Text of Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor’s acceptance speech on the occasion of his election as president of CAN July 6, 2010

My beloved brethren in Christ Jesus, Let me first express my gratitude to God Almighty, who has given me the privilege and opportunity to serve you as President of the Christian Association of Nigeria. Without Him, today would not have been possible, and I give Him all the glory.

Let me also thank the outgoing President, His Grace Archbishop John Onaiyekan for his leadership of CAN over the last three years. It has indeed been an honour for me to serve under your leadership, and I know I speak on behalf of not only myself but the whole of this General Assembly when I say we appreciate your dedication and sacrifice to the cause of Christianity during your just concluded tenure as President of CAN. The words in the letter to the Hebrews come to mind concerning you.

For God is not unjust to forget your work and labour of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. Hebrews 6:10

Let me also take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all those who have encouraged and supported my candidature these last few months. I thank you for your time, energy and commitment, which have gone a long way towards making this day possible.

It is my abiding belief that the Church of Jesus Christ has a pivotal role to play in the future and potential of Nigeria, this is what has prompted me to accept the many entreaties I received, particularly from our brethren in Northern Nigeria, to stand in the just concluded election.

I reiterate what I said at the NEC meeting yesterday, I am here to serve, to serve our Lord God the Almighty, to serve you the leaders of the Body of Christ in Nigeria, and to serve Christians across the length and breadth of Nigeria, from every shade of Christianity within our five blocks. I am here to listen to you and to move in the course that you chart for CAN.

One of my aspirations for the Body of Christ during my tenure as your President is to see us forge a new bond of peace and unity. Elections have the capacity to divide, and sometimes open wounds. The elections have been concluded, and whether your choice of candidate won or lost, I stand here by the grace of God to represent you, with all my heart and to the best of my ability. Let us now put the elections behind us and work together for a stronger Church in country. Our Lord Jesus Christ had warned in Mark 3:25 ‘And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand’.

We are the only hope of Nigeria, and this calls for our unity as one indisso-luble church. Whatever wounds, whatever offences we have suffered in the past, let us forgive one another and start afresh on a new page.
Top on the list of my priorities is the transforma-tion of our beloved nation Nigeria. If we were to be honest with ourselves we must admit that all is not well with Nigeria. We have had perennial religious crises in Northern Nigeria, which we will continue to shout about until a permanent solution has been implemented.

We continue to face monumental levels of corruption in our society, which translate into poor education for our children, deteriorating infrastructure, poor supply of electric power to name just a few. I firmly believe that if the Church of Jesus Christ were to live up to her responsibilities all these things will soon become history, however we must be bold and courageous to speak the truth at all times to whoever needs to hear it, we must be as wise as serpents, so that the voice of the church will be listened to and heard with clarity.

Those from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in. Isaiah 58:12
Let me close this short address by once again thanking the outgoing President of CAN, His Grace Archbishop John Onaiyekan for his years of meritorious service, I count on your counsel and advise sir, and I know that you will continue to be a very dynamic part of the Christian Association of Nigeria.

God bless you all, God bless CAN and God bless Nigeria.