Thoughtful write up from the Sanctuary : BECAUSE POLITICS AFFECTS THE LIVES OF ALL OF US, IT CANNOT BECOME AN ABSOLUTE RESERVE OF A HANDFUL OF POLITICIANS. Having watched and followed closely the political developments in our State (Kaduna State), the Southern Kaduna Christian Leaders Council (SKCLC), yielded to pressure from many concerned groups from our geopolitical area to broker an agreement among the four gubernatorial candidates under the PDP towards the emergence of a consensus candidate for the primaries and consequently the general elections that would follow. What informed this initiative is not a desire to meddle into partisan politics, by the religious leaders, AS SOME HAD WRONGLY INFERRED, but a patriotic zeal to put our “household” in order for maximum impact at all levels of elections. We reasoned that our going into very important political exercises of this nature as a “divided house” will do no one any good. On the contrary, this will further scuttle the quest for our advancement as a people towards the realization of our political aspirations both within and outside the State. The question being asked now, which necessitated this response, is whether an initiative of this kind, aimed towards building consensus among persons of the same household of faith is appropriate or inappropriate. While some may hold a different on this matter, we the leaders of the five blocks of Churches, representing Christemdom in Southern Kaduna, at our meeting of Wednesday 19th. November 2014, in Madakiya, unanimously agreed that this kind of action of brokering hard and constructive negotiation among the guber-hopefuls from within our household is not only appropriate, but necessary and legitimate. Politics it must me noted here, because of its overbearing effects on the lives of all of us, cannot become the sole reserve and prerogative of the handful of people that call themselves politicians. Just as politicians can become interested on religious matters without necessarily being Prelates, Priests and Religious; and just as the issue of securing our nation cannot just be the business of the tiny fraction of those in the various security outfits of our nation, but of all Nigerians, in the same vein therefore, politicians must be magnanimous in allowing us as religious leaders the right of participation in politics in a way that benefits our people and in a manner that is not strictly speaking partisan. To those who have accused us of meddling into partisan politics by bringing members of our Christian household to a round table discussion for the purpose of strategizing towards realizing our communal aspirations as a people in the political domain, we want to state categorically that we owe them no apology now and in the future. We have right to show interest on the political happenings around us because such political activities affect us and the people we too govern. This kind of intervention will not only be sustained but would be strengthened in the future. Let us state here again, in the name of Southern Kaduna Christian Leaders Council, that we are not partisans in politics. This is further proven by the fact that none of us is a card carrying member of any political party and none of us is vying for any political elective post. Secondly, we undertook this initiative not for pecuniary reasons. Because there is none of the four contestants, that has the money to compromise either Pastor Kure or Myself, going by the contributions of our ecclesial communities to the building of Southern Kaduna. What inspired our intervention this time around is not partisanship, but a patriotic love for our State and Southern Kaduna. It was the desire to prepare Christian politicians to engage their colleagues in the Northern axis, not with a view to losing, but engaging the political process constructively in a manner that will produce positive results that will translate into great benefits for the socio-economic advancement of our part of Kaduna State that has suffered so much discrimination in the distribution of political dividends. An intervention of this nature falls more under the ambit of civic education, which the Church has both the right and obligation to carry out for its members, and so must not be interpreted as partisanship. We wish again to remind all the critics to this noble initiative, that divine providence has placed us back home for a purpose. God has opened our eyes to see the pretty indispensable role the Church has played and is playing in both the emancipation of our people and the purposeful development of our environment. We cannot retreat from this path today. The only way we can honour the memories of our past heroes/missionaries in their developmental onslaughts is to build on their legacies. And in doing this responsible exercise of the political machinery is vital towards realizing our quest for the integral development of our society. Drawing inspiration from the Sacred scripture, we have always taught that the work of Feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, sheltering the homeless as enumerated by Christ in the parable of the Last Judgement (Matthew 25) is better realized through responsible usage of politics. We have a duty to encourage Christians well imbued with the spirit of the gospel to go into politics as a grand strategy to fighting the scourge of poverty, illiteracy and backwardness. We shall therefore not fold our hands to watch a handful of “pretenders rather than contenders” in politics mortgaged our future for self aggrandizing posturings. What should be uppermost to use is the struggle for the realization of our collective interest and aspirations in the political domain. All self seeking battles must be jettisoned now in favour of our common destiny. The process that saw Sen. Aziz emerged as the best of the four was a paint-staking and arduous one. All candidates were assessed on four counts: Integritiy and patriotic love of Southern Kaduna and by extension Kaduna State; Blue print for the development of the State; Availability of political Structures across the length and breadth of the State and capacity to generate funds; and lastly internal democracy where the four were asked, if not yourself, who else among the other three will you choose. Two of them opted for Aziz and with his own vote add up, making three. This made him in our judgment the better of the four. The coalition of stake holders that carried out this assignment include: Representatives of the Southern Kaduna Christian Leaders Council (SKCLC); Representatives of the Northern Christian Elders forum(NOCEF) – Kaduna State Branch; Representatives of Southern Kaduna Indigenous People forum (SKIPFO); The Traditional Rulers (who were observers); Chairman Board of Trustee for SOKAPU; Coalition of five youth groups; some Retired Military Officers; and some Elders resident in Southern Kaduna(Not those resident in Kaduna Metropolis). How can anyone fail to take this kind of coalition of stakeholders serious? Let us further state here, that before the commencement of the process, each of the four candidates was asked if he will accept the outcome or verdict of those seated for the assessment. And they all answered in the affirmative. Let us face the truth and shame the devil. We shall not continue to condone the politics of greed and selfishness. This must be jettisoned in favour of the politics that serves the common good. Bishop Joseph D. Bagobiri Bishop Zakka Bonet Pastor Emma Kure Diocese of Kafanchan Presiding Bishop Overseer Throneroom Ministries &Chairman SKCLC Solid Rock Fellowship
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 17:03:13 +0000