By Odeya Ogbetuo
As the 2023 general elections in Nigeria have come and gone, the General Overseer of Shelter of Christ Mission, Bishop Pere-Egbe Odogbo has called on Nigerians irrespective of tribe and religion to embrace peace, unity and love to move Nigeria forward.
Bishop Odogbo who made this call at the national headquarters of the church, Ugboroke, Effurun near Warri, Delta State said, in an election, there are always winners and losers but the important things is that the people should embrace peace and unite to develop the country by supporting the elected leaders, saying, that there is no perfect election anywhere but what is important is that Nigeria as a country belongs all therefore everybody should live in peace and develop it.
Dr. Odogbo tasked elected Nigerian leaders that would be sworn-in on May 29th, 2023 to run a government that is masses-oriented; alleviate poverty; improve on electricity supply; make petroleum products available and affordable at all times; promote economic policy that will revive the ailing economy; avoid tribalism and corruption; maintain peace and security and make welfare of Nigerians a top priority.
Bishop Odogbo stated that, God created Nigerians to live together as one country, therefore, all should learn to live together as one people with love and unity and urged the outgoing President Buhari- led government to ameliorate the harsh economic condition Nigerians are currently undergoing before they hand-over power to the incoming government.
“Nigerians should love and respect one another despite differences in tribe and religion. When we entered 2023, both Christians and Non-Christians rejoiced at the campaign but were not happy over the way election was held because it has a lot of irregularities and controversies. But as a people, we should try and put all that behind us and accept the outcome of the election for Nigeria to move forward.”
According to him, the introduction of cashless policy by the CBN is good but the implementation is bad as it has created hardships for Nigerians which invariably has led death of people adding that,a before this harsh economic condition Nigerian witnessed a very long strike by ASUU that kept our university students at home for close to 8 months. He appealed to those that lost at the polls to accept defeat and join hands with the winners and contribute their quota to the peace and development of Nigeria