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From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
With the 2023 elections two weeks away, the Senior Pastor, The Evangelical Ark Mission (TEAM), Bishop Tony Marioghae, has asked Nigerians to fully come out and participate in the coming elections regardless of any form of discouragement.
Bishop Marioghae, in a statement, on Saturday, described the election as the last opportunity to salvage the soul of Nigeria and pull it out of the hands of people that have held it down for several decades.
He also described the election as one of the nation’s most divisive but consequential presidential elections, hence the stakes are high because people are fed up with the status quo and want genuine change.
He said: “After eight years of this present administration, the nation has moved closer to the edge of the abyss. One more mistake
may cause irreversible damage to our political entity. Nigerians must choose wisely to this time by elevating the nation’s destiny above personal interests and sentiments.
“Since the inception of this government in 2015, the nation has changed drastically. It was a change that has traumatized Nigerians in all facets of life with legacy of corruption, disunity, nepotism, insecurity, terrorism, inflation, gasoline scarcity, food scarcity and the highest unemployment rate in the nation’s history.”
Bishop Marioghae claimed that Nigerians have never experienced anything as terrible as what is currently being experienced in the country, insisting that inaction at this time is an “irresponsible” act of unpatriotism. “We must vote to liberate this nation from the claws of the dishonest people by electing the most competent presidential candidate and qualified lawmakers.
“Nigeria belongs to all of us, hence we shouldn’t allow a few alleged corrupt politicians and oligarchs who constitute less than one per cent of the nation’s population to determine the nation’s destiny and turn Nigeria into a wasteland, by looting the treasury and making it their piggy bank. The resolve of over 200 million Nigerians must be stronger than the greed of a tiny cabal who arrogantly believes they own the country. We must end this political and economic tyranny and make Nigeria
shine again.
“To achieve this, we have a responsibility to embrace quality leadership, common sense legislation, accountability and competent execution of meaningful projects. Nigerians should learn to look inward through innovative thinking, prudent planning and thrifty spending habits.
“For accelerated progress, the nation should decentralize and empower the states and local governments for maximum productivity
by assigning more responsibilities to the local units through constitutional restructuring.
“We should never allow our sufferings to
push us into despair and political apathy. Our vote is our power to turn our pain into purpose and tests into testimonies of victory that will reverberate worldwide.”
He charged Nigerians to elect a president with vigour, compassion, knowledge and competence to tackle the many problems of the country. “The person who will never betray the electoral mandate of the people who hired him to serve them.
“We do not want a flamboyant ’emperor’ as our president. We need a servant-leader who understands the daunting task ahead
of him. It is needful to remind Nigerians of the urgency of the moment with the words of the American Senator from Georgia, Reverend Raphael Warnock, that a vote is a kind of prayer for the kind of world we desire for ourselves and our children.”
