A former General Secretary of Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), Professor Yusuf Turaki, on Monday blamed the recent crisis rocking the Christian Association of Nigeria in the north on lack of unity in the Church.
Turaki disclosed this while presenting a paper titled: “The Unity of the Church”, at the Delegates meeting of prominent church leaders of the north, under the umbrella of Christian Association of Nigeria Northern Region, held in Jos, with the theme: Peace and Unity in the Body of Christ.
“Presently as we are here gathered, the Church in the north is more divided today than ever before.
“The national political system and elections have so factionalize the Christian communities to the extent that they do not have a common goal, for self preservation, identity, development and security.
According to him, “Political parties have so divided the Church into becoming internal enemies of each or other.
“Christian communities are the worst hit by Boko Haram and the marauding Muslim Fulani herdsmen.
“And unfortunately they do not have clue on how to respond to the invasions, killings and foreign occupations of their communities and lands; because of lack of unity.
He lamented that, “Christians have become easy preys to militant jihadists who invade their communities and land at will.
“The security agencies in the country are highly compromised, with a very high proportion of state security and peace saboteurs; which often leave christian communities defenseless and vulnerable with very high proportion of casualties and victims of militant violence,” he further lamented.
“Another reason is political rhetorics, jingles and slogans have not changed the predicament and plight of the common people, but have left them worst off.
Turaki who was the guest speaker, further blamed unhealthy politicking within the churches and CAN, saying it has left the Church more divided and ineffective than it used to be; “that is why we need unity”.
“These issues I have raised, there is no way individual Churches and individual Christians can fight and win over these issues. They require a united front, will and commitment to protect the community of the Church of Jesus Christ in Northern Nigeria.
“So my brothers and sisters, if there is anything that I want to stress, it is this fact of unity base upon the reason why we need unity and also for the necessity of the unity.
“We have already witness the gradual dissemination of the Church of Jesus Christ in the north.
“The Northern Church plagued by these negative social forces do make the call for Church unity in the north imperative; the unity for the Church is a must, is not a choice, if we are to survive”, he further stressed.
He appealed to the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), to put its house in order, saying, “a house divided against itself cannot stand.”
In his welcome address, Northern CAN Chairman of the 19 northern States and the FCT, Rev. Yakubu Pam, said, “My stand has always been for dialogue amongst Christian brothers because we are one in the body of Christ and that we should be.
Pam added that, “By so doing, this will be a new beginning for the Christian Association of Nigeria in the North as it would be a body where our youths would find solace.
“It would be a body that provides succour for Christians living in poverty, and would serve as a voice against violent attacks, against Christian farmers living in rural communities and of course it would partner and seek wisdom for our leaders in authority.”
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