By SAM EYOBOKA

THE North East Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria, Rev. Byal M. Shuaibu has been under severe pressure from displaced Christians and indeed everybody that professes that religion in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states. As a major stakeholder within the Christ-ian community especially in the North East Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, he sleeps on very rare occa-sions.

During the week, our report-er sought to speak with him. He was on one of his rounds attending to some displaced Christians and when asked to speak on the elections and how prepared the region is; this is the outcome of the conversation:

“I wish to call on all Niger-ians on their credible role in the forthcoming general elections. It’s like every Nigerian is warming up for the election; everybody has shown his/her willingness to exercise their civic respon-sibility during the elections.

We have been at the vanguard of prayers for peaceful and democratic elections to elect men and women who will pilot the affairs of state in the next four years. We have stressed that Nigeria is greater than any individual or any nation we can get anywhere else in the world and everybody should be calm and allowed to perform his/her legitimate right as citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“There should not be any incidence of intimidation or efforts by anybody to harass fellow Nigerians and deprive them of the opportunity to vote candidates of their choice.

The whole thing is what we need to do to ensure peace before, during and after the election and it is to pray fervently and commit our country and the political class before the Lord as they plan for the development.

Furthermore, anybody who is willing to lead this country must be ready to demonstrate such desire by running a peaceful campaign devoid of any semblance of violence and must be ready to give an all-inclusive government at all levels.

Some of us in the North here, have not known any-thing like inclusive govern-ment. We have not participat-ed in governance in the North, so we will want to see politicians who will make sure that right from the Local Government level everybody is given the privilege of participating in governance. We will want to see whoever emerges at the Local Govern-ment, state and national levels to revive the dreams of the nation’s forefathers by ensuring that ethnic groups, Muslims and Christians alike are given equal opportunity to be part of governance at every level for the peace and development of this country.

When government is all-inclusive it means we are better off as a nation. A giant of Africa should rise above petty things like ethnic or religious disharmony and that is why some of us are in support of the peace accord signed by the campaigners recently.

On the doom prediction about Nigeria, he urged Nigerians to disregard such liars. “Nigeria is under the watch of the Almighty God and we need to demonstrate that all the prediction made con-cerning this nation cannot be allowed to come to pass. Nigeria is a great country and our sovereignty is unique and we cannot allow such predict-ions to come to pass. It is a one nation under God. As Christ-ians we believe that Nigeria is a one indivisible, indissoluble sovereign nation. It is a state that is founded upon the tripod of fairness, equity and justice. If this is what Nigeria stands for, then Nigeria will not break up. A lot of clergymen had doubted the basis of that prediction. Some of them are liars.

He further argued that Nigeria is one nation under God where each Nigerian is free to practice his religion without intimidation or discrimination of any kind, noting however, that over the 50 years of independence, Christians are “yet to be guaranteed that our sustain-able nation is truly united and routed in fairness, equity especially where justice is done for everybody.

“Nigeria, by the grace of God is not breaking. If you win the election, you win for the good of everybody and if you lose, you accept defeat in the spirit of sportsmanship because if you fail now you have an opportunity to contest again. I understand that President John Kennedy contested the presidential election for about nine times and he eventually made it.

Can there be election in the North East region this February?

I am aware that the electoral body, INEC, is preparing for elections in the three North East states were there had been insurgency here and there, attacks here and there and thousands of internally displaced persons, IDPs here and there. But they have also relied on the principle security personnel who had also assured that there could be elections. We want to take them in good faith. We want to trust them and hope that Nigerians in that region will assist. Do these people have their PVCs? Some have lost their cards. These have been some of the challenges.