THANKSGIVING: from left; Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, The Bishop of the Diocese of Asaba, Rt. Revd. Justus Mogekwu and the Chairman of the Nigeria Legion, Delta State chapter, Lt. Col. Daniel Amereh during the Inter-Denominational thanksgiving service marking the year 2015 Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebration held at the Anglican Cathedral Church of St. Peter’s, Asaba yesterday Photo: Henry Unini
AS Nigeria remembers its fallen heroes, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State has called for actions which will deepen the peace and unity of the country.
Uduaghan made the call yesterday at an inter-denominational thanksgiving service as part of activities for the year, 2015 Armed Forces Remembrance Day held at the Cathedral Church of St. Peters (Anglican Communion), Asaba.
According to him, it was important for Nigerians to shun actions that are capable of dividing Nigerians stating that peaceful co-existence should not be compromised on the altar of selfish ego.
“Terrorism is not a Nigerian affair, it is a worldwide phenomenon, we need to support our security agencies in the fight against terrorism,” he said, adding, “by the grace of God, this nation will remain one indivisible entity.”
He said there are fears of election violence in the country disclosing that his administration has mapped preventive measures to curb such violence in the state.
“Next month elections will come, there has been a lot of security concern for the elections; there have been prayers everywhere to prevent violence before, during and after the elections. As a government, we will not sit and watch it occur, we have put in place preventive programmes so that our people will know that nobody need to die in an election.”
“We will mobilise our religious leaders, traditional rulers, youth groups and elders to educate our people to minimize election violence and reduce the work of security agencies”, he added.
He called for freedom of candidates to campaign wherever they want during the electioneering period and decried reports of threats to stop some people from campaigning in certain places.
The Governor noted that the armed forces was doing a lot for Nigerians and commended them for their efforts to keep Nigeria as one as well as safe and secured for lives and property.
“We appreciate the work of our security agencies, especially their sacrifices to keep the nation as one,” he said.
Earlier, the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Asaba, Rt. Rev. Justus Mogekwu in a sermon decried the tendency by some people to Islamise Nigeria at all cost, saying the activities of the Boko Haram Islamic sect was to “conquer the North, then foist their religion on the South.”
He prayed for peace and unity in Nigeria and called for support for the families of the fallen heroes.