Politics: ObasanjoCalls for Christian participation to make election ‘clean’
Former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, on Saturday, lamented that the foundation of election in Nigeria is corrupt while calling on Christians to participate in politics to make it clean.
Obasanjo, speaking at the 57th Annual Convention and 67th Anniversary of The Gospel Faith Mission International (GOFAMINT), held at Gospel City, Ogunmakin, Ogun State, said politics should not ordinarily be dirty, adding that those who participated in politics made it dirty.
Speaking on the theme, ‘The roles of the church in nation building at a time like this,’ the former president, who congratulated the church on the successful hosting of the convention, said Christians must stand out among the corruptive tendencies and influences of the world, particularly in politics.
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He told the audience that as believers, they must stick to the values of Christ and ask themselves all the time, ‘What will Christ do if He finds himself in the circumstances that I find myself in?’
He said at a time like this in the country, when there is insecurity, hopelessness, poverty, depression, a time that is not conducive to living, the church must rise to the occasion as the salt of the world.
“We are in the world, yet we are not of the world. We are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. We are to be like Jesus who, when He was in the world, did not belong to the world,” Obasanjo told the congregants.
He urged the church to demand justice, fairness and equity in the country’s social, political and economic aspects.
Speaking further, he said, “Food without salt is stale. The church is meant to flavour it’s environment. A church that cannot play its role has lost its saltiness. Christ has chosen us to bring forth fruits and that our fruits should abide.”
He described the task of nation building as endless, a journey and not a destination, as he tasked believers to stand out and remain exemplary anywhere they were.
Above all, Obasanjo admonished Christians to bear the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
“Living in the world is not a bed of roses. Christ had told us there will be tribulations and hardships so that we can prepare ahead and just as he came out as a conqueror, we also will come out as conquerors,” he concluded.
Earlier, in his welcome speech, the General Overseer of GOFAMINT, Pastor (Dr) E. O. Abina, had recalled that during a visit to Aso Rock Chapel when Obasanjo was president, he met him teaching Sunday School, adding that when they both spoke on his arrival at the convention ground, the former president told him to his astonishment that he is still teaching Sunday School.
