Recently, Christians living in the North were threatened by terrorist attacks of Boko Haram. In a mark of solidarity, sons and daughters of Christians living in Southern Kaduna came together to pray for God’s protection and blessings. MIDAT JOSEPH reports that the occasion was the eleventh edition of the annual prayer summit of the Southern Kaduna People but was different in many ways.
Although it is an annual event, but this year’s edition was unique for many reasons. First, came on the heels of recent attacks on Christian communities in Southern Kaduna and the ultimatum issued to Christians to vacate the North by Boko Haram. Second, unlike other editions the meeting was free from the usual influx of political figures who come around at such meetings seeking to identify with the people largely for possible gains at elections. In fact, only Hon. Godfrey Gaiya, representing Southern Kaduna constituency at the House of Representatives, three serving Commissioners in the state and six local government Sole Administrators were in attendance. The gathering was largely made up of those who genuinely identified with the vision of the organizers of the event.
One of the main highlight of the interreligious event was the content of the message delivered by the highly respected Catholic Bishop of Kafanchan Diocese, His Lordship, Joseph Danlami Bagobiri.
As the thousands of people listened in rapt attention, the Bishop admonished Christians to look up to Jesus and renew the covenant they have with God through Jesus. In the well-delivered message, His Lordship traced the history of God’s unending faithfulness from creation till date. According to the Bishop, though man has always been a covenant breaker, God has remained faithful to His covenant
While making bold and accurate reference to current events in Kaduna State and the nation, Bishop Bagobiri challenged Governor Patrick Yakowa and his team to make a difference in their style, conduct and performance.
He said, “Corruption, injustice and inequitable distribution of state resources must not be found with this administration. As Christians, no one was expecting the Governor to dedicate all the resources of the state to Southern? Kaduna, rather the Governor must ensure that if he is executing a N50,000,000 (fifty million) Naira water project in Zaria, he must do the same in Southern Kaduna.”
On the recent attacks on Southern Kaduna communities, the Bishop admonished Christians to be vigilant and cooperate with security agencies working within the area. However, he said that if not for the Lord’s protection, the entire Southern Kaduna would have been overrun by the wicked superior sophisticated weapons that the marauders have used in their attacks. The vigilance of the youths in all the communities was applauded and time was taken in the course of the programme to pray for them.
All the traditional rulers jointly mounted the podium to pray and bless the land and they challenged both the state and the Federal Government to address the security challenges confronting the Christian communities in Southern Kaduna and the North in general. The traditional rulers emphasized that the ultimatum given by Boko Haram for Christians to vacate the North calls for a proper definition of the North. In their words, besides having the right as Christians in Nigeria to live and worship wherever they chose, Christians particularly in Southern Kaduna are in their ancestral land and would not contemplate going anywhere.
As the entire meeting rose up to pray, the resolve of all was the total condemnation of all acts of terrorism in the land and a resounding declaration that the People of Southern Kaduna would remain Christians, dedicated to the worship of the Lord Jesus irrespective of the challenges and attacks.
The representative of the Governor got spontaneous rejection from the crowd for his message which attempted to bring to the fore the theory of turning the other cheek. Voices thundered that “both cheeks have already been slapped”.