By Lola Idahosa, Kaduna
It was a dream come true as the first airlift of Christian intending pilgrims from Kaduna State was flagged off by Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero from the Kaduna International Airport.
The historic event followed several pleas to the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission by the Governor to consider Kaduna, a departure point for Christian intending pilgrims from the state, just like their Muslim counterparts. Prior to this development, Christian intending pilgrims had to travel to Abuja for the airlift to Israel.
Bidding the pilgrims farewell, the highly elated Governor Yero charged them to be good ambassadors of not only the state, but the country as a whole.
The Governor however warned the intending pilgrims against absconding, while the officials should ensure that the safety and welfare of the pilgrims were paramount in all their undertakings in the holy land.
Governor Yero who promised his administration’s commitment to continuing the sponsorship of pilgrims, enjoined them to pray fervently for sustainable peace in the land as well as the 2015 general elections.
He restated his strong belief that “power belongs to God and only Him can determine who becomes a leader.”
Governor Yero thanked the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission for answering the clarion calls to make Kaduna a departure point, thereby eliminating the inconveniences of traveling to Abuja by the intending pilgrims from the state.
Earlier, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission, Mr. John Kennedy Opara described the airlift of the pilgrims from Kaduna as historic and charged them to see the exercise as a tool for spiritual and moral transformation.
“I want you to be agents of transformation and you will not come back and remain the same again,” he said.
Mr. Kennedy Opara reminded the pilgrims that they were going to the holy land as ambassadors of Nigeria, hence the need for them to meet her expectations through their behaviours. “In our dictionary, there is no absconding,” be warned.
A total of 1149 pilgrims are performing this year’s Christian pilgrimage from the state. Of the number 567 are under the ticket of the State Government, 574 by the Local Governments, while the remaining ones are self sponsored.
