Fuel Subsidy Removal: An inevitable painful pill, says CAN President

Details: Category: Opinions/Interviews; Published on Friday, 28 October 2011 12:18; Written by Admin; Hits: 774

Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, has thrown its weight behind the proposed oil subsidy removal, arguing that the Federal Government must convince Nigerians that the gains from the exercise will be judiciously managed for the benefit of the masses of the country.

Speaking in Lagos, yesterday, at the annual symposium on Christian unity, CAN National President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, said the decision to remove oil subsidy was an inevitable painful pill to swallow. He argued that if the government can assure Nigerians that this exercise will not go the same way of past ones, then the country would be better for it.

Represented by the National Secretary of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, Pastor Wale Adefarasin, the cleric also advised the Federal Government to dialogue with organised labour with a view to carrying them along to avoid industrial disharmony.

Oritshejafor In his keynote address entitled: That They May Be One, Pastor Oritsejafor stressed the need for Nigerian Christians to move in unity and strive to overcome the things that held the Church apart so that the adherents can work together in unison.

He said: “When we work together as a united church, we will accomplish much more than we currently do, because a united church will be much more powerful than the situation we have at the moment. There is the multiplier effect when we work together as a united church.”

Elder statesman, Rev. Moses Iloh, shocked the audience when he blamed the Church for the problems of the country, stating: “80 million people troop to different churches every Sunday but when it comes to changing the nation, it is zero.

“The problem of Nigeria today is not Islam as people will want us to believe. The problem of Nigeria is Christianity which has refused to use its God-given power to positively affect the nation.” (Vanguard)