The Niger State Chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), has called for the inclusion of more Christians in governance.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the state chairman of the association, Reverend Mathias Echioda, while commending the parties in the state for the success recorded during the primaries, urged all the governorship candidates of various parties to pick Christians as their running mates for the 2019 elections.
According to Echioda, although CAN is not partisan, he believes that the demand for a Muslim/Christian ticket in the state is a legitimate one in order to allow equity and fairness to prevail.
He said, “It is on record that the previous administrations in the state, with the exception of that of Engr. A. A. Kure, have jettisoned this simple principle of fairness and equity, thereby relegating the Christians in the state to the background and denying them their legitimate right.
“We therefore totally disagree with the claims by some Politicians that there are no Christian Politicians in the state as this claim is not only undermining the integrity of the Christians but is also a calculated attempt to put unnecessary blames on the Christians. We have not only responsible but highly intelligent, upright, technocrats and sincere Christians who are ready to serve and contribute positively to the rapid development of the state”.
Speaking further, Echioda called on all governorship candidates to give priority to the reintroduction of the Christian Religious Knowledge (CRS) in all public schools in the state, noting that it had been absent from the curriculum of the state for many years now.
“The Christian body had made several presentations, both verbally and written, to the past and present administrations in the State but without any positive outcome yet; and the various promises by the administrations have turned out to look like a calculated attempt to deny the Christian children of acquiring their religious knowledge, especially since the Islamic Religious Knowledge (IRK) is being taught unabated in all public schools in the State,” he said.
Ahead of the general elections, the association also called on all Christians to come out en mass and vote for the candidates of their choice as a way of fulfilling their political obligations to their father land.
