WANTED: A CHRISTIAN AGENDA FOR NIGERIA (3)

Rev Dr Daniel Okoh, VP, CAN

"...A Christian agenda for Nigeria is not a christianizing agenda. As stated before, it’s simply setting an agenda for governments at all levels, based on the values that we hold dear, values that are godly and therefore incapable of hurting others who mean well for our nation; it is also about protecting our legitimate interests within the plurality that’s Nigeria, without infringing on the legitimate rights of others. What I canvass here, is the need for the Christian community, by the help of the Holy Spirit, to articulate those values and interests for our brethren, who have been elected at various levels, and encourage them to propagate and pursue them as our agenda".

In concluding this serial, allow me reiterate that a Christian agenda for Nigeria is not a christianizing agenda. As stated before, it’s simply setting an agenda for governments at all levels, based on the values that we hold dear, values that are godly and therefore incapable of hurting others who mean well for our nation; it is also about protecting our legitimate interests within the plurality that’s Nigeria, without infringing on the legitimate rights of others. What I canvass here, is the need for the Christian community, by the help of the Holy Spirit, to articulate those values and interests for our brethren, who have been elected at various levels, and encourage them to propagate and pursue them as our agenda.

Already identified as deserving places in the agenda are the issues of Education, structure of our federation and religious persecution in parts of the country.

Education, it was said must be on the agenda because, the pursuit of knowledge is a God-ordered preoccupation, without which mankind will perish (see Hosea 4:6). Christians should therefore push easy access to education, including free education, wherever and whenever feasible, and insist on the entrenchment in the curricular at appropriate levels, of such character-moulding, world-view shaping subjects as Christian Religious Knowledge, Moral Instructions and Civics.

In making the case for revisiting the structure of our federalism, the point was made that, there is injustice, inequity and even enslavement, in the current arrangement. These are definitely ungodly attributes which must make the system unacceptable us as Christians, children of a just Father. In this connection, the point was also made that the rise of violence in our country is the result of pervasive systemic injustice. Justice, we said, was the only enduring antidote to violence. Christians, as followers of the Prince of Peace, must make it our duty to uproot all systemic incentive to violence. There must be a way of making this a major assignment for Christians in government at all levels.

On religious persecution in some parts of northern Nigeria, it has been said that it is unconscionable for Christians in other parts of Nigeria to be apathetic about the plight of their brethren in northern Nigeria just because we live in relatively tolerant climes. This runs counter to the express injunction of the Bible that “we are one body in Christ (Romans 12:5). Truth is, as has already been emphasized, many of our brethren in that part of Nigeria have died; many have lost loved ones; many have been maimed; very many are living in mortal fear of their neighbours. It is also true that “in some parts, churches cannot own property, including places of worship.” But instead of action, what has been happening is intellectual debate about whether the problem is religious or ethnic, while the Christian has become an endangered species in many parts of Northern Nigeria.  This is indeed a very crucial part of the agenda because lives and the continued existence of the nation are involved.

As I stated in closing last week, corruption and integrity both need to find places in any meaningful agenda. In the article “Election 2011: How-To Guide for Christians,” I wrote: “Everybody agrees that corruption is the deadliest single cancer that’s eaten up our innards as a nation. Everybody agrees that institutions have to be established and strengthened to fight it. But as we have seen, institutions need good people to nurture them to growth. Besides, we need to understand that corruption is sometimes system-induced. For instance, big governments tend to lead to corruption”. As a body, we must take informed stand on fundamental issues such as this, and encourage our brethren in office to pursue appropriate policies.”   

  

I also drew attention to the issue of integrity, which while closely related to corruption, is largely personal and can help or hurt our fight against corruption. I recall addressing the issue in these words: “Integrity is the scarcest commodity in Nigeria. That is because, no matter how brilliant the policies; no matter how convincing a candidate sounds, no matter how seemingly well-thought out the programmes look; if the integrity quotient of the implementers is low, it would be more of the same…”

In the current context, the church has the role of monitoring the performance in office, of those who name the name of the Lord. Christians must be encouraged to live by Christian ethics by their pastors at the personal level, while the church umbrella bodies must not shy away from stepping in where personal pastoral leadership is either lacking or inadequate.

Now, in all of these, there’s the how-to question. How does the church go about drawing up an agenda? 

First, we can and need to take a cue from the political parties. They simply invited their members to seminars and workshops where ideas were broached, discussed and decisions reached. While it is true that the church, not having fielded candidates, does not have the kind of hold on elected officials that the parties which sponsored them have, it also true however that not a single one of those who claim to be Christians can ignore an invitation from the church. Were anyone to, he would simply be repudiating his faith publicly and would not be worth worrying about!

This kind of engagement with the political class has been uppermost in one’s mind for years now. I even suggested it in the serial, “Wake-Up Call for Church Leaders”. Specifically, I proposed that CAN should consider holding annual retreats for Christian politicians, where they all have the opportunity to listen to word-based evaluation of governance; exchange views on anti-Christian pressures and satanic influences, and together agree to prayerfully resist those things. It was also suggested that CAN appoints a legislative liaison and monitoring group armed with a Christian legislative agenda and a check-list of the attributes of just laws. With a legislative agenda of  laws that Nigerian Christians would love to see passed in a particular legislative year, this group can liaise with Christian legislators and even powerful non-Christians where necessary. With a well thought-out legislative checklist Christian members can be guided to oppose or support or propose amendments to bills…” There’s much more along this line, but its “space-up”. God help our leaders to listen.