Love Your Eyes- A Necessity

CYRIL MBAH, Abuja

A globally active non-governmental organization known as the International Christian Organisation for Sustainable Development [ICOSD] will on Friday engage presidential candidates of the eighteen registered political parties in open discussions on their economic programmes especially how the parties plan to eradicate poverty in Nigeria.

President of the development sensitive group, Bishop [Professor] Joseph Vambe, who addressed a press conference in Abuja Tuesday on the proposed engagement with party flag-bearers, explained that the planned interactive forum will hold simultaneously with the launch of the association’s African chapter to mark the beginning of efforts aimed at actualizing the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal Initiative adopted at the UN September 25, 2015 Summit.

While recalling that the UN summit dwelt on how to “end extreme poverty, fight inequality, injustice and tackle climate change to a standstill by 2030,” Professor Vambe stated that except presidential candidates are given the opportunity to properly outline and discuss their development blueprint, it will be difficult for Nigerians to understand what each party hopes to do to tackle poverty and reduce hunger in the country.

He stated that all the presidential candidates have been duly invited to the open discussion forum and hoped that the candidates would see the invitation as an opportunity to interact with the people and key into it to sell their development programmes and manifestos to the electorate to enable voters make informed decisions for the 2023 elections.

Professor Vambe also stated that the International Christian Organisation for Sustainable Development [ICOSD] was established as a global platform to drive policies aimed at changing widespread economic problems and especially the high poverty rate in Nigeria in a creative, biblical manner through a humanism driven socioeconomic empowerment process structured with the spirit of one people, one wealth model in mind.

He stated that the group also aims at “promoting biblical world view, humanism and collective socioeconomic empowerment in one spirit, one body and one wealth in order to achieve the United Nation’s sustainable development goals of zero poverty by 2072- a 50 year strategic operational structure and empowerment plan.”

Professor Vambe also explained, during the question and answer session at the briefing, that ICOSD was not a rival body to the Christian Association of Nigeria [CAN] like many people have mistakenly assumed stressing that CAN approved the programmes, aims and objectives of the group which was anchored on using available means and resources to drive programmes that reduce or tackle poverty and inequality in Nigeria and globally.

Traditional ruler of Karu in the Federal Capital Territory [FCT], Dr. Emmanuel Kyauta Yepwi, who serves as one of the patrons of the group, used the opportunity to lend his voice to calls for the reduction of the poverty level and suffering experienced by the people stressing that the poverty level in the country has gone too high and has become unbearable for the people.

“This programme is a welcome one and we urge the government to look into the suffering of the people and see what can be done to ensure that the programme is used to alleviate poverty in the land because the people are actually suffering untold hardship,” the monarch said.

Some of the prominent dignitaries expected at the Friday open dialogue programme with political party flag-bearers include Vice President Professor Yomi Osibanjo, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, Senator Gabriel Suswam and General TY Danjuma among many others.

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