Diocesan Bishop of Omu-Aran, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Ecclesiastical Province of Kwara State, Festus Oyetola Sobanke, has raised the alarm over the increasing rate of drug addiction among Nigerian youths.

Delivering the bishop charge to the third session of the fourth synod, titled, Raising Godly leaders: A necessity for our generation, in Omu-Aran, Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, Synod President, Bishop Sobanke, urged stakeholders to step in and wage war against drug addiction at the communal level, saying that the menace is already destroying the destiny of our youth.

“Drug trafficking and drug addiction are becoming a monster affecting our nation. So many youths, both male and female have been exposed to this monster. The church actually commended the effort of the President on the appointment of Gen. Buba Marwa as the leader of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency team and we also commend the efforts so far, but then in our local community, we have to step in.

“Therefore the Church of Nigeria through our visionary leader. His Grace, The Most Rev. Henry Chukwudun Ndukuba, The Archbishop Metropolitan, and Primate of all Nigeria has joined in the campaign. It is our prayer that this monster will be defeated in Jesus’ name,” he said.

On the state of the nation, the cleric said that Nigeria cannot run a transformation agenda without a transformation leader.

He said that the country needs leaders with the fear of God, “leaders with Godly idealism, one with standards and convictions, with a tendency towards the leader, a strategist, and an alchemist, who will transform our arid waster into a blooming garden of pure delight.”

“Nigeria’s recent history raised hard questions on the issue of political leadership. Here is a nation with vast, enormous, and indeed awesome potential for growth and development and a surface of human, material, and natural resources.

“In the days of the attainment of national independence, Nigeria had some of the best leaders any nation could have. These were the titans – the great Rt. Hon. Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe; the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, and the resourceful Sarduana of Sokoto, – men with empires in their minds, whose far-sighted vision excited our fathers and forbears.

“Today, the picture that emerged is unflattering. The summary of Chinua Achebe (1983) is most apt here: There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian character. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or water or air or anything else. The Nigeria problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the challenge of personal example which are the hallmarks of true leadership.

“If we have failed in raising leaders, the only situation is to go back to the drawing board and see what must be done to raise godly leaders. It amazes me when the leaders of this nation are arrogating the problem of this nation to the past government. I asked myself who were those in the past government? Are they not our senators and governors today? Were they not the governors and lawmakers yesterday? This is just to tell us that if we continue with these kinds of leaders, who don’t fear God, this nation won’t succeed. In all sincerity, we need God-fearing leaders.

(Nigerian Tribune)

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