3rd January, 2016
Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State has challenged ordained Ministers of God to resist the temptation of flirting with politicians for pecuniary grains and lose their dignity as moral conscience of the society.
Governor Okowa gave the admonition during the consecration of three Bishops on Sunday by the Primate of the Anglican Communion, Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh at the Cathedral of All Saints, Ughelli, Delta State.
According to Governor Okowa, the “Church is the conscience of the state, therefore, the man of God must not pursue political patronages or engage in flirtatious relationship with political leaders such that they lose the moral authority to speak truth to power.
“Ministers of the gospel must resist the temptation to seek fame, fortune, and power at all costs.”
The Bishops who were consecrated were Bishop Foreman Nedison (Bishop of Jalingo), Bishop Olubunmi Adeyinka Akinlade (Bishop of Ife) and Bishop Andrew Olu Igenoza (Rector, Crowther Graduate Theological Seminary, Abeokuta).
While congratulating the new Bishops, Governor Okowa said consecration is about the church and humanity.
“The state of our nation today is one that requires fervent, unceasing intercession, because, the national economy is in dire straits, and virtually all sectors of our national life are in limbo,” Okowa observed.
He stressed that the country is a nation in desperate need of prayers.
“It is going to take something miraculous or supernatural to turn the current situation around,” the Governor said, adding that the church owes responsibility to the nation because the spiritual controls the physical.
Rt. Revd. Emmanuel Ugwu, Bishop of Awgu/Aninri called on Christians to always believe in the power of God and urged Bishops to have global outlook while working locally because of their diocese.