Bishop Oyedepo's message to Jonathan

Popular Nigerian clergyman, Bishop David
Oyedepo, has advised the Federal Government
on the wave of terrism being perpetrated by
the Boko Haram insurgents across Nigeria.
Punch reports that the founder and
Chancellor, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun
State, told President Jonathan to find means
of resolving the crisis rocking some states in
the North so as to prevent the country from
turning into a war zone during a workshop
organised by the African Leadership
Development Centre on the university campus
early in the week.
Speaking on the theme: "The Leadership
Imperative: Conflict Management and Conflict
Resolution Demands for Inspiring
Transformation and Driving Change", Oyedepo
stated that though conflict was unavoidable in
any part of the world, it was important that
the leadership of the country dealt with such
in order to avoid a state of war.
* Bishop Oyedepo
"War is a sucker. It sucks the resources of a
nation. Only those who don't know its cost
propagate it. We must not have war in
Nigeria. We should not even think of it. Its
consequences are unimaginable. War is a
crime against humanity. It erodes human
dignity, destroys and devastates. It is staring
at us in the face but we must avoid it.
"I once saw a family in Iraq who were feeding
on leaves from graveyard. That is what war
can do. It destroys the humanity in us. There
is no life in war," he added.
Commenting further, the religious leader said:
"Nigeria must not see war again. This is not a
prayer but a clarion call for a new way of
thinking. Let us have real value for human
lives. We are human beings. We need to start
placing the appropriate value on human lives
again.
* Boko Haram's leader, Abubakar Shekau
"That is why we have to start to engage in a
new way of thinking. Nigerians need to start
building character, courage and capacity if we
want to avoid war breakout."
The Boko Haram insurgents have been
reported to have claimed at least 4,000 lives
since 2009 .
The terror group are currently holding no fewer
than 276 schoolgirls they abducted at the
Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok,
Borno State on 14 April, 2014.
In spite of calls for the militants to release the
girls, the leader of the group, Abubakar
Shekau, said they would only free the girls in
exchange for some of their members captured
by the Nigerian military.
* Some of the abducted Chibok girls
The Nigerian government has since stated
that its not going to negotiate with the
terrorists on the release of the schoolgirls,
promising to do whatever it takes to rescue
them.
With seven weeks elapsed since the girls'
abduction, Nigerians and the international
communities are hoping that the girls would
regain their freedom at the earliest possible
time.