On Thursday, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo enjoined faith-based organisations in the country to shun rumours that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari was moving to Islamise Nigeria.
He told religious leaders after receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Student Christian Movement of Nigeria (SCM) in his office, that they should dwell on facts.
Before the election in 2015, Prof. Osinbajo spoke out that the All Progressives Congress (APC) was not secretly plotting to Islamise Nigeria if it won the election.
He again reaffirmed that stand stressing that the rumour making the rounds about plans to make Islam the official religion of Nigeria were unfounded as the country “can’s be Islamised”.
Osinbajo emphasised that it was impossible to Islamise the country given the 1999 Constitution that forbids state religion.
He urged religious bodies to channel their energies towards proffering solutions to the numerous challenges facing the country.
The vice president also challenged Nigerian youths to wake up from slumber and take advantage of abundant opportunities in ICT, agriculture and other sectors.
While noting that the opportunities were far much more now than they were in the past, Osinbajo harped on the need for young people to take responsibility for their future and be creative.
He also emphasised the importance of using the internet to acquire knowledge as well as learning a second language to boost their global competitiveness.
Expressing appreciation to SCM for the honour, the vice president solicited the organisation’s assistance in disseminating factual information about the Federal Government’s policies and programmes.
Earlier, the National President of SCM, Rev, Eric Ighalo, commended the government for its social interventions such as the N-Power initiative and the conditional transfer scheme.
Ighalo expressed the willingness of the body to partner with government in several areas including serving as government ambassadors in their constituencies.
The SCM national president said that the award was conferred on the vice president in recognition of his integrity and outstanding leadership he had demonstrated over the years.
The award presentation, according to him, climaxed the 75th anniversary of the organisation.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
