There is no way we can say that successive government have not been complicit in bringing hunger to the country, especially when you send farmers to the farm, there is insecurity
The Regional President, Organization of African Instituted Churches, OAIC, Elder Israel Akinadewo, has faulted the Nigeria National Assembly on the controversy over the National Anthem to adopt for the country. OAIC is one of the five blocks in the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN.
Speaking to journalists, the church leader said the controversy generated by reversal to the old national anthem was a distraction from the real problems facing the country.
Akinadewo spoke Thursday during the 2024 OAIC Regional Retreat held in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.
He maintained that the issue of the national anthem to adopt is not the problem of Nigeria but how to put food on the table for the citizens, stressing that what should be paramount in the mind of our leaders should be how to recover the lost social, economic and political glories of the country, make adequate plans to guarantee the future of the country by strengthening security and the nation’s economy.
He observed that the major part of the present economic hardship emanated from the failure of the present administration in the country to put adequate plans on ground before the fuel subsidy removal.
Akinadewo said: “My belief is that whether the old or the new Anthem, none of it is of much importance.
“What I believe is that we need to look at our past, what the leaders have done as the country is currently undergoing what I describe as political rearrangement and redefining.”
On the continuously rising hunger in the land, Akinadewo emphasized that all citizens, not only leaders should be blamed, adding that It requires collective action to end.
Akinadewo added: “There is no way we can say that successive government have not been complicit in bringing hunger to the country, especially when you send farmers to the farm, there is insecurity.
“So, on the issue of hunger in the land, a lot of factors are responsible, but the truth of the matter is this: we, ourselves can reduce the pressure, the level of this hunger.
“We as individuals can farm; what is called domestic farming in our homes, and since we want to eat as families, we can try it out before we come to the area of larger picture of farming.
“But just like I have said, when issues come to this level, every citizens is guilty, one way or the other.
“All of us should go into local production and stop depending on imported goods.”
Speaking on issues concerning the Church, the OAIC regional leader commended the national leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria under Archbishop Daniel Okoh for the maturity in handling the affairs of the CAN in Nigeria.
Akinadewo also reinstated the absolute confidence of OAIC in the leadership of CAN in Ebonyi State, Southeast Nigeria, under Reverend Scamb Chinedum Nwokolo.
He emphasized that the body does not recognize any other leadership in the State, than that which is under the shoulders of Nwokolo and his team, adding that the Christian body in Nigeria knows those who are hers.
He cautioned Christians to focus on their main goal of preaching Christ rather than antagonizing each other.
Akinadewo, obviously referring to a splinter group which came up to attack the CAN chairman recently in the State, called on those bringing divisions and dissention in the body of Christ to repent.