By Nosa Akenzua,
Political chieftains, captains of industries of the Catholic faith today [Sunday] in Benin City, Edo state, advocated a new direction for Nigeria’s economic and political woes saying that, without Christ, Nigeria’s challenges in all facets would continue to portend fear of unknown particularly with the unabated security challenge.
The maiden meeting of the faithful, which drew participants from Delta state, among others, had a theme: “State of the Nigerian Nation: Catholic Politicians and Captains of Industries’ Forum Chats The Common Good” was held at the Saint Paul’s Catholic Church Hall in Benin City.
The discourse had the Edo state deputy governor, Mr Philip Shaibu, as chief host.
In his contributions, Shaibu expressed the need for Catholics all over the world to allow their faith guide their actions adding that “As Christians, we must strive on daily basis to make a difference in whatever task committed to our hands. We must learn to allow our faith guide our actions. When faith drives what we do we can’t make mistakes”.
While attributing Nigeria’s challenges to lack of deep interest in God, Shaibu described Catholic Politicians and Captains of Industries Forum as a wake-up call in redefining the essence of leadership, adding that “The purpose of leadership is to do the will of God and the only way to do the will of God is by doing the will of the people and meeting public expectations at whatever capacity of leadership we find ourselves”
In his remarks, the chairman of the forum, Professor Pat Utomi, said that the forum was established in order to bring together political and industry leaders to discuss important issues at the intersection of religion, public and business affairs, adding that the forum will help in advancing true leadership by giving exemplary leadership and serve as a base for values in democracy, social engineering and development of economic policies for the common good of the society.
Also speaking, former general manager of Delta State Broadcasting Service Asaba and director of information, Sir Austin Mowah, expressed the need for conscious efforts to encourage Catholics who are politically inclined to chest out and join the fray and infuse charismatic ideas into the running of the country. In his words, “The current insecurity in Nigeria had, over the years, been alarming and had defied all solutions. We believe that it is only Good that will help to reshape Nigeria as a country because a lot is missing.”
He said there was the need for people of the Catholic faith to occupy strategic positions across the nation in order to restore leadership with the fear of God and the passion for service governance, emphasising that the right of the people could only be guaranteed when there is effective and reliable judiciary guided by the fear of God.
On the state of joblessness in the nation, Mowah called on the federal government to expand job opportunities saying that “economic prosperity depends on a well-established and dependable electoral process which will serve as panacea for lasting peace and unity.