01/08/2020
A COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT THE END OF THE 67TH EVANGELICAL CHURCH WINNING ALL (ECWA) GENERAL CHURCH COUNCIL (GCC) MEETING HELD FROM JULY 27–31, 2020 AT ECWA BISHARA 1, TUDUN WADA, JOS, NIGERIA
The Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) has held her 67th General Church Council (GCC) meeting with emphasis on the Church’s 2020 theme: ‘It is not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit’, Zachariah 4:6, which reflects the assurances of God’s power of deliverance for believers experiencing difficult times.
The Council meeting had in attendance the ECWA Executive members, members of ECWA Board of Trustees, Chairmen, Secretaries and Delegates of all the 86 District Church Councils (DCCs), Directors of the various ECWA Departments, and Chief Executive Officers of ECWA Strategic Business units. The Council deliberated on many key issues affecting the Church, the Nigerian State and the global community and resolved thus:
INSECURITY AND WAVE OF CRIMINALITY IN NIGERIA
The Council views with serious concern the unabated attacks of armed herdsmen and bandits across the country, especially in the Middle-belt and Northern States particularly in Southern Kaduna, Niger, Plateau, Benue, Kogi, Katsina, Zamfara, Taraba and Adamawa, as they continue to destroy lives, farms and properties of innocent members of these native communities with impunity. The Council condemns in strong terms the mindless killing of the indigenous Christians in southern Kaduna over the past few weeks which has assumed a genocidal magnitude and calls on the Federal Government to apprehend the perpetrators to face the full wrath of the law, and to compensate the victims in the interest of justice.
The Council notes with grief the several attacks on Southern Kaduna Christian communities, which are the strongholds of ECWA, where over 120 persons including infants and women have been killed in the last two weeks alone, with scores injured and thousands displaced from their villages and farmlands by armed Fulani militia without any care from the Kaduna State and Federal Governments. The manifest nonchalance of both the Kaduna State and Federal Governments to the plight of our compatriots is suggestive of their loss of the innate humane sense of value for life and their seeming abdication of their primary responsibility of securing the lives and property of their citizens. Furthermore, The Council frowns at a recent statement credited to a Presidential spokesman explaining away these genocidal massacres as reprisal killings. No responsible government would want to be perceived as holding brief for terrorists, unless it is complicit. Thus, the Council is even more worried about the callousness of the government in changing the narrative of the attacks, bending it towards blaming the victims when in actual sense it is the government that has woefully failed in its constitutional responsibility of protecting its citizens.
In recognition of its divine mandate, the Council reminds all of the sacredness and inviolability of the right to life, stating that no person, authority or institution has the right to terminate the life another unlawfully and urged everyone to respect the sanctity of human life and end the wanton bloodletting in the land. It advocates for a stronger collaboration between the government, the security agencies, and the entire populace to make for a more robust and rapid response for the protection of human lives and property. This is all the more important because very often the security agencies in their response to distress calls arrive in attacked communities only after their attackers have committed their atrocities and left. The Council, therefore, urges the security agencies to improve in their response to distress calls, increase intelligence gathering and take proactive steps to nip the imminent attacks in the bud.
The Council is also alarmed at the general state of insecurity in Nigeria wherein citizens can no longer sleep peacefully in their homes or travel on the highways for their genuine businesses without the fear of being attacked or kidnapped for ransom and even killed in many instances.
The Council therefore cautions that Government’s failure to protect the citizenry and serve justice, will spur them to pursue self-defense, which may inevitably lead to anarchy.
The Council frowns at the deplorable conditions of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps across the country and appeals to the Federal and State Governments to improve their welfare and ensure adequate security to enable them return to their ancestral homes and their established means of livelihood in the quickest time possible.
Furthermore, the Council expresses worries at the failure of the Federal Government to secure the release of the only Christian girl Leah Sharibu (who was abducted by Boko Haram among many female students of Government Secondary School, Dapchi), Alice Loksha a Christian nurse doing humanitarian service in Borno State, Grace Lucas, Lillian Gyang, and the remaining Chibok girls abducted by Boko Haram. The Council is worried that despite several promises by the Government, the freedom of the abducted girls has not been secured. The Council is again using this medium to call on the Federal Government to do more towards the release of these girls to free their parents and loved ones from the years of trauma that they have been subjected to as their children remain in captivity.
The Council commends the efforts of the Military in tackling the surging insurgency in Nigeria, but also observes the subtle militarization of the polity with the setting up of all sorts of military operations perceived by many Nigerians as targeted at silencing legitimate venting of grievances, with the attendant breach of the fundamental rights of the citizenry due to the high-handedness of some military personnel.
The Council also observes with dismay the huge resources being committed to the supposed deradicalization and rehabilitation of the so-called repentant Boko Haram fighters by the military, while millions of their victims are still languishing in deplorable IDP camps, and considers this not to be the best use of the tax payers’ and indeed a complete misplacement of priority. It considers the recruitment of many of such supposed “repentant deradicalized fighters” into the military and other security agencies as a dangerous trend, capable of recycling and legitimating insurgency by infiltration of the security services from where insurgents could continue to wreck havoc on unsuspecting citizens. Instead, the Council advises the military to channel such resources towards the welfare and proper equipping of our gallant soldiers in the front-lines of battle against the terrorists, as a way of discouraging mass resignations and desertions by military personnel that is already happening.
CORONA VIRUS PANDEMIC AND ITS EFFECT
The Council notes with concern the devastating effect of the novel Corona virus (Covid-19), which originated from Wuhan-China and has spread across the globe like a wild wind, taking deadly tolls on human lives, means of livelihood, places of worship, education and every human endeavour following months of lockdown of many countries, including Nigeria. As part of the Covid-19 containment measures, globally all schools and worship places were completely shut down, alongside the institution of several safety protocols.
While we thank God that the lockdown across Nigeria has been eased and worship places in most states already opened, it is disheartening that some states such as Lagos and Ekiti have kept places of worship closed to worshipers. It is ironical to open markets with larger crowed gathering and keep worship places closed. ECWA, therefore, appeals to the concerned state governments to allow for the immediate opening of worship places with the application of NCDC operational safety guidelines.
The Council urges all citizens to obey the safety protocols for the prevention and curtailment of the spread of the Covid-19 by observing frequent washing of hands with soap under running water, cleaning of hands with alcohol-based sanitizers, the compulsory wearing of nose/mouth mask in public places, and maintaining social distance.
SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EQUITY
The Council has been following the revelations of the reckless looting of public funds and re-looting of recovered funds while public infrastructure and basic amenities lie in ruins, and Nigeria’s debt profile skyrockets in astronomical proportions. Likewise, the distribution of appointments to public offices and resources that is skewed in favour of only a section of the country goes contrary to the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Nigerians elected the present government because its operators promised they will deal with insecurity, fight corruption, and improve the economy. The Council calls on the government to ensure accountability, prudence and transparency in management of resources, eschew sectionalism, and be weary of unbridled indebtedness to foreign governments, especially those whose loan terms threaten our sovereignty as a nation.
In the fight against corruption in the country, the Council notes that the Church is the only hope if the fight is to succeed because of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit to regenerate and transform lives. The Council, therefore, encourages all Christians, especially her members who are holding public trust, to be worthy ambassadors of Christ by shunning all temptations to corruption in order not to to bring the name of God into disrepute.
The Church expressed concern at the wave of hostilities against Nigerians and Africans in diaspora, particularly those living legitimately in Europe, Asia and America who have continued to suffer racial discrimination at a time the world is assumed to have attained its peak in civilization where respect for humanity is at the core and not color. The recent killing of African-Americans like Eric Garner, Breona Taylor, and George Floyd by police officers as well as the killing of a Nigerian docotral student, Thomas Orhionsefe, who was studying in Malaysia and several other cases in Europe have brought into focus the chilling disregard for lives of Nigerians and Africans in the diaspora. Dubious allegations usually leveled against black Africans by police authorities as an excuse for their brutality is revealing as patently racist induced.
The Council calls on the Federal Government of Nigeria and the governments other African countries to rise in defence of the rights of their citizens wherever they are in the world through proactive diplomatic measures. While commending the Federal Government’s efforts through the Nigeria Diaspora Commission for breathing fresh air to diaspora affairs with quick responses to matters affecting Nigerians abroad, the Council urges the government to do more in ensuring the safety and dignity of Nigerian resident in abroad.
INFRASTRUCTURAL DECAY AND NEED FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP
The Council further observes with concern the continued decay of the nation’s infrastructure, particularly the roads and medical facilities. It therefore calls for urgent repairs, maintenance and upgrading of these facilities by the Government. It has become a nightmare travelling on our roads, which have become death traps. On the other hand, most of the nation’s hospitals have become dilapidated and ill equipped. The Council also notes with regrets the deaths of several Nigerians (rich and powerful not exempted) that occurred during the lockdown and ban on international travels, and feels many of such death could have been avoided had our hospitals been well equipped and staffed with competent medical personnel. Indeed, we are of the opinion that much of our sovereign wealth that was wasted in the non-transparent so-called distribution of palliatives should have been used for upgrading our health care system and in the support of our schools to make them compliant with the safety guidelines for reopening. The Council is also saddened by the incessant brain-drain in the health sector due to the mass exodus of sound Nigerian medical doctors and other medical personnel to other countries for greener pastures owing to the unpalatable situation of the nation’s hospitals.
The Council reiterates the need for the promotion of entrepreneurship by the government, the Church, other religious bodies, and the business community. The Council laments that many young people have no jobs and equally many public servants retire early and thereafter remain unproductive. These idle persons, especially the young ones, are easily available to be recruited for criminal and other anti-social activities. There is, therefore, the need to promote entrepreneurship as a means of engaging many capable minds and hands in positive skills and so contribute collectively to national development. In this regard, the Council continues to encourage the faithful, and indeed, the entire citizenry to discover and exploit investment opportunities, and marshal the necessary resources towards wealth creation and employment generation. The Council equally urges the business community to prioritize corporate social responsibility by providing services that address felt needs of their host communities.
CHURCH REPORT
The Council reiterates ECWA’s resolve to continue to focus on her core mandates of revival, evangelism/missions, and holistic ministry as the means of addressing the spiritual and physical needs of humanity.
As a pacesetter in the provision of quality education in Nigeria, the Council assures of ECWA’s continuous determination to train qualified manpower with the fear of God in her various primary, post-primary and tertiary institutions.
The Audited financial statement of the Church for the year ended December 31st, 2019 as presented indicates that the financial books of accounts were properly kept and maintained in accordance with international accounting best practices.
The Council approved the creation of two (2) additional District Church Councils (DCCs) namely, Kaduna-East DCC carved out of Kasuwan Magani DCC and Bauchi-South DCC from Bauchi DCC. With these two additional DCCs, ECWA worldwide now has a total of 88 DCCs.
The 67th ECWA General Council elected new leaders into various offices of the Church. The Officers are Rev. Sunday S. Ajise, who was elected as new ECWA Vice President to replace Rev. Dr. John Aina, who had served out two terms in office and thereafter proceeded on his retirement. Rev. Yunusa Sabo Nmadu, Jnr. was re-elected for a second term to continue in the office of the ECWA General Secretary. Similarly, Professor Basil Nwosu was also re-elected for a second term as a member of the ECWA Board of Trustees. Other newly elected leaders are Rev. Engr. Justus Ayodele Obilomo and Rev. Dr. David Kajom as members of the ECWA Board of Trustees.
SIGNED:
Rev. Stephen Panya Baba
ECWA President
Rev. Yunusa Sabo Nmadu Jnr. FIPS, MNIM
ECWA General Secretary
