Recently, Nigerians from all walks of life converged on Abuja for the National Conscience Conference 2016.
The conference, which was the maiden edition, was organised by the Summit Bible Church, Abuja, under the aegis of Build Man Leadership Foundation.
In his remark, Dr Andy Osakwe, Senior Pastor, Summit Bible Church, said that the objective of the conference, tagged “the Salt Factor”, was to facilitate systemic change and reformation in the country.
“Nigeria is faced with challenges of unemployment, insecurity and recession.
“The country is in a deplorable state and it is almost as if our leaders do not care anymore,” he added.
Osakwe, nonetheless, underscored the need for Christians to speak out so as to create a positive impact on the people’s conscience; not just by organising mere seminars, debates and other similar activities.
“The people’s mind-sets need to be adjusted and to do that, the people need to hear the right words, the people need to be taught,” he said.
He stressed that if the people’s mind-sets were transformed, they would be able to “connect to a good conscience.
“If they can connect to a good conscience; then, that conscience will be a good guide in our politics and governance,” he said.
Osakwe said that Nigerian citizens were the vessels through which the much-desired change in the country would be realised.
“We should, therefore, become activists of nation building and start seeing ourselves as important players in the Nigerian story,” he said.
Dr Oby Ezekwesili, a former Minister of Education, who was a guest speaker at the conference, spoke on “The Salt Phenomenon in Shaping Governance.”
She said that that governance could be traced to Adam and Eve, the ancestors of all humans, when God told them to tend the Garden of Eden.
According to Ezekwesili, the church recognises that there is a major gap between what we are now and what we ought to be on the basis of God’s directive in Genesis chapter 1, verse 28:
“…Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Ezekwesili said that a nation was in a state of poor governance whenever it was “dark, poor and ugly.”
She said that as children of God, Christians ought to be the salt of the earth.
Quoting a passage in the Bible, the ex-minister, however, said that if salt lost its value, it would consequently be worthless and useless; adding: “This stands to remind us that as a nation, we have failed.’’
She said that the consequences of poor governance included the lack of blessings in a country and the country’s inability to dominate the world.
Bemoaning the poor state of governance in the country, Ezekwesili quoted the National Bureau of Statistics as saying that 61 per cent of Nigeria’s population were poor.
“Besides, the rate of unemployment is above 30 per cent. In all honestly, this is not God’s intent for us,” she said.
Ezekwesili, however, emphasised that for good governance to begin and thrive in Nigeria, the country must be willing to adhere to the qualities of good governance, as defined by the United Nations (UN).
“The features include participation, accountability, transparency, equitability, consensus-building, responsiveness and promotion of the rule of law,” she said.
She said that most Nigerians partook in creating the rot in the country’s system of governance and, therefore, there was a compelling need for the people’s introspection in efforts to end the decay.
On accountability, Ezekwesili said that individuals must first of all be responsible to the society before demanding accountability from the government.
“Transparency is not just about warning the government to open its book of accounts and to disclose the things that happen; it is more than that. It is about individuals acting transparently,” she said.
She called on Nigerians to be agents of change, adding that the demand for good governance was an expression of what the people wanted.
Also speaking, Pastor Odunayo Emasealu Managing Director, Interior Woodwork Ltd., called on Nigerians to embark on new ways of doing things.
He emphasised that for a better Nigeria to evolve, the citizens’ character must necessarily change.
“We must have faith that things will change for the better. And we can effect that change.
“But for us to have the kind of change we want, we have to do away with illiteracy.
“Nigerians should be resilient in their clamour for change; we should, as citizens of Nigeria, be able to convince the world that Nigeria has indeed changed.
“When people begin to hear that there is a new Nigeria, they will begin to assume the newness in that country.’’
Emasealu emphasised that Nigeria was the best country in the world and “as a people who are the catalysts for change, we must abstain from anything that would bring our country down’’.
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