By Samuel Oyejola
The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Catholic Archdiocese, John Cardinal Onaiyekan has described Nigeria as a country in a state of political emergency, stressing that there is urgent and serious task to salvage the nation and give the youth the hope for a better life.
The cardinal said this while delivering homily recently to mark the commencement of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) first Plenary Meeting in 2018 in Abuja.
The Catholic Bishop accused the Buhari-led government of demonizing the past administration instead of delivering the dividend of democracy to the people. Taking a swipe on the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Cardinal lamented that the two major political parties in the country have performed below expectation of Nigerians and this has left the country on the verge of despair.
“Our present government came into power three years ago with a promise to change Nigeria for the better in all aspects. So far government has spent so much time and energy demonizing its predecessor that it seems to have forgotten its promise of a better life for Nigerians.
The clergy said the Buhari-led government “has unfortunately allowed the initial massive goodwill it enjoyed to be depleted almost to non-existence. It is no wonder that many Nigerians are looking for a new political organization that can truly bring about genuine change for the better.
“Having tried our two major political parties and found none of them up to our expectation, the nation is on the verge of despair” he said.
He urged Nigerians to rise above the current political realities in the country and bring out the best in them for the common good of the generality of Nigerians. “Whatever we do, we must not allow despair and frustration to overwhelm us. Our problems are well within our ability to confront and resolve.”
While speaking on the coming election he challenged Nigerians to use the opportunity to radically change things around. According to the former President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), “We should no longer allow politics to remain business as usual in the hands of the same gang of speculators and opportunists. We must change the rule of the game, not the faces of the players.
“Politics is not for miserable people seeking a way out of poverty, nor for selfish business people looking for an easy way to maximize profit by manipulating the system in their favour. Less still is it for the corruptly rich seeking refuge from just accountability. Rather, it is for altruistic men and women with the talent, conviction and desire to contribute to making out a nation better for all of us.”
The Bishops’ Conference is the first in 2018. The highlight of the conference would be the election of a new CBCN President who would take over from the Archbishop of Jos, Most Reverend Ignatius Kaigama.
