wfn.org | WCC NEWS: Living Letters visit Nigeria's troubled Plateau State

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>World Council of Churches - News

GOVERNOR OF NIGERIA'S TROUBLED PLATEAU STATE RECEIVES WCC DELEGATION

>For immediate release: 19 May 2010

During a meeting with a Living Letters team visiting Nigeria on  behalf
of the World Council of Churches, the governor of the Plateau state,  Jonah
David Jang said that “religion is used to cover up all conflicts,
although other factors also exist”. While explaining certain  reasons for
the conflicts, the governor admitted that “I am a committed  Christian.
As governor of this state, I am elected by the people and God gave  me the
mandate to direct the people in the righteous way”.

Jang, who is a minister of the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN),  has
been governor of the Plateau State for the past four years. Jos,  the
capital city of the state has seen one of the worst ethnic conflicts  in
recent years. In March, violence claimed more than hundred lives  in the
region of Jos. Most of those killed were Christians.

At the meeting, which had in attendance his deputy, Pauline Kedem  Tallen,
and some members of his cabinet, the governor said that Christianity  and
Islam had no reason to be at loggerheads. Jang said he was elated  when he
heard that the WCC team was coming to visit the state. “Your  coming
shows people are praying for us all over the world and this gives  me
joy.”

Living Letters are small ecumenical teams visiting a country to  listen,
learn, share approaches and help to confront challenges in order  to
overcome violence, promote and pray for peace. One such team is  visiting
Nigeria 15-20 May.

Jang said that his government had begun to take proactive steps  to promote
peace. "We have set up an inter-religious council of peace and harmony
long before the crisis started. Right now we are adopting some other
measures that we believe are yielding fruit presently," he said.

Archbishop Michael Kehinde Stephen of the Methodist Church Nigeria  and
Bishop Dr Robert Aboagye-Mensah, vice-president of the All Africa
Conference of Churches (AACC) and member of the WCC Central Committee,
told the governor that the group had come on a solidarity visit  to all who
are suffering due to the conflicts and violence irrespective of  their
religious identities.

Archbishop Stephen said: "We believe that both the Christian and  Muslim
religions preach peace and are working for peace. We don't see any  reason
why there should be violence in this part of the country if there  is
tolerance among adherents of the two faiths."

He observed that the state had been bedevilled with several crises,  noting
however that religion has been used to cover other factors responsible
from the incessant bloodletting in the state. He expressed the hope  that
the visit of the team would help bring about more unity and cooperation
between the different faith communities.

He continued, “We are created by one God who gave us the  right to be
whatever we want to be. But one day has been appointed when we will
account for all that we have done here on earth. We cannot decide  for
others the kind of faith they should adhere to. We can preach to  people
based on our beliefs but we cannot force anybody. The day is coming  that
we will all know who is right.”

The governor, who was quite forthcoming during the meeting, said  he had
observed that Christianity is going down in the western world. He  also
added that, “however, it is time for the African continent  to take the
gospel back to those who brought it”.

In responding to the governor’s statements, Dr Mathews George  Chunakara,
director of the WCC Commission on International Affairs, spoke to  him
about WCC programmes related to peace and reconciliation, especially  the
Decade to Overcome Violence (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=f0a5aa941a45d8c3e66a )  and the 
forthcoming International
Ecumenical Peace Convocation (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=fe6ecd787c4f0ed31dae )  in 2011.

Representatives of the Christian Council of Nigeria (CCN), the umbrella
organization of the Protestant churches in the country, accompanied  the
team to the governor. The Living Letters team is composed of
representatives of churches and WCC staff from Ghana, Kenya, Germany,
Norway, Switzerland, Finland, India and Ethiopia.

(Gbenga Osinaike, the publisher of the Church Times of Lagos, Nigeria,
reported from Jos.)

More information on the Living Letters visit to Nigeria (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=90fbae2e7154281bbf4d )

WCC member churches in Nigeria (Link:

http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=d1ce8633e8dbadbb9188
)

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith,  witness and 
service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship  of churches 
founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 Protestant,
Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560  million 
Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the  Roman 
Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Olav Fykse  Tveit, from 
the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.