Paul Osuyi, Asaba
Delta State governor Dr Ifeanyi Okowa on Sunday expressed worries over rising incidents of ritual killings, kidnappings and other crimes across the country, attributing the trend to the get-rich-quick syndrome among the people especially the youths.
The governor said the craze for wealth and material possessions among Nigerians add to the high incidents of crime, and urged the people to be more committed to the affairs of God.
He spoke at the 1st session of the 15th Synod of the Asaba Diocese of the Anglican Communion held at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Ubulu-Okiti, Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State.
“The inordinate desire for wealth and material possessions inevitably results in compromise, covetousness and corruption. This is, perhaps, our greatest undoing as a nation today as people want to make money at all cost and the result is what we are seeing all around us – a rise in cases of ritual killings, kidnappings, advance fee fraud (popularly known as yahoo-yahoo), violent crimes and even occultism in churches.
“While God is committed to meeting our needs, it is also His will that we do not make making money our main pursuit in life; His command remains to seek His kingdom first and all other things will be added (Matthew 6:33),” he stated.
He observed that the theme of the synod: “The pursuit of the vain and the evanescent,” addresses “the concerns of mortal beings that are daily caught in the dilemma of whether to pursue after that which is spiritual and, therefore, eternal or that which is material and, therefore, temporary; the choice is not often as easy as it may sound in a Sunday school class because out there in the real world, things can get really sticky.
“Truth be told, we need many God-fearing leaders in all facets of our national life – men and women who will think less of themselves but more of the people that they have been called to serve – because it is against the divine order for any leader to attempt to use his position to oppress and boss people around. My advice is that we simply live our lives to worship, love, obey, trust God and leave the rest to Him.”
Earlier in a sermon, Rt. Rev. Markus Danbinta, Bishop, Diocese of Dutse, urged Christians to store their treasure in heaven rather than on earth, stating, “your deeds here on earth are your treasure in heaven; the deeds of kindness done to the people in need are done for Christ and are treasures in heaven.
“We are so mindful of our own things; we don’t give much attention to other people which is not good and you should know that your character will also, determine if you will go to heaven or not; don’t be too attached to the world, see yourself as someone on a pilgrimage to the earth and aspire to make heaven with your deeds.”