Cleric wants more messages on harmony, national unity

By Uchenna Eletuo

The Chief Shepherd, Harvest Centre Mission, Wale Ojo-David, has called on leaders of faith-based organisations in Nigeria to focus their messages on societal harmony and national unity.

The preacher made the appeal on Friday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

Ojo-David said that, such a focus would help the people of Nigeria to overcome some of their challenges and ensure the unity of the country.

The Ikorodu-Lagos based cleric said it was unnecessary to encourage what he called near polarisation of the people during the elections.

He said that worship centres could not have been insulated from the polity.

“Worship centres are made up of members inclined to various political parties with varying aspirations and dreams.

“A lot of infringement must have been committed by parties that tended to create resentment and bad blood among people during the polls.

“Now that the electioneering is over, messages should be a healing balm to foster unity and forgiveness in order to engender sustainability and diffuse latent animosities that can stir crisis.

“As preachers, the focus should be on peoples’ salvation and on messages of social redeeming value. It is a calling that we have taken.

“Therefore, we ought to carry it out at this moment to bond our society for greater accomplishments,” he said.

He also frowned at unsubstantiated prophecies, saying that some of them were simply seditious messages that were not needed in Nigeria at the moment.

The cleric urged President Bola Tinubu to deploy his wealth of experience to work and stir-up the nation’s development at all fronts.

He said that the recent subsidy removal on petrol had no doubt brought hardship to a lot of Nigerians.

Ojo-David urged the Federal Government to urgently introduce palliative measures to cushion the effect.

(NAN)