The president of African 24hours Marathon Praise, Apostle Lawrence Bamilaw has warned Nigerians to stop painting religious institutions bad for the problem of the society.
Speaking at a press conference to herald the African 24hrs Marathon Praise, Bamilaw said church is one of the solutions to Nigeria’s problems and urged Nigerians to stop “bullying churches and accusing pastors.”
He said the aim of the programme is to strengthen youths and solve the problems of the society through instrument of praise and prayer, appealing to people to remember God while working hard.
Addresing journalists on Wednesday in Osogbo, he said, “Tell Nigerians to stop discrediting praying and hardworking churches as they are not the problems facing Nigeria and its citizens. We should not discredit the power of prayer and the power of fasting.
“As a society, prayer is not everything; we will come to do our part on this Friday again at marathon praise, but, we can’t leave everything to God because any faith that transfers all the responsibility to God is irresponsible faith.”
He applauded the administration of Governor Ademola Adeleke for making impacts in Osun State, saying the governor has achieved a lot in his two years in office.
The clergyman also urged the government to let the dividends of democracy be felt by everyone, advising them to shun corruption and fraud among the youth.
“It is our responsibility as a society to tell the youth they can become better persons without violence and live a better life, build houses through hardwork and their destiny can change,” he said.
While disclosing that youths seeking greener pastures abroad should not be blamed for being ambitious, he noted that government should provide an enabling environment for youth to thrive.
“Some people choose to stay in this country because they have no choice, some of us stay because we believe this country will be better even though we may look funny because of the level of corruption. However, I can tell you there is light at the end of the tunnel, the politicians too are trying,” he said.
