The Urhobo Christian Ministers Association International (UCMAI) held its Urhobo prayer and thanksgiving day on 31st January 2023 at Godswill Mission headquarters Usiefrun, Orhuworun town.
The annual convention was organized by Bishop Dr Jerry Gbakara, and attended by high ranking Urhobo political leaders and church founders.
Present at the event were HRM Dr. Edirin Egbi, the Okobaro of Ughievwen kingdom (owahwa 11), Rt Rev Blessing Erifeta, Primate of the St Lazarus Christ church Prophet Arawaren amongst others.
The governorship candidates of the APC and PDP political parties were represented at the event. But SDP candidate Olorogun Barrister Kenneth Gbagi was physically present at the august occasion.
Each candidate was given opportunity to speak to the people about their candidacy.
Gbagi blew the crowd away with the sheer facts he presented about the debilitating condition of Delta state and the inability of the Urhobo nation to defend the truth.
Gbagi speaking, said “Urhobo’s you have started again. A lot of you here are Christians, let me tell you one secret, if you make the mistake of your life to vote in a Muslim president, all Christians will become Muslims and Nigeria will become a Muslim state.
“Go back and read your books, they are deceiving you. If a Muslim president rules a country for 10 years consecutively, that country becomes a Muslim state. If either Atiku or Tinubu becomes president, this church becomes a mosque.
Gbagi who was one of the founding fathers and frontrunners of PDP in Delta alongside other prominent leaders, bemoaned the misappropriation of funds that has plagued Delta state. He predicted that “we are heading for a tsunami crash, if we continue like this”.
In his speech, Gbagi said “The only one man I respect, who is a genuine person recognized by Nigeria and the world, who is the richest Nigerian and Africa is Michael Ibru and I don’t know any other Urhobo man who is richer than myself other than Michael Ibru.
“We are not talking about stolen wealth, we are talking about wealth that is traceable”.
“I challenge any contestant and any Deltan, because if you deceive yourself, deceit will be your portion. All the governorship candidates we have today are over 50 years, if you have not been able to do anything tangible for yourself and your people with your personal wealth, you’re waiting to get into government, you’re waiting to use government money to fix issues, you’re a liar, if you have it, show us” he said.
“We cannot continue like this, election is coming, and we should not be deceived” he added.
Rt Rev Blessing Erifeta led the congregation to pray for the electoral process.
He declared that in the forthcoming 2023 elections both in the state and Nigeria at large, it would not be business as usual. As Nigerians have suffered enough at the hand of bad governance.
According to Erifeta, “It is not that Urhobo nation does not have a voice, we do not listen to the voice and that is why we are where we are today in Delta state.
“God has been speaking through our prophets but we have not been listening.
“God is going to give us a man after his heart, not a man after a party or any human.
“God is going to shock Nigerians and even Deltans in this 2023 election. He will raise a leader that will shock Nigerians”.
