The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, Cardinal John Onayekan weekend said the security situation in the country requires a lot of action from all Nigerians.
Speaking at the public presentation of a book titled: “Lord Grant Me Faith” and the 10th anniversary of Priestley ordination of Rev. Fr. Chris Inegbenoghu held at the National Universities Commission (NUC) in Abuja, Cardinal Onayekan said Nigerians need to imbibe the communal spirit that existed in the country before the present security challenges.
While stating that the book, “Lord Grant Me Faith” was timely given the present security situation in the country, the clergy said, “there are different angles to security and one of the angles is for people to purify the kind of faith they claim to have towards God.
“Everybody claims to believe in God, but we can see that when this faith is not pure, when it is not deep, it may not have any positive impact on the way we live our lives,” he said.
He also called on Nigerians to revive the dying reading culture in the country saying, “a reading people is a well-informed people, if Nigerians can read good books both religious and contemporary books, it will be difficult for them to be misled”.
Earlier, the author of the book, Rev. Fr. Christopher Inegbenoghu also enjoined Nigerians to imbibe reading culture.
Inegbenoghu while speaking with newsmen lamented that Nigerians were permitting a culture of avoiding printed works to thrive.
“We have a culture today that what is in print, we really do not bend down to look at and so the first call I have for Nigerians who pick this book is, make use of the book. Nigerians should imbibe the culture of reading and let’s apply what we have read in our lives.”
Commenting on the book, he said he was inspired by the zeal and faith he observed in some African and Latin American countries as well as the peaceful coexistence in Western countries, which is in essence, the fruit of faith.
In his remark, the NUC Executive Secretary, Prof Julius Okojie who was the chief host of the event said there was a clarion call on all Christians to look back and see truly what the meaning of faith is to peoples’ lives.
He lamented that the world was decorated with different beliefs and systems that try to crash the Christian’s faith and none of them was able to provide an answer for human curiosity and answer the question for the pursuit of happiness.
Speaking on the importance of the book to Christian faith he said, “Lord Grant Me Faith is a must read for any Christian of Catholic faith because it touches on all aspects of a good Christian life”.
