Gov. Bello donates bus to CAN, sponsors 117 Christian pilgrims‎‎

As part of efforts to disabuse claims of marginalisation in some quarters, the Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, has donated a brand new bus to the Christian Association of Nigeria, adding that despite the ban on pilgrimage sponsorship, the government sponsored 117 Christians to the Holy land.
Bello, in a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Jonathan Tsado Vatsa, said the gesture is part of effort to allay the fears that Christians are being marginalised in the state.
The statement added that the Sharia court issue was not created by the current administration.
The statement said the outcry of marginalisation by Christians in the state was not caused by the Bello-led administration but an age-long situation, which will be laid to rest soon as the governor has ordered the immediate employment of Christian Religious Knowledge teachers across the state by January 2017.
Bello spoke when the leadership of CAN, led by the State Chairman, Rev. Mathias Echioda,‎ paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House.
He assured them of cordial relationship and said that both Islamic and Christian Religious Knowledge will help improve and teach students moral lessons across the state.
The Commissioner for Information while speaking to journalists at the 1st Ni‎ger State Christmas Carol Festival, which held after 40 years of its existence, appealed to Christians to shun every form of division, come together and have one voice to achieve results.
According to Vatsa: “For the fact that Mr. Governor sponsored the first Christmas carol since the inception of the state 40 years ago, it shows that the government is not religiously biased and despite the ban on pilgrimage sponsorship to the Holy land, the Governor in his own benevolence still sponsored 117 Christians to Israel and the first batch left on Monday.”
He further called on Christian politicians to come together, champion a cause for Christians and chart a positive course that will benefit the state rather than continuously complaining and making accusations.