It’s A New Dawn – NCPC Boss Tells State Pilgrimage Leaders

The Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC), Bishop Stephen Adegbite has said it is a new dawn and a new beginning for agency and Christian Pilgrimage in Nigeria.

Adegbite, who stated this during a strategic meeting he had with the states Pilgrimage leaders and managers at the NCPC Corporate headquarters, Abuja, said that the states leaders were major stakeholders of the Commission that are expected to play pivotal role in the advancement of Christian Pilgrimage in their various states and Nigeria as a whole.

He said; “As we begin our journey together, it is a new dawn, a new beginning. As stakeholders, you must see yourselves as partners in progress with the Commission.

“Nobody can toil with your group. We need to see pilgrimage as a passion and not a jamboree. Every year I go on pilgrimage, something new must happen. Therefore, let us see pilgrimage exercise as a passion and there is reward for it,” he said.

These were contained in a statement by Celestine Toruka, Deputy Director and Head of Media and Public Relations of the NCPC in which it stated that Adegbite noted that Nigeria was passing through challenges just like every other nation thus, urged the state pilgrimage leaders to continue to pray that the Lord would heal our land and also tasked them to rebuild confidence in themselves as time is of essence and life itself is ephemeral.

He also thanked them for the sacrifices they have made in the past and the ones they would make in the future just as he assured them that he would operate with honesty and integrity, adding that everyone would be carried along.

Adegbite further said; “Together, we will move Nigeria forward and we will change the narrative”.

The NCPC Executive Secretary announced that the Commission would soon advertise its expression of interest in both local and international print media for prospective service providers to bid for the 2024 pilgrimage exercise, stressing that it was no longer going to be business as usual, but business unusual, saying that openness and sincerity would be the hallmark of his leadership.

Adegbite vowed that due process would be followed religiously under his watch, stressing that he would not indulge in illegality’.

Speaking, the Chairman of Conference of States which comprises Chairmen and Secretaries of states Christian Pilgrims Welfare Boards, Rev Isaiah Magaji, congratulated Bishop Adegbite for a well-deserved appointment by President Bola TInubu as the 4th substantive Executive Secretary of the Commission.

Magaji said; “We always try by all means to carry each other along. Carrying us along in every activity of the Commission counts a lot”.

He assured Bishop Adegbite of their maximum cooperation and solicited the assistance of the Commission in reaching out to their state governors on sensitization drive, adding that it would help in leveraging their efforts in their various states.