Our society has failed, says Jonathan

By The Citizen

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday said that the entire Nigerian society has failed hence the country is experiencing killings, kidnapping and cultism, among other crimes.

'We have lost our moral values and principles,' the Preaident added.

He spoke in Abuja at the official flag-off of the national Christian campaign on social transformation tagged 'Be the Change You Want to See'. It was organised by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).

Jonathan said much has gone wrong in the family life, schools, churches and the society in general.

'It would appear we have the society we deserve,' he said, adding that the teachings in some churches have turned the Bible upside down.

Jonathan who was represented by the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Ama Pepple, expressed displeasure that schools have also failed with teachers not committed to teaching, sale of handouts by lecturers before students could pass examinations and asking favours from students to award them pass marks.

His words: 'Our priorities are misplaced. The values of hard work, respect for elders, truthfulness, contentment, humility, patience, compassion, fairness, love, justice, obedience, etc are all lost.

'The whole society has failed. That is one reason we have incidents of cultism, armed robbery, murder, ritual killing, drugs, sale of babies, kidnapping, sexual immorality etc. Proverbs 22: 6 says train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Have we as parents done that? No! Proverbs 1:8-listen to your father's instructions and do not forsake your mother's teaching. Do our children always listen to their parents? No!.

'We therefore need both moral and spiritual transformation. We need to return to God, study and obey the word of God, which is able to cleanse us (1 John 15:3). There is a great responsibility placed on the church to lead this return to our values and morals and to bring about the much needed transformation in our society, so we can try to be like Jesus: meek, never spoke angry word, frequently in prayers and always doing good.'

In his sermon, CAN President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, said it is a pity that Nigeria is in trouble and that the country is still finding its foot.

Oritsejafor said Nigeria is a confused nation that needs God's intervention.

Corruption, he said, has been a way of life, which he said should not be.

His words: 'If God can change me, God can change Nigeria. If you look at Nigeria in the eyes of the spirit, you will see a great Nigeria. But if you look at Nigeria with natural eyes, you see a confused nation. Forgive my language, but that is the truth. We are yet to know who we are. Nigeria is in trouble, but God will bring us out of it.

'There is a wrestling going on in Nigeria and a new dawn is coming. The wrestling will end very soon. In Nigeria today, we are deceiving ourselves. Pastors are deceiving their members while members are deceiving their pastors. Husbands deceiving their wives and wives deceiving their husbands. Parents deceiving their children, children deceiving their parents. We are all deceiving one another.'