The Nigerian Baptist Convention has warned the leadership against the introduction of Sharia law and ethics on the nation in a bid to guide against strife and conflict of interest.
The call was made on Tuesday in reaction to the recent push in some quarters that the Sharia law should be introduced to the South-West in the spirit of the ongoing Constitution review.
The new President of the Baptist Convention, Revd. Israel Akanji, while addressing journalists at the Conference Room of the Baptist Building in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, shortly after resumption to duty, said Nigeria as a secular nation should not esteem any religion above the others.
Akanji, who took over the mantle of leadership from Revd Supo Ayokunle, noted, “In Nigeria, we know that Sharia has been a matter that we have had to cope with. The nation should not put its citizens under Sharia. We don’t all believe in Sharia. Christians should be allowed to operate as Christians. For instance, we have Christian schools and enabling laws written in accordance with our beliefs.
“There are Islamic schools; as Christians, we don’t go to Islamic schools to call the shots and tell them what they must do because theirs is an Islamic school and they have ways by which they run their schools – it is allowed. But why for God sake would you come to a Christian school and you want to demand that certain things must be done in your own way in Christian schools?”
Expressing worries about the growing insecurity in the land, he said, “We are very concerned about security of lives of Nigerians. Definitely, it is not our direct responsibility but we shall continue to speak truth to power that those in power should do the right thing about the security of this nation. Definitely you see that insecurity is all over our country. The problem going on right now in Imo State is terrible. We want security issue to be taken seriously in every part of the country.
“It is in our hearts that there should be enough security for churches. There should be security for our schools especially now that the wicked people in the land are targeting students in schools. We are collaborating with other churches to ensure that security is in place.”
Akanji, who lauded Ayokunle for a job well done over the period of 10 years that he presided over the Convention, said, “What I will do is to continue with the work that the Nigerian Baptist Convention has handed over to me. The Nigerian Baptist Convention has been around for a very long time. You all know that we began our work in 1850, and we became a Convention in 1914.
“We are talking about the work that has gone for over a century. We have been on ground, we have structure. This is a continuation of the work that was handed over to us. When you have a structure on ground you want to bring new things to improve on the structure.
My predecessor received the leadership of this Convention 10 years ago and he added so much to the Convention in the area of education, infrastructure, evangelism and mission which is the main work of the church. That is going to continue.
“For me, we are going to have newness take for instance the area of education. We have a number of schools now and we are praying that in the coming year, we are going to have additional schools. We have a university; we are hoping that in the coming years we are going to have campuses coming up in various areas. We have a Polytechnic that my predecessor had worked so hard on and we are hoping to complete what he did.
“We are contributing to the educational life of this country. We also focused on medical services; that is why we have medical centres all over. Some of them are clinics and we are hoping that we are going to upgrade them to full hospitals. These are the things that we hope are coming. Of course, evangelism is our goal.
“You all know that we cannot do evangelism in the exact way it was done in the past. We need electronic media to help us in evangelism. We want to strengthen our electronic media. We have a television house – New Frontiers Television – and we are hoping that the coverage will increase so that we can use it as a tool for evangelism.”
Ayokunle, who is the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, admonished his successor on the need to rest his hope on God in the assignment before him with a warning that the arm of flesh could neither execute the obligations nor fight the battles that he would contend with in the journey ahead of him.
He said what he would contend with are more than what he could see with the ordinary human eye. “You don’t know which arsenal in them is going to start the battle. While you are facing one, another one is attacking from the back. We are not fighting against flesh and blood. We are fighting against principalities, against power, against the rulers of dark places of this world and against spiritual wickedness. In other word, you don’t underrate any of them.
“We all come to church, but not all of us belong to God. In these 10 years, I have seen betrayals in men. And, I have seen people whom I had never had any robust contact with in all my life come to be my destiny helpers. Some people are just close to me because, maybe, they will come later to beg for contract for somebody or other things that they want. Once they didn’t get that from me, they became my enemies. You may not know why they are fighting you. So, you have to put on the armour of God because you cannot underrate human beings,” he said.
In addition, Ayokunle urged Akanji to carry out his assignment with diligence and with the consciousness that his service is unto God. “Be ready to add value. Opportunity is not there forever; it has to do with time. As you remain in the Lord, you have to be courageous. Your preoccupation is how the Convention would become better and you must pursue it vigorously. Your office is not about your gain; personal gain should not be your contemplation at all,” he stated.
Ayokunle who attributed his success over the years to the prayer support that he gets from his wife, admonished his successor to be determined to be an achiever through prayer.
Prof. Emeritus Adewale Akinola was presented as the new Director of Medical and Health Services of the Convention at the event that was attended by leading personalities in the church from across the country.
Among those who graced the occasion are Revd Titi Eniola, Revd S.A.K. Olaleye, Revd Sunday Oladimeji, Revd D.O.E. Madoghwe, Revd R.A. Lateju, Revd S.A. Adekunle, Revd John Adewumi, Revd F.A.S Akinola and Revd Eben Durodola.
In his remarks, Oladimeji expressed confidence that the new President of the Convention would perform optimally by further lifting the body of Christ to an enviable level.
