Anglican Primate urges Nigerians not to give up on nation

Most Rev. Henry Ndukuba, Metropolitan Archbishop and Primate of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, has encouraged Nigerians, especially the youths, not to give up on the nation.

Ndukuba stated this on Tuesday in Abuja, at the “Joshua Generation International Youth Conference,” an annual nationwide youth conference organised by the church, with the theme, ‘My Identity’.

The cleric emphasised the importance of faith and identity, noting that God has a plan for the country.

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He further called on Christians to actively participate in transforming the society, for the good of the nation.

“In spite of the challenges of our time, both the economy, security and otherwise, you can see that we have more than 22,000 youth in attendance and we are thanking God that the Christian youth in this nation have not given up concerning this nation.

“We should not give up hope in the sense that God has a plan and purpose for our nation, Nigeria.

“If we can find our foundation, which is Christ Jesus, we have to build on Him and that is what we want to do, building spiritual houses, building human lives.

“We want to build agents of transformation and change on a solid foundation that can never sink and that is why we have gathered here today, ” he said.

Archbishop Ndukuba urged attendees to rediscover their identity, by understanding of themselves, their environment, and their purpose for living.

He emphasised that Jesus Christ should be the foundation upon which individuals build their lives, leading to spiritual transformation and change.

He expressed concern over the increasing desperation among young people, leading to unethical practices and societal decay.

The Archbishop called for a return to fundamental values, stressing the importance of integrity and moral leadership.

He also stressed the need for leaders to uphold these values in both public and private affairs.

Ndukuba then urged Nigerians to reevaluate their values and make necessary corrections to build a better society.

The cleric urged Christians to manifest Christ’s life and be change agents, explaining the importance of living a life rooted in Christ, combating moral decadence with the power of God and being examples of virtues like virginity and integrity.

The immediate past Primate, Anglican Communion, Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, in his goodwill message, emphasised the importance of youth to be filled with God’s words, so that they would not depart from God’s teaching in their old days.

“There are challenges in society today and while this gathering is important, is that the church had put the youth first, in order to counter-balance the negative development, going on.

“You will all stand strong and where there are wrong teaching, you will be there to teach them godliness,” he said.

The Minister of Sports Development, John Enoh, urged the youth to be more focused and dedicated in all they do in order to reap bountifully tomorrow.

The minister who was represented by Mr Bamidele Stephen, said: “I believe that what we are doing now in the lives of our youth will definitely stand the test of time.

“To the youth, remember your God in the days of your youth.

“You are the leaders of tomorrow and we strongly believe that when the foundation of Christ in you stands strong, then our nation will be great too in your hands,” he said.