By Damiete Braide
Founder and president of Bible Believing Mission Incorporation, Aba, Abia State, Pastor Kingsley Innocent, has urged Nigerians to pray for divine intervention as the nation is going through hard times.
The soft-spoken cleric noted that marrying young girls and converting them to Muslims is destroying the fabrics sustaining Nigeria’s unity.
In a chat with The Sun, Pastor Kingsley speaks on the controversial bill by the Kaduna State Government, the prolonged fuel crisis, legislators fighting inside the Assembly complex, among others.
Excerpts:
Kaduna State’s controversial Religious Law
Nobody can stand on the way of God. The law is an error and it cannot hold. Nigeria has grown beyond such sentimental laws and a place like Kaduna that has a large number of Christians, such thing cannot hold there. As far as I am concerned, that is a distraction for Christians, but it will not hold. Our faith cannot be compromised, God will not allow it and we pray that the governor doesn’t invite the wrath of God. The earlier he plays down on that law, the better for him.
Marrying teenage girls and converting them to Islam
This is one of the end-time signs. It is very unfortunate that it is happening in our nation. The perpetrators of this wickedness will definitely suffer for it. It is destroying the fabrics of our nation, our co-existence and what holds us together as a country. Such a thing should not be allowed. I urge Nigerians and the government to stand up and fight against this in-human act of some hoodlums and those who think they can use religious extremism to destroy our nation. A true Muslim will not do that. They are Muslim fundamentalists and they destroy Islam. Both Christians and Muslims should stand in one accord and speak against this horror and stop it. It is dehumanizing and it is the height of human degradation. It is against the image of our nation and it does not portray us good to the outside world.
The implication is that it exposes our children to danger. It would affect the country’s future. It has made it difficult for people from different geo-political zones to come together and associate freely. As a parent, you would not want your child to associate with some areas in the country which you believe are engaged in this human horror.
Prolonged fuel scarcity
Few Nigerians are taking advantage of the situation to enrich themselves. It is a selfish thing that should not be allowed. I believe in the efforts that the Federal Government has taken to import more fuel into the country. It will bring some succour. I am hopeful that God is hearing the cries of Nigerians to ensure that the government will fish out those who are taking advantage of the situation to enrich themselves and once this is discovered, very soon, fuel scarcity will be a thing of the past.
The effect of change in the country
In all honesty, change is what we needed and with the present administration in power, President Muhammadu Buhari came with the Change Mantra which was timely and that was what the nation needed. But at this moment, our President is too slow in effecting the kind of change that Nigerians want and these are getting worse. I urge the Federal Government to ensure that this change is realised. Our nation is hungry for the change, this was the reason we voted for him. We expected much more than what we are getting. To a large extent, i trust his sense of judgment, but this administration is too slow. Nigeria is a nation that needs immediate change and our President should sit up and do everything within his reach to give us hope that the change is not a fluke afterall. We have heard of the verbal change which goes beyond it. We want to see the President turn the nation around. It is a difficult task, but it is possible and achievable.
Are Nigerians happy with the way our President is handling issues
Our President may be losing popularity, Nigerians are gradually becoming disappointed. Majority of Nigerians are not happy and we should not blame them for this because we have been through this suffering and smiling for a very long time and Nigerians are tired of it. We had thought and believed close to one year in office, things ought to have changed, though some of us are still hopeful, but many Nigerians are not very happy with the President and the way he handles matters.
Legislators fighting in the house
When our lawmakers whose duty it is to legislate a law that will give us peace and unity, suddenly began to fight on the floor of the House that goes a long way to show the kind of laws that they will make for our nation. When you have men and women, who are not disciplined, self-controlled, it goes a long way to show that in our nation, a lot of work needs to be done.
My advice to the lawmakers is that they are representatives of the people, young people are looking up to them and the nation is seeing what they are doing. Let them show good examples for others to emulate, they should set this nation on a base of peace and harmony and a dialogue in whatever they do. Anarchy or fighting is not what we need now, they are a disgrace to the nation, they are not matured. We need matured lawmakers who can reason out matters and iron them through dialogue. Fighting will not resolve any issue but dialogue is the key to any issue in the house.