Lalong Charges Christians On Active Participation In Politics

Plateau State Governor Simon Bako has called on Christians to actively participate in politics as a way of contributing to national development and adding value to governance in Nigeria. 

Governor Lalong gave this charge while addressing the 14th Annual Conference of the Association of Papal Knights and Medalists in Nigeria on Thursday in Jos. 

According to Lalong the theme of the Conference, “Fratelli Tutti: Path for Credible Elections for Good Governance in Nigeria” is very appropriate as it will discuss issues about leadership recruitment and the delivery of good governance in Nigerian by the political class and bureaucrats. 

He said "Many have suggested and rightly so, that Nigeria’s many challenges stem from poor leadership. However, a lot of people forget or do not realise that leadership does not begin and end with elections. 

"It starts much earlier and continues afterwards. As someone who has been in politics most of my adult life, I can say without fear of contradiction that leadership recruitment begins with the consciousness of the society on what kind of leadership it desires.

"This determines the level of participation or otherwise of the citizens in the process that identifies, adopts and presents candidates for elections. 

"Sadly, many of our brothers and sisters shy away from getting involved and would rather prefer to criticize, castigate and sometimes pull down those in office."

Lalong said while he appreciates the fact that the Catholic Church has a robust platform for encouraging and pushing its members to participate in politics, so much still needs to be done within the entire Body of Christ in Nigeria to ensure that more Christians occupy decision-making offices. 

"As children of light, we must be on the table of governance in order to stop darkness from taking a root and dominating. 

"That is why I appeal to the Church to continue to create avenues for constant engagement with Christian politicians for proper articulation of its interests and evaluation," he said.