A socio-political movement, the Concerned Youths of Akwa Ibom State has condemned Nsima Ekere, an All Progressives Congress, APC chieftain and current managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, for sponsoring attacks on Christian leaders in the state and the country as part of his ambition to become governor of the oil-rich state.
In a press statement made available to members of the press on Friday, March 23, 2018 in Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom State, Cosmos Daniel Uyo, a spokesperson for Concerned Youths of Akwa Ibom, denounced Mr. Ekere for attacking revered clerics in the state like Prelate Sunday Mbang and Dr. Uma Ukpai.
“We, the Concerned Youths of Akwa Ibom State , are therefore, filed with righteous indignation, shocked and utterly dismayed when the managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Nsima Ekere flouted this cardinal rule [attacking the church],” the statement read in part.
“Yesterday, (March 19, 2018) he asked a leading member of his fledgling campaign organization (Obong Nsima Ekere -ONE), Chris Ekong to insult, demean and cast aspersions on some of the leading lights of the Christian faith in our state.”
The group went on to describe Chris Ekong, a spokesperson for Nsima Ekere, as “an ex-convict who in other climes would still be languishing in jail”, and said that he was miffed and angry because the Fathers of Faith of Akwa Ibom State had endorsed Governor Udom Emmanuel for a second term.
“In an appearance at a local Radio Station programme sponsored by Senator Ita Enang called Team Nigeria, Chris Ekong, an ex-convict who in other climes would still be languishing in jail, obviously miffed and angry with the overwhelming support and endorsement by the Fathers of Faith of HE, Governor Udom Emmanuel,” the statement continued.
The group expressed disappointment on the attack on Prelate Sunday Mbang, a revered cleric in the national and international Christian community. “This is a man who for decades was the Prelate of the Methodist Church of Nigeria and was also the Christian Association if Nigeria (CAN) President; a man who is universally acknowledged for his purity of heart and his devotion to Christian values and faith, a man who was recognized by the Nigerian Government with the national award of Commander of the Order of Niger(CON), an Harvard alumnus and a beloved and revered figure within the Christian community in the State and the nation at large,” Mr. Uyo wrote.
Concerned Youths of Akwa Ibom State demanded an apology from Nsima Ekere to the Fathers of Faith and the entire Christian community and also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to caution Ekere
“We the Concerned Youths of Akwa Ibom State hereby demand that Nsima Ekere tenders an unreserved apology to our Fathers of Faith and indeed the entire Christian community in this State.
“Our Fathers of Faith represent our moral compass; they are our vessels through whom God has used to bless us. Because they have endorsed a God-fearing Leader and a high performer in Governor Udom Emmanuel should not lead them to pass judgement on them, judgement that by their moral grounding, they are not fit to pass.
“We hereby call on President Buhari to caution Nsima Ekere and call him to order. He stands condemned in the court of public opinion in Akwa Ibom State and should he ever present himself as a candidate for an elective office, we will remind him that we, proud Christians of this State do not share his values or ideals,” the group demanded.
The full text of the press statement is below:
Concerned Youths of Akwa Ibom State
Nsima Ekere’s ill-advised war on Christians in Akwa Ibom State
Calls Prelate Sunday Mbang, Dr.Uma Ukpai and other leading Fathers of Faith “Businessmen” and ungodly.
Why President Buhariu must call him to order
In politics, certain areas are considered “off-limits” or are known to belong to what is generally referred to as the “zone of privacy”. As nasty and insidious as the rhetoric of politics may be, politicians have learned to avoid these grey areas. These areas are a given politician’s family, especially his or her children and the Church or Christian community. Little wonder that as powerful and fearsome as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is in the United States, church remains the only community that is tax-exempt.
Also, in the United States, where all is considered fair game, issues concerning the family and the church are avoided like a third rail: you touch them and you get electrocuted politically and even if you managed to survive, you may never recover from the shame you have brought upon yourself in the court public opinion.
Here in Nigeria, even though our political culture is an evolving proposition, political actors across the political divide have endeavoured to respect these critical lines and have hardly crossed them.
We, the Concerned Youths of Akwa Ibom State , are therefore, filed with righteous indignation, shocked and utterly dismayed when the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) , Nsima Ekere flouted this cardinal rule. Yesterday, (March 19, 2018) he asked a leading member of his fledgling campaign organization (Obong Nsima Ekere -ONE), Chris Ekong to insult, demean and cast aspersions on some of the leading lights of the Christian faith in our State.
In an appearance at a local Radio Station programme sponsored by Senator Ita Enang called Team Nigeria, Chris Ekong, an ex-convict who in other climes would still be languishing in jail, obviously miffed and angry with the overwhelming support and endorsement by the Fathers of Faith of HE, Governor Udom Emmanuel , which took place last week, in Uyo and the decision of the evangelical community to campaign for the re-election of the Governor to a second term, in a moment that shocked even members of the APC called Prelate Emeritus Sunday Mbang a “businessman” and an “ungodly” person. This is a man who for decades was the Prelate of the Methodist Church of Nigeria and was also the Christian Association if Nigeria (CAN) President; a man who is universally acknowledged for his purity of heart and his devotion to Christian values and faith, a man who was recognized by the Nigerian Government with the national award of Commander of the Order of Niger(CON), an Harvard alumnus and a beloved and revered figure within the Christian community in the State and the nation at large.
He equally dismissed Dr. Uma Ukpai, another great Nigerian of deep faith, who has preached to packed stadia all over the world and is nationally celebrated as a man of who is motivated by pecuniary considerations and not by Christian ethics. He talked down the entire Christian community in Akwa Ibom State as irrelevant and economic parasites.
Before his appearance on the radio station, we were reliably informed that he had a strategy session with Nsima Ekere where they outlined their talking points and Nsima Ekere wholeheartedly approved of his odious talking points.
We are angry that Nsima Ekere in a desperate attempt to advance his all but doomed dream to run for the Hilltop Mansion would go to war with the Christian community in a State that is almost 100 percent Christian oriented. Who are his advisers? Are they drunken men, idol worshippers who have sold their souls to the devil? Who in his right sense would say such morally reprehensible things about a man who once led a church he was made a Knight of John Wesley (KJW)? We are not surprised by the paucity of moral credentials as the leading lights in his ONE campaign organization are all men of questionable character and low moral foundation.
Chris Ekong, whose diarrhoea of the mouth led him to insult the Christian leaders, was jailed for years on conviction of kidnapping and other cult related offenses. If he had a scintilla of moral probity in him, he would have resisted the urge to insult the Fathers of Faith and would have advised Nsima Ekere against deploying such an approach.
What Nsima Ekere has done is capable of causing public disaffection in the State. Can anyone imagine what would happen if a politician in Kaduna or Kano would call leading Muslim clerics such names? Would the place not be in flames? There is no politician in those parts who would do such, which leads us to ask: Why did Nisma authorize this odious behaviour?
Does he hate our State that much? Does he have such low opinion of the very foundation upon which we, as a people are known for: our faith and Christian bonafides? Is this person fi to aspire to the exalted position of a Governor of the State, which he is aspiring to?
Nsima Ekere by authorizing Chris Ekong to insult the Fathers if Faith has essentially dismissed almost the entirety of the Akwa Ibom population who are proud Christians and who wear their faith with pride as people who have no moral bearing, people who can be bought easily. The Christian population in our State are angry and are up in arms and they have every reason and justification to do so. It is obvious Nsima Ekere does not share the values of Akwa Ibom people.
We the Concerned Youths of Akwa Ibom State hereby demand that Nsima Ekere tenders an unreserved apology to our Fathers of Faith and indeed the entire Christian community in this State. Our Fathers of Faith represent our moral compass; they are our vessels through whom God has used to bless us. Because they have endorsed a God-fearing Leader and a high performer in Governor Udom Emmanuel should not lead them to pass judgement on them, judgement that by their moral grounding, they are not fit to pass.
We hereby call on President Buhari to caution Nsima Ekere and call him to order. He stands condemned in the court of public opinion in Akwa Ibom State and should he ever present himself as a candidate for an elective office, we will remind him that we, proud Christians of this State do not share his values or ideals.
Signed:
Cosmos Daniel Uyo
For Concerned Youths of Akwa Ibom State
