Reverend Professor Emeritus John Samuel Pobee, an academician and ordained priest, has urged theologians to be public advocates for truth, as there is a biblical distinction between true and false.

He said theologians should also strive to challenge society to prioritise human beings, and be focused on the true good of people.

Rev. Prof Pobee made the call at an inaugural lecture in Accra organised by the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences on the theme: ’Truth and Nation-State Building: A Theologian Perspective.”

He said theologians must challenge, engage and team up with political parties and civil society groups, and make people their highest priority.

“Since religion is fundamentally about what is human, the theologian’s take as an instrument of nation-state building is to help create jobs, train people in specialized skills and educate the youth,” he said.

Rev. Prof. Pobee said such advocacy by theologians would enable the socioeconomically disadvantaged to develop their academic, social and psychological preparation of talented learners among the group.

He said people are the greatest assets in developing a nation-state, and it is important that they are given the necessary support to develop, as without genuine development of people, the nation-state construct will be false.

He said there is also the need to advocate for truth in the service of building a nation and a state in Africa, as the foreign identity forged under the colonial dispensation is forced in such a way that it does not correspond to that authentic African identity.