An ecumenical center was formally opened in Yenagoa, Nigeria on October 31, 2017. The 10,000-capacity center was built by the Bayelsa State government and the inauguration was organized by Nigerian pastors, reports Information Nigeria.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo spoke to the attendees of the event, urging them to commit to building a great nation. He called on Nigerians to support the government’s efforts to curb corruption which has infected the West African nation’s institutions for years.
Governor Seriake Dickson said the ecumenical center was built to be an interdenominational worship center for all Christian faiths in the state.
Osinbajo described the ecumenical center as the “House of God.” He believed that the church holds the key to the unity and progress of the country.
Nigeria has faced several crises—economic, ethnic, and religious, and it is now time to rebuild. The Nigerian leader hoped the country would become the most productive nation in Africa in the near future.
The vice president also asked for a new Christian leadership with people who have “high values of integrity, hard work, justice and love for the country.”
Pastor Enoch Adeboye, General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, led the other clergy during the inauguration. He said the ecumenical center was a place which was pleasing to God and mankind. He added that Nigerians were blessed to have a sacred sanctuary and a place of miracle.
Governor Seriake Dickson said the ecumenical center was built to be an interdenominational worship center for all Christian faiths in the state. The edifice was a great accomplishment that he was praised for his initiative to build the structure for Christians.
Meantime, in a conference in Lagos earlier, Osinbajo revealed that the problems in Nigeria could be a attributed to the failure of Christian leaders to take its “rightful place,” Premier reports.
He lamented that Nigerians were always looking for the Islamic agenda and not a Christian agenda. “We are too divided as Christians to have an agenda. The key to the unity and progress of Nigeria is in the church,” Osinbajo said.
Sources:
Information Nigeria
Premier
Vanguard News