymore and I wonder who has made him a judge over Osinbajo or who can judge another man’s servant?
“I believe that Christians in government should not be discouraged just because they work with the government. The Christian in government who knows his God and continue to uphold his testimony should be encouraged and I believe he must be constantly prayed for and prayed with,” he said.
The government’s spokesperson also urged Christians in government to be good examples wherever. “Let your light shine so that people can see it that is what the Bible says. Working with the government should help you to affect a larger number of people for God,” he stated.
Adesina said that as member of the Foursquare Church he is delighted about the prayer support he gets from his denomination. “It gives me joy when I go to my local church in Lagos and hear that they are praying for me. So when a Christian has opportunity to serve in government, he should take it but when he gets it, he should remember he is an ambassador,” he said.
Earlier in his welcome address, President of the association, Bola Adewara who gave a brief history about CPAN, said the association came into being when some of them saw the challenges the church and members of the body in general were facing.
“One of the hobbies of most Christians is apportioning blames, pointing fingers rather than taking action. We tend to blame leadership always. We forget that leadership cannot function in a vacuum. There can’t be leadership where there is no followership.
“If Christians must make impact as the salt of the earth that we are supposed to be and as light that we claim to be, all hands must be on deck. There would be no finger pointing. The duty is for us all because the best condition for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing,” he said.
CPAN President also the publisher of E-Life magazine and author of a book, “Become an Internet Evangelist”, said the in Nigeria the church has become weak, Christian Powerless and Pastors and some fathers of faith ridiculed.
“The Nigerian Church has become so weak, Christians powerless, pastors and some of our fathers of faith ridiculed. The values of our faith like tithing, first fruits, sowing, giving, etc are being mocked and questioned. People are now wondering if going to Church is really worth it. Indeed, there is a gradual feeling of implosion happening in the Church leading to recalcitrance and disobedience to the word of God,” he said.
He added, “We cannot sit down and watch this decadence growing in leaps and bounds. We have to remedy the situation in our own way. One of the remedy is this Breakfast meeting where we desire to jaw jaw with some notable characters in our faith.”
“So many Christians believe that politics is for criminals, the never-do-wells, the unemployed, the greedy, the touchy and hungry. So many Christians have by this cognition yielded the political turf to people who should have nothing to do with politics. Today, they are the ones controlling your money, taking decisions, dictating your tomorrow, directing your children and we are all wondering why, pointing fingers, blaming innocent people who only came to fill the vacuum. We forgot that nature abhors vacuum. Before the Christians woke up to the challenge, it’s almost too late,” CPAN President said.
Some of the clerics who attended the event included Chairman of the Pentecostal fellowship of Nigeria, Lagos Chapter, Bishop Sola Ore, General Overseer of the Faith Revival Apostolic Church, Apostle Paul Taiwo Adenuga, former Editor Online, The Nation newspaper and President, Journalists For Christ, Mr. Lekan Otufodunrin, former Special Assistant on media and publicity to Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Ms. Joke Kujenya amongst others.
CPAN is an umbrella body for Christian journalists, publishers of Christian contents both in print and the electronic media.
