ABUJA – Most Rev. Joseph Oche-Jacob, the Archbishop of Methodist Cathedral of Unity, Abuja, has urged Nigerians to love and show goodness to one another irrespective of religious beliefs to move the country forward.
Oche-Jacob made the appeal on Sunday in an interview with newsmen after a service to conclude a three-day conference of the Church’s 29th Lay President’s Council.
He said “we should by nature, exhibit what is called goodness, it is not religious, whether you are a Muslim or Christian or you have no religion at all.
“There is one natural attribute that God has deposited on each one of us to make us relate well, fit well into the society and make the society good.
“If all Nigerians, Christians and Muslims will exhibit and demonstrate that goodness that God has planted in us, our moving forward will land us in the promise land.”
The archbishop said that in spite of the current security and other challenges facing the nation, Nigeria was moving forward.
“As long as God is in heaven controlling the affairs of men, we cannot be stagnant, men are always on motion, the world is on motion; we are moving forward.
“Moving forward is always constant, it is always perpetual but where we are moving to always matters,’’ he said.
Oche-Jacob said that other factors that determined the positive movement of man or society were belief of the people and respect for a nation’s constitution.
He called on political leaders at the various levels to govern according to the rule of law and respect the people’s fundamental rights for the well-being of society.
“There is no constitution, whether Church constitution or the national constitutional that says that we should do some of the things that we are doing.
“The corruption, hatred, assassination and unemployment that is ravaging everywhere, we should think of what the constitution says concerning humanity and the rights of human beings.”
On the demise of former Minister of Information, Mrs Dora Akunyili, the bishop described her as “a great and wonderful woman’’ who had contributed to the growth of the nation.
“She contributed to the growth of this nation but death knows no greatness, it can fall on the down-trodden, the rich and the middle class.
“Dora does not belong to those we can forget easily, she has left a vacuum,’’ he said. (NAN)
————————————————————————————————
