CHURCH LEADERS MUST NOT LET PASTOR UMO ENO FAIL – PRELATE DR. OLIVER ALI ABA
As the political clouds thicken with gladiators angling surreptitiously to undo obvious and perceived opponents across the nation towards 2027, an eminent Christian father and Prelate of Methodist Church Nigeria, Dr. Oliver Ali Aba has urged believers to rise in support of Pastor Umo Eno, Governor of Akwa Ibom State.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Quest Inspirational magazine during his Apostolic tour of Methodist Churches in Ikot Ekpene Archdiocese last week, Ali Aba who hails from Benue State and has experienced the pains of recent carnage unleashed on the State and targeting the administration of Revd Fr. Hyacinth Alia, stated that Pastor Umo Eno, who represents the generality of the Church must be supported to double down on his success recorded in the past two years of his administration.
While commending the Akwa Ibom State Governor for good governance and the development the State has recorded during the life of this administration, warned that church leaders and people of goodwill must not be complacent, as opponents were bent on frustrating the good intention of the pastor – governor.
According to him, abandoning the Governor just because he moved to the APC was dangerous and solicited for more prayers from the church to the Governor and Akwa Ibom State.
His words: “Pastor Umo Eno is a man of faith, as a pastor leading the state, I’m not expecting anything less than the best and so I’m trusting that he will do well. I am happy with what I’ve seen him do but I want to wish him more, so that he can take this state to the next level, because if he fails to do well, it will be a discouragement in bringing up another pastor to the leadership level in the State as a Governor. That is why prayers, because his fall, will be our fall, and his success is our success. And that is why we must not relent in praying for him.”
According to him, Akwa Ibom State occupies an enviable place in the nation, and all efforts must be channelled towards sustaining the economic development trajectory of the State as an oil and gas-rich State.
He, however, expressed great concern over the spate of insecurity across the nation, which has placed the safety of the citizens on a cliffhanger, especially those who travel by roads, who face the risk of being kidnapped and killed by unknown gunmen whom he identified as Fulani killer herdsmen.
Lamenting over the loss of lives of over 200 people massacred in Benue State recently by Fulani killer herdsmen, he said: “Benue State, which has been the food basket of the nation, have become a basket full of blood. Insecurity is a threat to general well-being of everyone, now that we have insecurity on the ground, our people can no longer go to farm, neither can they travel. But my prayer is that we all begin to love this country, Nigeria, and join hands together to fix it.”
Calling on all Nigerians to join hands in rescuing nation from the present economic and security problems, Prelate Ali Aba stressed that even the “President of this country cannot fix it alone.” Consequently, all Nigerians at all level, he solicited, must cooperate to rescue the nation from falling into an irredeemable state due to insecurity.
He challenge government and security architecture of the nation to be proactive in war against the killer herdsmen, and wondered why foreigners were allowed by security operatives to infiltrate forests and use them as their base to launch attacks against innocent citizens.
Speaking rhetorically, he enthused: “How can strangers know our forests more than us? When will we Nigerians be able to stop being afraid? If actually we all love this nation called Nigeria, it is very simple to fix it. It’s a matter of everybody doing good at his or her own quarter and before you know it, Nigeria will be okay.”
On how to stem the violent tide of insecurity in the country, he encouraged all to be security conscious. “The Bible says, faith without work is death. One thing that I want Nigerians to do, be it Christian or non-Christian alike, all of us must be security conscious and all of us must be security officers. That is the most important thing, so that we will be able to chase these so-called unknown gunmen away. They described them as unknown gunmen but we know who they are.”
Meanwhile, the Prelate who was hosted by Archbishop Etim Udo Ekong of Ikot Ekpene archdiocese of the Methodist Church Nigeria, thanked members for their steadfastness in the kingdom. He assured the church of greater exploits and blessings during and after his Apostolic visit to the archdiocese and the entire Akwa Ibom State.
