Ike Nnachi, Abakaliki
The Reformed Presbyterian Church of Nigeria (RPCN), has urged the Federal Government to muster political will and courage to end the festering state of insecurity in Nigeria.
This was contained in a ten-point communiqué issued by the Church at the end of its 4th General Assembly meeting on Sunday, October 8th 2023, at the All Saints RPCN Parish, Uburu, Ohaozara Local Government Area in Ebonyi State.
The communiqué was signed by the Moderator-General of the Church, Rt. Rev. Chima Uduma and the Secretary-General, The Rev. Cornelius Eke.
The Church declared that “the Federal Government of Nigeria should muster the political will and courage to end once and for all, the lingering state of insecurity in the nation which has continued to manifest in a spate of kidnappings, armed banditry, cultism, armed robbery, marauding of unknown gunmen, and menace of ethnic separatists.”
The Church through the communiqué also appealed to the Federal government to hasten action on the release of the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles promised by the administration for intra- and inter-state transport to ease transport difficulties of the masses occasioned by the fuel subsidy removal.
On the 2023 election tribunals and appeal tribunals, the communiqué expressed the need for the judges at all levels to be unbiased and deliver just judgments “in order to forestall miscarriage of justice, bearing in mind that God is a just God that judges all men according to how they judge others.”
The Church congratulated the Federal and Ebonyi state governments on their 63rd and 27th anniversaries respectively.
It particularly commended Ebonyi State Governor, Chief Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru, for approving and releasing funds for payment of pensioners’ arrears of gratuity in the state.
The Church also hailed the governor for recruiting medical doctors, paramedical officers and civil servants as a way of easing unemployment and improving the well-being of the people.
“The recruitment programme should follow due process in order not to truncate the good intentions of government,” it said.
The church also noted that the pensioners who had sacrificed their all in the service of the land should not be left to suffer in penury.
It, however, called on Ebonyi State Government to do all in its powers to end communal clashes in the state while urging the citizens of the state to imbibe the spirit of living in peace with their immediate and far neighbours.
On the recent N35,000 salary award for federal civil servants recently pronounced by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the RPCN commended the gesture.
It however described it as inadequate when compared to similar awards to the executive class, the legislators and the judicial officers and considering the prevailing economic situation in the country.
They also called on state governments and the private sector to implement same in their establishments.
The communiqué noted with satisfaction, the growth and expansion of RPCN in the country through its aggressive evangelism, church planting and soul winning.
The communique revealed the plan of the church to contribute to the nation’s economic development and curbing of unemployment through its proposed industrial and agricultural ventures soon to kick off.
The next General Assembly meeting of the church comes up in August 2025 and to be hosted by the Ohaozara Synod of the Church.
