Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo on Saturday called for self-sacrifice, righteousness to transform Nigeria.
He spoke during the 50th anniversary lecture, award and dinner of the Shepherd Hill Baptist Church, in Obanikoro, Lagos state. The theme was: “The role of contemporary church in Nation building: Pessimism, optimism or Activism”.
Speaking at the programme, Osinbajo said “As Christians are we just going to sit at home and pray. If we do not get involved how will we make the difference? We are here for a time like this and we have to be ready for the attack. I will not ask how many people have prayed and fasted for me.
According to him, there is a test of courage and faith that every nation builder must face.
“If you want to be the salt of the earth like Jesus Christ said, you must be the salt in the stew, which means you will be ready to take the heat too.”
Osinbajo noted that righteousness is what exalts a nation, noting that nation building would also need the power of faith.
“Righteousness exalts a nation; we know that our nation needs righteousness and without righteousness our nation cannot be exalted. Righteousness exalts individuals and it also exalts a nation.
“Nation building mandate can only be fulfilled by the overcoming power of faith in God and in His enduring word. Such faith is an active faith, one that interfaces with its environment, forcefully advancing against the gates of hell and deploying appropriate strategies from activism to policy propositions and from advocacy to active policy and governance and upward.
He stressed that faith must be used to achieve the purposes that God has called us to achieve.
“Our faith means nothing if we are not using it to achieve the purposes that God has called us to achieve.
We are the ones to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, we must pray and fast.
“We must stand for righteousness. If you stand for righteousness, unrighteousness will fight back and that fight will be tough. There is nobody in Nigeria that stands for truth that will not be attacked, but if you stand for evil, you will be surprised how easily you will get away with it. In a system where there is corruption in every institution even in the religious institutions.”
“In this Gospel we do not agree with our flesh, we are to love and pray for our enemies. If we will transform our country, it involves self-sacrifice; people will speak evil of us, but we must stand for righteousness,” he said.
He thanked God for what He is doing in the church in the past 50 years, and prayed that God “does more and all of us will be here in another fifty years” .
Chairman on the occasion, the former Nigerian Ambassador to Great Britain, Christopher Kolade noted that the church is relevant in nation building, adding that how well the church responds to the changing needs in the society will be relevant in it contributing to transform the nation.
Lecturer, Senior Pastor, Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, also said that it is the responsibility of the church to build individuals who will go out to build the nation.
He decried the various economic problems in the country today, noting that there is the need for the church to influence all sectors of the economy.