CAN won’t patronise govt by tolerating its excesses, new president says

Dr. Samson Ayokunle, the new Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), President said Thursday that though CAN will work with government; it will not tolerate any excesses from it.

This is as he said under his leadership that CAN will not be anti-government and at the same time will not fail in discharging its responsibility by patronising government.

The newly inaugurated CAN president stated this during his inauguration in Abuja, where he described the continuous attack on Christians in Nigeria as a threat to the unity of the country, calling on government to make a concerted effort towards addressing the ugly trend.

He said, “We are committed to supporting the governments of the day in Nigeria, both the federal and state in all ways to achieve noble goals that would lead to development in the nation.

“CAN is not anti-government and the government should not be anti-CAN. We are supposed to be partners-in-progress. Each should respect the boundaries that would lead to mutual respect.

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“However, we are not going to patronise the government and thereby fail in our responsibilities to speak against the excesses of those in political leadership. The church is in the world to improve the world and shine as light of the world.

“The church essentially is not of the world. We should stand out courageously and stand clean. We are aware that we are called to serve the body of Christ at the most challenging time for the church.”

In recent time, there seem to have been increasing attacks on churches and Christians especially in the northern part of the country, even as some Christians in some states of the federation like Kaduna state have continued to cry foul in state policies they described as anti-Christians.

Ebere Ndukwu …