Nigerians have been advised to accept the outcome of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal judgement in good faith, while praying and trusting that the situation in the country gets better in the near future.
The Prelate of the Eternal Sacred Order of the Cherubim and Seraphim, ESOCS, Church Worldwide, His Most Eminence (Dr) David Dabaye Lamjose Bob-Manuel gave the advice at a World Press Conference heralding the commemoration of his 6th induction Thanksgiving Service.
It was held at the ESOCS Mount Zion National Headquarters, Surulere,Lagos.
His Most Eminence (Dr) Bob-Manuel urged President Bola Tinubu and others who won in the last General Election at both the federal and state levels to be magnanimous in victory and set up machineries that would bring succour to the masses.
Baba Aladura Bob-Manuel noted that the victory of President Bola Tinubu and others was the handiwork of God and as such Nigerians should accept the outcome for the nation to move on.
He said the role of the church is to pray that God gives the people leaders after his heart and whoever emerges victorious should be given maximum support and cooperation to deliver
The Prelate, urged President Tinubu to quickly address the multiplicity of challenges confronting the Nigerians, ranging from insecurity, bad economy to unemployment.
According to him, ” let me first note that God loves Nigeria. The situation in the country was tensed in the build up to the election in 2023. However, since the new Government had come on board at the Federal and State Levels, those who won should be magnanimous in victory and set up machineries that would bring succour to an average Nigerian; and those who lost and were dissatisfied, should approach the appropriate Court or Tribunal to ventilate their grievances.
“Notably, politics loses its relevance when it fails to deliver tangible output to citizens. I hereby implore all those who had been privileged to be elected to various positions at the National and State Levels to put on their thinking caps and create better environment for the citizens to reap the dividends of democracy”, he advised.
Suggesting ways of steming the wave of insecurity in the country, Dr. Bob-Manuel said proper empowerment of military agencies, deployment of modern technologies, training and retraining of personnel as well as creation of job opportunities for the youths should be prioritized.
“Stories of insecurity from all parts of the country are unpalatable and becoming a norm. Commuting on roads have become dangerous on daily basis. Farmers have abandoned their farms for fear of bandits who abduct them for ransom, and this has great consequences on cost of living. Professors -doctors, lectures, engineers, judges ,etc have been kidnapped for ransom, maimed and sometimes killed without effective response from the police Force. We are at a prime of our existence in that if crime continues , investors will run away from this country. The causes of these insecurity can be reduced into three- criminality, ethnic and religious conflicts.
“To address this headon ,the youths should be provided jobs to do. An iddle hand is devil’s workshop. Once these chunks are moved out of poverty,it will drastically reduce bandits’ cells and vulnerable citizens. More so, security architectures and agencies must be empowered and given a level of independence to bring the country back together. Security must be kept out of politics and modern technologies should be deployed to fight the criminals involved in this menace. I also implore the Government to build strong military and paramilitary institutions and increase the funding of the police who are to manage internal conflicts. There should be training and retraining of politic officers on the use and abuse of firearms which had led to several loss of lives. Dissemination of intelligence information and collaboration among the security architectures should be a routine programme in order to nip criminality in the bud”.
Lamenting the untold hardship, following the removal of the fuel subsidy, he implored the government to urgently implement Social safety programmes to protect the vulnerable population from the impact of high fuel prices.
“We are all witnesses to the astronomical prices of basic needs of citizens, especially cost of feeding and transportation. This had made lives of the vulnerable miserable. I implore the Government to urgently implement Social saftey net programmes which would protect the vulnerable population from the impact of higher fuel prices. This may be in the form of provision of fertilizers to farmers, monetary transfers to the vulnerable subsidies for essential goods and improved transportation system”.
The Prelate also encouraged the government to establish effective methods to monitor fuel pricing and distribution to reduce corruption, while increasing public awareness to educate the masses on the long-term benefits of the subsidy removal.
“I encourage the Government to establish effective methods to monitor and audit fuel pricing and distribution to reduce corruption. The Government should also create public awareness programmes in educating the citizens on the reasons behind subsidy removal and the long-term benefits for a more efficient and transparent energy market”.
On tackling unemployment, he called for the promotion of innovation and technology-driven policies to enable small and medium-scale businesses to flourish.
“Unemployment reminds a challenge in this country. Many of our youths are now into online fraud, armed robbery, kidnapping and all forms of social vices.
“One of the sectors that can provide millions of employment is the Agriculture Sector. Government should support modern farming practices and agribusiness to generate employment in the rural areas. Furthermore, I implore the Government at all levels to improve the quality of education and vocational training programmes on order to equip the youths with the relevant skills for the job market.
“I also encourage the authorities to encourage innovation and technology-driven entrepreneurship which can create high-skilled job opportunities. Technology plays a crucial role in our modern society today. The Government can also review and reform labour market regulations to make it easier for businesses to thrive and provide job security for workers”.
Dr. David Bob-Manuel who noted that the ESOCS Church has witnessed tremendous growth in the last 6 years, admonished citizens to embrace righteousness for God to have mercy on humanity.
“Notably in the last six years, the Church of God has witnessed an upsurge in development of cathedrals and physical structures in most of our Provinces. The drive for evangelism and winning souls for Christ which is the primary goal of the Church had been enhanced and would continue to be pursued with passion.
“More so, the theme for the Holy Order in these six years had been culled round righteousness and holiness. The 2023 theme is “Made Alive in Christ” -John 10:10. I implore all faithful of the Holy Order and the Christians at large to be alive in Christ in holiness and works of righteousness in order to put to end the works of the flesh as detailed in Galatians 5: 19-21″.
“I pray that you all should put on the bowels of mercies by helping one another, especially at this critical period in our country. Continue to persevere believing that the Almighty God who had started a good work in the country will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. You shall be made alive in Christ Jesus, fruitful in every good work and prosper in righteousness. According to HIS glorious power, you shall be strengthened and made partakers of the inheritance of the saints in JESUS name”.