Bayelsa mulls stopping sponsorship of pilgrims Governor of the oil-rich Nigerian state of Bayelsa on Friday said that his government would gradually begin to withdraw its yearly sponsorship of intending pilgrims for pilgrimages. Gov. Seriake Dickson said this in Yenagoa when members of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims’ Commission, led by its Executive Secretary, Mr John-Kennedy Opara, paid him a courtesy call. He said that the decision of his administration to gradually jettison its sponsorship of annual pilgrimages had become expedient in view of competing developmental needs of the state. “Overtime, the government will pull out from the sponsorship of pilgrimages. “We expect the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims’ Commission to begin to sensitise its members to our decision on pilgrims’ sponsorships,’’ he said. Dickson urged philanthropists, non-governmental organisations and corporate bodies to assist in the sponsorship of pilgrims to reduce the burden on government. He however, gave the assurance that his administration would do its best within its available resources to assist intending pilgrims this year. •Governor Henry Seriake Dickson •Governor Henry Seriake Dickson Dickson, who recalled that the state government sponsored about 400 pilgrims last year, reiterated his administration’s viewpoint that the spiritual exercise ought to be an individual obligation. He said that government would encourage churches that were willing to sponsor their members by offering slots to them to enable the less-privileged Christians to perform their spiritual obligation. “Government will reach out to philanthropists, NGOs and other groups to undertake the sponsorship of pilgrims. “We are going to offer slots to all churches that desire to sponsor pilgrims on their own without government’s assistance. “We will also ask churches to sponsor a number of people on the basis of need,’’ he added. Earlier, Opara said that they were in the state to encourage Christians to participate in this year’s pilgrimage so as to stir up their moral and spiritual rejuvenation. Opara, who commended the governor for his support for the Church, said that the commission had approved the allocation of 1,006 slots to Bayelsa. He also said that the commission had introduced a scheme known as “Family Pilgrimage’’ to enable families to partake in the pilgrimage.
Posted on: Fri, 13 Sep 2013 20:37:00 +0000
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