Northern, Southern Christians alliance to end divide and rule – NNCC says

By Kingsley Chukwuka

The National Coordinator and Convenor, Nigeria National Christians Coalition (NNCC), Apostle Titi Oluwadare, has said there is a dire need for Northern Christians to form alliances with their southern counterparts in order to form a formidable force in politics.

Oluwadare said the game politicians play is to give Southern Christians the impression that the north does not have Christians amongst them, thereby using divide and rule to conquer and silence Northern Christians.

The Apostle stated this in Jos on Thursday, during a one-day summit organised by the Nigeria National Christian Coalition, tagged: “Political Engagement, Meet the Church”.

Represented by the National Coordinator, Nigeria Cry Out Movement, Pastor Zephaniah Ndaja, Oluwadare said the aim of the summit is to build a bridge between the Christians in the North and their Southern brothers.

According to her: “Politicians have divided us for so long. What they use is divide and rule, because they know if Christians in the North have an understanding with Christians in the South, it will be difficult to sideline Christians in Politics.

“These politicians come to use us when they need our votes and when they get to power they push us aside and make appointments based on their own religion.

“They succeed in doing this because the majority of Christians in the South do not know that there are Christians in the North. For instance, in my State in Borno, during the last census, southern Borno had an excess of over one million Christians in population, that is to say we have 80 percent Christians in southern Borno alone, so nobody should call us minorities in the North.

“So we are creating awareness that will bring the northern and Southern Christians together in order to form a major force in Nigeria that will bring to pass our political agenda”, Oluwadare said.

On his part, the North Central Coordinator, NNCC, Rev. Luke Shehu said the summit also seeks to redefine the involvement of the northern Christians in politics and the economy, because Christians in the North have been shortchanged.

He said the summit is timely because it is also a forum that speaks against the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).

Shehu emphasised that NNCC is not against Muslims as it supports Muslim candidates in various States, but stress that having a Muslim-Muslim ticket will subject Christians to be beggers.

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Also at the event, the Plateau State Chairman, Christan Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Fr. Polycarp Lubo said the new mandate for Christians is to support and deliver Christian candidates in politics.

Represented by Rev. Fr. Ruben Chuka, the CAN Chairman urged NNCC not to be distracted by those who will seek to pull their efforts down.