2023 GENERAL PILGRIMAGE: NCPC Boss Meets State Pilgrimage Leaders.
By Elizabeth Henrywilson
In preparation for the 2023 General Pilgrimage exercise, the Executive Secretary Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission, NCPC Rev. Dr. Yakubu Pam met with the state Pilgrimage Leaders and Managers of the various States Christian Pilgrims Welfare Boards.
The meeting which took place on 16th August, 2023 was held at the Conference hall of the Corporate Headquarters of NCPC in Abuja.
In his exhortation taken from the book of Psalms, chapter 66 verses 12, where the Lord allowed his people to go through all sorts of tribulations but at the end he was able to deliver them from their travails.
In this connection, the NCPC boss charged the State Pilgrimage Leaders and Managers to be strong and be ready to face challenges because at the end of the day, they would be able to weather the storms. According to him, “for us to reach where we are as pilgrimage leaders and managers it is not easy.”
He posited that any position of authority without challenges is not worth occupying, therefore as pilgrimage leaders, he admonished them to see challenges as something that would come and would be surmounted.
Rev. Pam explained that since his assumption of office in 2020, he had gone through a lot of challenges but had been able to go through them successfully.
He admitted that his first baptism of fire on assumption of office was the challenges posed by the COVID 19 pandemic which paralyzed all pilgrimage activities globally.
However, he affirmed that in every adversity there is always an equal opportunity. He further explained that it was during the state of inertia caused by COVID 19 pandemic that led to the discovering of Jordan as a viable pilgrimage destination option in 2021.
He recounted other challenges that the commission went through under his leadership so far but in all, the Lord saw the Commission through. He urged the pilgrimage stakeholders to always look up to God and trust him because he would never fail.
The issue of the Completion of the 2023 Easter Pilgrimage was discussed as well as the 2023 general pilgrimage exercise slated for December, among other deliberations.
In his remark, the Chairman Conference of States who was represented by the Secretary, Mrs Yetunde Gbafe who is also the Board Secretary Lagos State Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board, thanked the Executive Secretary of NCPC, Rev. Dr. Yakubu Pam for the way and manner he had superintended over the affairs of the Commission these three years in the saddle.
He enjoined his colleagues to always ensure they push forward every idea God had given to them that would add value to the entire Christian Pilgrimage in Nigeria.
Prayers were offered for NCPC and Pilgrimage in Nigeria as well as the leadership of the Nation.