The Christian Social Movement of Nigeria (CSMN) says the war against terror can only be won if a God-fearing leader is elected into office in 2019, insisting that “electing a religious fundamentalist to lead national resistance against terror by extremists constitutes a cosmetic war against insurgency.”
It therefore called on Christians to join political parties and contest for electoral offices, especially the Presidency.
Rising from a conference tagged, “Think Democracy,” participants noted the need for Nigeria “to make God a significant factor in conducting the affairs of the country, and that Christians should get actively involved in politics to provide the necessary balance rather than stand at the sidelines to complain against the religious and social imbalances.”
According to a communique signed by Mr. Solomon Asemota, SAN, chairman of CSMN, the conference which held at the Daughters of Divine Love Retreat and Conference Centre (DRACC), Lugbe, Abuja, was organised “to evaluate developments in the country and the challenges confronting governance in Nigeria.”
It was organised in collaboration with the National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF); Legacy Initiative International; Advocates for Freedom and Democracy (AFD), a coalition of 58 Christian groups; the Nigerian Christians in Diaspora; Clergy Forum for Peace and Development in the Niger Delta and Christian Ministers Universal Forum.
Participating as observers at the Conference were: South-South Study Group; PAN Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF); United Middle Belt Indigenous Peoples Congress (UMBIPC) and Middle Belt Renaissance Forum.
The conference expressed concern at “emerging signals towards the 2019 elections which indicate that the leading political parties in Nigeria are preparing to present candidates from the same region and religion, to the neglect of others so long marginalized from the political space, especially the endangered northern Christians.”
It called for the creation of “a common forum for Christian and Muslim leaders to meet and work at providing quality political leadership for the country.”
This, it said, could be handled by Legacy Initiative International to facilitate the forum.
Participants further condemned the “abduction and continued incarceration of Leah Sharibu on account of her firm stand against renouncing her Christian faith for Islam in exchange for freedom from her Islamist captors,” demanding immediate Government intervention to secure her release.
They insisted that the foundation of Nigeria needed redressing in the form of a restructuring which should be a major agenda of the 2019 elections.
READ ALSO: Electoral Amendment Bill: Buhari declines assent
While advocating a deliberate agenda for promoting the participation and representation of women, youths, people with disabilities, and ethnic minorities at all levels of governance, the conference noted that “the national ideology bequeathed by the founding fathers of Nigeria at Independence was democracy.”
It said every “effort should, therefore, be made to ensure that democracy is neither undermined nor abrogated in Nigeria.”
