Prophet James Omitade of the Holy Trinity Authority Church, Ikere Road, Ado Ekiti has taken a swipe on some religious leaders who have continued to throw caution to the wind over the current issue of Muslim/Muslim ticket adopted by APC.
According to Omitade, religion should not be a major yardstick to determine governance but competence and credibility.
The cleric who spoke with newsmen in Ado Ekiti, said the current state of the country goes beyond sentiment as being displayed by some religious leaders whose interest according to him is how to get close to the dining table.
He said:”The outcome of the general election would expose the shenanigans of many religious leaders hiding under the umbrella of Christians to fight for their own gains.
“There are more rots to address in many churches today than what we are experiencing in the political system. It is a known fact that’s Nigeria is a secular state. Not withstanding everyone has freedom of choice of religion, participation in party politics, social association and any other activities with in alienable rights. There are as many parties as there are candidates so, why the fuss about the choice of candidates for political offices by some religious bigots? The rights the candidates have to be selected to vie for elections, no matter the religion, are also the the rights the electorate have to vote for political parties or candidates of their choice. No reasonable nay, a rational party will sacrifice the right of an eminently competent and qualified candidate in order to assuge dissent feelings from some religious quarters! It is rather advisable that the the best from the cream of candidates North and South are combined to lead the country out of doldrums.
There is no point raising unnecessary dust about the Muslim/Muslim ticket, the situation of Nigeria at the moment is beyond religion. Nigeria is wading through the murky waters unheard of in her history; terrorism banditry, threats of seccession, high unemployment and high inflation rate, labour Union strikes, high cost and low standards of living, armed robbery, high rate of road accidents etc. If religious leaders are truly guidance of faith these are enormous prayer assignments that must be tempered with love, mending, blending reconciliations openness and dispassionate attitudes. They know themselves that it’s God who appoints and dethrones government. Do they really know the mind of God for Nigeria’s future? As we believe in God that he has power over all things instead of all the outburst in the Christian faith we should go into the inner altar and ask God to give all the best so that Christian leaders will stop losing their relevance to the public. They need to go back to the Bible and see in the course of Jewish history the people/ Nations God used to salvage them at one point or the other.
We must shun all sentiments and face realities of our country, let’s pray and seek divine help rather than trying to create apprehension.
If we must tell ourselves the truth, we will agree that service has nothing to do with religion, as a matter of fact, I am convinced that the incoming administration will disappoint many people in a positive sense. Remarkably most people agitating for religious mutation in 2023 elections were old enough and stay at the outset of the present democratic dispensation in 1999 when the whole country had no choice but to vote for two dominant candidates from the southwest who are both Christians. Muslims in both north and south queued in the scorching sun with eagerness and voted one of them as president. At present, the nation’s economy groves for urgent salvaging by whosoever is endowed to fix it no matter the faith. After all, a good number of Muslims and Christians are also adherents and subscribers to various traditional religious groves.
“What has Nigeria benefited or got better at various times where leaders were of different religious faith? How did we get here? Today we have a Christain Vice President but am not convinced that his religion made any difference in governance.
Omitade concluded by urging religious leaders at the helms of affairs of religious bodies to show more moral decency ad stop playing politics with the future of religious.