Information Minister Mr. Labaran Maku says President Goodluck Jonathan has remained focussed on developing the country through his Transformation Agenda despite the contemporary security challenges and the deliberate over-heating of the polity for individual political ambitions. He made the remarks in Abuja at a Pre-Centenary Service of the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria.
He said it is a rarity to find a nation’s economy grow at a faster pace amidst challenges like Nigeria under President Jonathan, who was able to place the country among the fastest growing economies in the world in the last three years.
He said the President is addressing the deficit in infrastructure through systematic policy reforms that have started yielding results in different sectors.
The Minister announced that so far the construction of seven power plants have been completed while others are coming on stream very soon in the renewed effort to tackle the challenge of power supply in the country.
He disclosed that 32 road projects were completed across the country in 2012 as part of the infrastructure renewal.
Mr. Maku therefore urged Nigerians to disregard the ranting of the political opposition who are bent of misleading the public for selfish political reasons.
He told the congregation that President Jonathan has the constitutional right to re-contest the presidency in 2015 if he chooses to do so and called for the support of Nigerians to consolidate the development of the country.
The Minister stressed that Nigerians reserve the right to decide who to vote for in the elections based on the track records and achievements of the contestants.
Mr. Maku thanked the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria for its significant contributions to the development of the country in the last one hundred years especially in spreading the gospel of God through its network of Churches.
He said the missionaries provided the bedrock for the educational development of Nigerians without recourse to tribe or religion.
The Minister, who observed that the centenary celebration of the Church is coming at a time Nigeria is preparing for its centenary celebration as a united entity, said the glory of God far more than any other critical institutions of state, kept Nigeria united in the last one hundred years.
In his remarks, the Archbishop, Most Reverend Nemuel Baba said the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria played critical roles in the past one hundred years towards promoting peace, inter-religious harmony, women and youth empowerment and education.
He used the occasion to appeal to President Jonathan to return schools and hospitals taken away from the missionaries in order to adequately utilise them for human development.
Most Reverend Baba said the Church would soon mount a national prayer campaign to complement the government in the areas of peace, moral reawakening, anti-corruption crusade among others.
Joseph Mutah
Press Secretary
