Bishop Emma Gospel Isong, co-coordinator of Interfaith Anti-corruption Network of Nigeria (IANN), has decried the use of Bible and Quran to swear in public office holders who continually loot the nation’s treasury.
Speaking to us on the use of holy books to swear in public officers in Nigeria, he lamented the use of Bible and Quran to swear in public office holders was not achieving results. Isong spoke shortly after a one-day symposium on combating corruption through interfaith platforms in Nigeria project 2018-2020, sponsored by MacArthur Foundation.
He said, “We have discussed here that in using Bible and Quran to swear in public office holders, maybe the intention was for them to have the fear of God and Allah but it is not working, lifting Bible and Quran in your hands, has not served as any deterrent to any public officer, the more Bible and Quran they use the more money are disappearing.
“We suggest that we use the Constitution to swear in public office holders. If somebody must use Bible or Quran, he must adhered to what the Bible or Quran says. Bible is against corruption and you have an Imam here, they also told us that Quran is against corruption;
“So in using the faith-based organization, we are able to pass our message through the pulpit because we are people that have the control of the minds and heart of the people, so it is easier to influence their action through our messages.”
Bishop Isong regretted the continuous use of Bible or Quran to swear in public office holders who continually abused the contents by indulging in corruption.
“What we are saying about the use of Bible or Quran to swear in public officers who continually misbehave despite what we are saying, the religious leaders should go back and put their houses in order.
“I am a Pastor, I should go back and put my house in order, Imam should go back and put his house in order, why do you swear by the Bible and the Quran and you don’t adhered to it, we must use our platform to appeal to the heart and minds of Nigerians that corruption is killing our country.
“Corruption is a mother of all crimes, mother of kidnapping, corruption is the causative effect that causes crimes, violence and terrorism, if you are pursuing the effect, come back to the root, the root is that corruption is what gives birth to all violence crimes in our society,” he stated.
