Bishop not title but call to duty, says Obi

The Vice Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2019 elections, Peter Obi, has explained to the Christian faithful that being a bishop in any religious denomination or being in any position of authority, being it as president, governor, senator, is not a title we cling unto, but a call to duty and service to God and humanity.

Obi made the clarification at Arondizuogu during the installation of Rt. Rev. Henry Okechukwu Okeke as the third Bishop of Ideato Diocese, Anglican Communion.

He explained that people, Christians included, are often carried away by vain titles given among men, leaving off the main substance, which is the call to service behind such names.

He said being a Bishop should not be seen as a mere title, but a higher platform to render services to God and the people of God.

Obi praised Bishop Okeke for what he described as “his extraordinary level of commitment to his ministry in God”.

He said he had known and admired Okeke’s style of spiritual leadership and zeal for progress during the Bishop’s days as the Bishop of Mbamili, Anambra State.

He prayed God to sustain Bishop Okeke in His abundant grace.

Advising other leaders and Christians to follow after the leadership style of Okeke, Obi blamed the country’s political and economic woes on leadership failure in the country.

He said Nigeria would begin to witness substantial progress if her leaders lived above their greed and began to use public funds for public service.

He said: The infrastructural and institutional decay we are witnessing in our society today are as a result of the greed of our leaders who keep on siphoning public funds for personal use, leaving the society in a very bad shape.

“We are not expecting 100 per cent results from our leaders, but we need them to make 109 per cent efforts towards building a better society for all.”

Obi promised to continue to pray for all the spiritual and political leaders of the nation, while urging Christian faithful never relent in their prayers for the nation.