An Ekiti-based renowned Cleric and General Overseer, Holy Trinity Authority Prophetic Church International, Ado Ekiti, Prophet James Omitade, has tasked Nigerian Religious leaders to foster partnership with the government to expose the unemployed teeming youth population to economically relevant skills and intellectual development.
The man of God also charged the religious leaders to deemphasise preaching of prosperity, but rather harp on character and cultural rebranding that can wean Nigerian youth from criminal activities like internet fraud, thuggery, drug abuse, banditry, kidnapping and robbery.
Prophet Omitade spoke in Ado Ekiti at the weekend during his church’s 13th Annual Liberty Fasting and Prayer Programme, organised to build the Nigerian populace spiritually, morally and financially.
Speaking at the spiritual programme, the man of God said the youths are falling into vices, because of failure to expose them to relevant skills, vocations and the intellectual development that can make them operate successfully and relevantly under a 21st-century economy.
As a matter of urgency, Prophet Omitade urged the parents and religious leaders to play a strategic role in making youth morally upright to earn the nation respect globally, lamenting that many of the churches and mosques now place high priority on prayers and prosperity, over and above good character.
To stamp out criminalities in the system, Prophet Omitade urged the government to strengthen the implementation of Criminal Laws, invest more in vocational institutes and ICT, as well as expand the scope of commercial farming to attract the youths into self-employment drives, rather than scouting for non-existent white collar jobs.
He said: “The level of moral decadence in our country is becoming alarming. I am indeed troubled by the rate at which our youths are involved in criminal activities. We should all feel concerned as a nation, particularly we the religious leaders.
“Let the parents do everything to ensure that their wards are exposed to intellectual development. We must bear in mind that the youth of yesteryears are now the leaders of today, while the youth of today will be leaders of tomorrow.
“The little morality we are enjoying in our leaders today was a product of the average good parental care and spiritual guidance they received then.
“But today, most parents and religious leaders don’t believe in good morals and sound character. So, leadership in future may be far worse than what we are getting today. It was being said before that when you work under the temple, it is there you eat. People are now carrying away the temple, because of high corruption. This is disastrous to our existence.
“My fear is that, if our youth are not properly groomed, then they become useless adults. Our youth must be made to be intellectually sound, innovative, skilful and morally upright for us to have a good nation.
“Let the government try and strengthen our laws, vocational institutes, ICT, and agriculture drives. We need laws to fight criminality, because our preachings and corrections might not influence some people. They have to be handled through our laws”.
Tracing how he began his life from humble beginnings before assuming the spiritual level he is, the Cleric said: “Immediately I finished my secondary school in 1995, I planted some palm trees in my village. I had the foresight that I should do it and it is now giving me profits.
“Today, I don’t buy some farm products, I produce them myself, and our youth could apply the same, rather than spending their productive time on pleasure seeking that can end up ruining their lives or fetch them nothing”.
Speaking further, Prophet Omitade advised the religious organisations to encourage hard work in their preachings, saying sole reliance on prayers and miracles, without gainful engagements, may ruin the lives of many youth.
“Our preachings must be about hard work. The youth must work, because there is no miracle anywhere. Even God worked hard before creating the heaven and earth, it wasn’t by miracle. Our youth are becoming misguided by believing in this miracle without working. This looks impractical.
“It is good to pray, some of the time being dedicated to prayers should be dedicated to teaching truthfulness, skills, vocations, career guidance and the basic characters that can make them better, more diligent and good about time management. Some of our failures are a result of poor planning and poor work habits.
“At the social fronts, our culture and norms must be imposed. Indiscipline is on the increase. We can’t have undisciplined youth and expect us to have a disciplined nation”, the man of God counselled.
