Faith leaders across the country have been called to intensify their prayers for the peaceful and successful conduct of the 2023 general elections.
The Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Sen. Lekan Balogun made the call while graciously receiving the Archbishop of Ecclesiastical Province of Ibadan, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Bishop Abiodun Olaoye at his residence Alarere, Ibadan on Thursday.
He noted that next year’s election, being a transitional one, “holds a very strategic place in the life of the country, given the current state of the nation.”
The monarch maintained that “the situation in the country seems to have challenged human ability and capacity and in this sense the only alternative is to intensify our prayers, therefore I ask you, our fathers in the Lord, not to not give up your sacred duty to pray for the country and you will surely pray to the end by the special grace of God”.
He assured the visiting clerics that he would use his position as supreme leader to speak to politicians about the need to address the myriad problems facing the country.
He, however, insisted that religious leaders have a greater role to play because virtually everyone who leads or aspires to lead at all levels of governance practices either Christianity or Islam and worships under their authority.
Leading a team of bishops and others on the visit, the Archbishop said in his address, “It saddens to hear or read daily of the cases of kidnappings, corruption, banditry and other social vices that seem to have gone on unabated.To those of us who suffer from all of this, it is time to examine the causes and come up with solutions together.
“The image of the country is daily projected into negative perspectives due to all these evil acts. As leaders, whether traditional, religious or political, we owe the citizens the moral burden of good governance because no one would be exonerated from blame if we all failed in our responsibilities to bequeath a nation that everyone, young or old, male or female, would be proud of, especially when our current generation would have been out of the limelight,” the cleric added.
The head of 17 Anglican dioceses located in the axis of Oyo and Osun states revealed that “the Anglican Communion recognizes the role of traditional leaders in nation building, especially at this time when our dear country faces serious challenges in virtually every field of human endeavour, and our visit is in part to salute Oba Balogun’s paternal efforts in this regard.
“We also call for collective action to address the challenges as we encourage everyone to be on deck to undo these incidents of decadence that have become canker worms that have deeply eaten away at the very fabric of this nation. Nigeria is a blessed country, filled with God’s grace and potential. We must all unite so that it becomes great again, ”he further urged the monarch.
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