Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi state has charged men of God to engage in productive activities that would enable them assist those under their care.
The Governor gave this charge on Tuesday when he empowered 5000 ministers of God in the state with grants totaling over N500, 000,000.00 (Five hundred million naira) at Pa Ngele Oruta township stadium Abakaliki.
Those empowered comprises of 2,500 pastors under the umbrella of the “Divine Mandate pastors”, an arm of the governor’s Campaign Organization, along other men and women of God drawn from the five main blocs of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
During the flagged-off of the distribution of the grants, the governor explained that the act was part of the divine instruction he received for the prosperity of the state.
He added that one of the sure ways of eliminating poverty and corruption in the country was for all and sundries to get involved in Agricultural and other businesses capable of creating employment and self sufficiency.
According to the governor, “So today, we are here to prove that temptation, poverty, idleness. Loneliness, lack of knowledge, they do not know who is a pastor and who is not a pastor”
He added that “The challenges of life are basically the product of our environment. So, every pastor must have something doing”.
He continued that “When you get involved in business, you now realize and get more experience and training on how to mediate among brethren and you can get involved.
In her remarks, the leader of the Divine Mandate pastors and the senior pastor of Christ embassy Church, Abakaliki, Eunice Oyeyemi explained that the organization was borne out of Governor Umahi’s absolute confidence in God as the ultimate source of all powers and positions.
She noted that the empowerment was a demonstration that it is better to teach a man how to fish rather than giving him fish always.
On his part, the chairman of the occasion and the state chairman of CAN, Reverend Father Abraham Nwali as well as the State Commissioner for Economic Empowerment and Job creation, Uchenna orji, chronicled the various empowerment schemes of Governor and described them as quite unique and in tandem with the vision and mission of his administration to change the fortunes of the state for the better.
