Perpetua Egesimba
Project Victory Call Initiative, otherwise known as PVC Naija, a socio-political group, recently partnered with the Royalty Christian Centre to sensitise Christians on their roles in politics.
Speaking at the event in Lagos, president of PVC Naija, Dr. Bolaji Akinyemi, regretted that most Christians see politics as a dirty game. Akinyemi said politicians are not playing by the rules of the game, hence, Christians have to get involved to set the records straight.
According to him, if the people want government to be better, they would have to get involved.
“We all must come on board to ensure a better and greater Nigeria. If we say politics is dirty, we should go there and clean it up, wash it and make it what it ought to be.
“This country cannot get better until each and every one of us sees Nigeria as our business. One of the things that God expects of us is to get married to the land. It is only then that the land will have to produce the best that it has,” he said.
Akinyemi noted that anybody vying for any political office should have good track records and antecedents: “We all must be open to decide at this critical stage of our life what do. For the office of the President, there are key things that we must consider. We should consider the CEO aspect of the office, which makes the President the CEO of the entity called Nigeria. We should consider the security aspect of the country, which makes the President to oversee the armed forces as Commander-in-Chief.
“So, we need to decide what the job descriptions are that we expect the President to make his priority between 2019 and 2023. We are going to issue that communiqué as a working process for Nigerians to go by.”
He said PVC Naija was not rooting for any of the political parties but looking at what was required to win an election and lead a country.
“We cannot run away from the fact that, aside from PDP and APC, how many of these political parties have what it takes? So, when we are down to reality, it is only PDP and APC that have what it takes to go into this election.
“Vote-buying is the trending thing for our politicians and that is because the old ways of rigging have become too difficult for them. Now, one of the things that we are encouraging Nigerians to do is to resist rigging and shun vote-selling.”
Pastor David Adeoye, senior pastor of Royalty Christian Centre, who was the chief host, explained that his church decided to partner with PVC Naija to help enlighten Christians on their roles in politics.
“With the way this country is going, it is obvious that we cannot fold our hands. We may not be politicians but we all have a role to play.
“As a pastor, I feel it is my duty to let them know what their roles in politics are. When they say politics is a dirty game, who made it dirty? Is it not people? So, let the clerics get involved and clear it up.
“Look at what happened in a rally in Lagos. We hear of campaign rallies in smaller countries and we don’t hear of things like that. When you visit some African countries, you begin to ask yourself what our problem is.
“So, there is a need for all Christians and Nigerians to stand up and play their roles to move the country forward,” he said.
Adeoye advised Christians not to get involved in vote-selling or choose between a bag of rice or N10,000 from politicians and suffering for four years.
Adeoye stated that, the programme was aimed at “educating Christians not to sell their votes, to vote with their conscience, not to listen to campaign promises, because it is the same thing that we have been hearing in the last 16 years. Let us look at the people that we want to vote for, their antecedents. Every Christian should get involved. We should stop folding their arms by thinking that things will change. Let us be part of the change.”