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From Judex Okoro, Calabar
It was pomp and ceremony in Ikot Enebong community at 8 Miles, Calabar Municipality, Cross River State, as the national publicity secretary, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Bishop Emmah Isong, inaugurated a multimillion-naira mart to boost businesses within the metropolis.
The shopping arena would have over 100 shops to be rented mostly to community members and some given out free to dedicated church members to boost their incomes and socioeconomic activities within the community.
The first phase of the arena was named after six senior church members, who served the church diligently in various capacities for over 20 years before their demise. The proceeds therefrom would be for the upkeep of the deceased’s children and relatives and in their remembrance.
The church legends immortalised by the cleric include Andy Bassey, Wisdom Anthonio, Bassey Utah, Madam Frazer, Victoria Okon Snr. and Arit Nyong Bassey.
Inaugurating the first phase of the shopping centre called “Coat of Many Colours Multipurpose Arena,” Isong said he was motivated to venture into such a project as part of social corporate responsibility for the community and to boost trade and commerce within its environs.
In his exhortation from Proverbs 10:7, shortly before issuing out certificates of remembrance to the families, the cleric stated that “the memory of the just is blessed, but the name of the wicked shall rot.”
Isong, who could not mention the exact amount that the project would gulp, said it was high time Nigerian pastors saw the pulpit as not the only place to influence people, but also a place to assist church members and host communities, adding that, with such initiatives, small-scale businesses would flow, while those that served the church for more than a decade would be remembered.
Insisting that something had to be done so people would not feel used and dumped, he said: “Let us try to keep those memories alive, since they were the ones that kept our churches alive. Pastors should give back to the community, give back to the membership.
“I live in the village with my people. I see the way they suffer. I decided to build these shops so that they can pick the goods at almost no cost,” he said.
Speaking glowingly about the church legends, he said, since the people didn’t rebel, there was need to let their families know that the church still loved them even as they died about 20 years ago by dedicating the shops to all the deceased members.
According to him, the next phase would be three-storey buildings and contain about 100 offices, shops and halls for receptions and other social gatherings and community meetings to reduce the pressure on the usage of the church house for receptions, birthdays and other activities.
In her remarks, the Cross River State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Rosemary Archibong, described business as a veritable tool towards prosperity.
She urged youths of the community not to relent in setting up small and medium-scale enterprises, which, if nurtured properly, were likely to catapult them to big-time entrepreneurs.
She said: “It is a thing of joy that this community is experiencing commercial growth and economic emancipation.”
Commending the church for embarking on the project, Justice Bassey Ebuta said he was happy to witness the programme, particularly seeing his deceased colleague, Justice Patrick Bassey, being honoured.
He described Bassey as a fantastic judge who usually looked at people straight and told them the truth, adding that he served God and the judiciary well.
Chief Etim Essien, the village head of Ikot Eneobong, said there was remarkable development in the community because of the presence of the church.
Mr. Emmanuel Anthonio, son of one of the deceased, thanked the church for honouring his father many years after his death, saying: “Wherever my father is, he will be very happy and pray that the church should never go dry.”
Also commending Isong, Patrick Andy Bassey, first son to one of the church legends, said: “My dad has been dead for about 22
