The wife of the Vice President Federal Republic of Nigeria, Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo has called on Christian women to always be and see themselves as Ministers of Reconciliation in all their endeavors. Mrs. Osinbajo made the call at the Greater Women Pilgrimage Convocation organized by the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC) which took place at the National Women Development Centre in Abuja, recently.
In her keynote address, she said that women should be their sister’s keepers, adding that they should be able to give account of themselves while in the Holy Land. Her words: “when you go to Jerusalem, choose to follow His footsteps and preach the word. You have to be ministers of reconciliation’. She added; ‘’some go to Jerusalem so that they can go abroad, while some go for pilgrimage for the sake of the forth kingdom and for the sake of their ministry to God’’.
Mrs Osinbajo further affirmed: ’’I like you to make a choice that it’s time to visit the Holy Land, you visit as a pilgrim’’, she said. She urged women to take pilgrimage seriously having visited Jerusalem on pilgrimage it should be an opportunity for the women to walk the path of Christ and come back changed and transformed spiritually. She stressed that her experience in Israel would remain ever green in her life, hence she enjoined all women to at-least go on pilgrimage once in their life time.
She further charged the women to be God fearing and contribute their quota in nation building.
In his remark, the Executive Secretary NCPC, Rev. Tor Uja described women as the strategic element that moulds a nation, adding that the way they act stimulates a development plan and direction.
Rev. Uja said that the Commission brought the idea of women pilgrimage so as to have a private time together for dialogue, analysis and decision making to move this nation forward.
According to him: “if Nigerian women rise up and take their position in this country, this country will be a different place in a very short time so for this reason we came up with the idea of all women pilgrimage “that will bring all the women of Christian confession together to go to particularly Israel and later we may add Greece and Rome”.
Rev. Uja stated that their visit to Israel would be a blessing to the Christian church and make it more productive in many parts of Nigeria. He affirmed: “it is the women that are behind our economic lives”.
The NCPC boss informed the Christian Women that the first Women Pilgrimage to Israel would take place in May 2018. He called on well meaning women and men to sponsor their wives and the less privilege women in their churches.
He stated that due to the current high exchange rate coupled with the Federal Government’s inability to grant concessionary exchange rate to both the Christians and the Muslims, the Commission is somehow subsidizing the 2017 October-December Pilgrimage.
The theme of the Greater Women Pilgrimage Convocation is: Women As Destiny Moulders.
