Nigeria is really sick and dying —Odumakaiye

The Lord Bishop Diocese of Lagos (Anglican Communion),  Rt Rev Humphrey Olumakaiye, has said Nigeria is “really sick and dying,” hence it needs the intervention of the church.

The bishop said this while delivering a lecture on Renewal of the spirit and the reborn worship in Nigeria, life in the spirit, life of worship, during the  annual lenten talk, Choral Renditions and Breaking of fast, organised by The Island Club.

He urged Christians to  wake up from slumber and pray to God for the healing of the nation.

“Our nation is really sick and dying. The church has also grown lethargic, pursuing shadow rather than focusing on its responsibility as the salt bringing healing and light to the nation.

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“God has set us as watchmen for the nation in danger, God has spoken saying ‘if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and repent of their evil ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land”.

“There are vices that have characterized the Nigerian socio-religious landscape for a long time, including that the nation has been faced with corruption and maladministration, economic and structural woes, insecurity,  instability and insensitivity in governance and lack of continuity in policies.

“We need to shake ourselves out of our present slumber and cry to God for the healing of our nation. We must repent from  materialism, ethnicity, competition in things irrelevant to the Gospel we are called to preach, and make nations our top priority,” he said.

Humphrey urged Christian leaders to re-embrace  the original gospel and mission of winning the world for Christ.

“The independent relationship between the church and the nation has made it such that a nation will always reflect the kind of Christians and churches in it and vice versa. Most churches in Nigeria, are at best generally taken as private businesses; churches are established by self-called individuals, hence wrong doctrines and practices develop without any system to check their spread.

“The role of holistic theological education in the repositioning of the church and the worship life of the nation cannot be overemphasised. The scripture says that righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.

He said repositioning Nigeria  in essence was returning the nation to the paths of righteousness.

Speaking also, the chairman of the club, Mr. Olabanji Oladapo, advised that Christians should fast and abstain from sinful acts.