Nigeria, CBCN, met with President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday at the
State House , Abuja.
The clergymen expressed their concern over the suffering in the
country: poverty, hunger, joblessness, insecurity, violence, fear
amongst others.
They pledged to support the effort of the government in nation-building.
"As the voice of the voiceless, we shall therefore continue to
highlight the plight of our people and play our prophetic role of
sensitizing the government, thus promoting national unity and
cohesion," the Catholic Bishops said.
READ THE FULL SPEECH BELOW:
Preamble
We, the representatives of the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria, bring you
our cordial greetings and blessings. We desired this meeting, in order
to continue the dialogue we initiated with you even before your
election as President. We therefore thank you for granting us this
audience, which affords us the opportunity to share with you, once
again, our thoughts and concerns on some issues affecting our dear
country, Nigeria.
First, we thank God for bringing you back to us healthier and stronger
after a period of ill health. We hope and pray that you continue to
make progress on the way to full recovery, in order to be able to face
the enormous challenges emanating from your exalted office.
Your Excellency, needless to say that, as President, you are the
Father of our dear country Nigeria. It is therefore pertinent that as
loyal citizens as well as informed members of the society we come to
you from time to time to express not only our willing cooperation with
the government in working for the progress of our country, but also to
share with you the feelings of the multitude of Nigerians at this
moment. We work with the people at the grassroots and, therefore, have
first-hand information about what they are going through.
There is no doubt that when you came into office, you had an enormous
amount of the goodwill of Nigerians, since many saw you as a person of
integrity who would be able to bring sanity into a system that was
nearly crippled by endemic corruption. Nearly three years later,
however, one has the feeling that this good will is being fast
depleted by some glaring failures of government which we have the
moral duty to bring to your notice, else we would be failing in our
duty as spiritual fathers and leaders.
Our Concerns
Your Excellency, there is too much suffering in the country: poverty,
hunger, joblessness, insecurity, violence, fear… the list is endless.
Our beloved country appears to be under siege. Many negative forces
seem to be keeping a stranglehold on the population, especially the
weaker and defenseless ones. There is a feeling of hopelessness across
the country. Our youths are restive and many of them have taken to
hard drugs, cultism and other forms of violent crime, while many have
become victims of human trafficking. The Nation is nervous.
Just as we seem to be gradually emerging from the dark tunnel of an
economic recession that caused untold hardship to families and
individuals, violent attacks by unscrupulous persons, among whom are
terrorists masquerading as herdsmen, have led to a near civil war
situation in many parts of the country. We are saddened that
repeatedly innocent citizens in different communities across the
nation are brutally attacked and their sources of livelihood
mindlessly destroyed. Property, worth billions of Naira, including
places of worship, schools, hospitals and business enterprises are
torched and turned to ashes. We are still more saddened by the recent
massacre of unarmed citizens by these terrorists in some communities
in Benue, Adamawa, Kaduna and Taraba States which has caused national
shock, grief and outcry. What is even more distressful is that the
government, whose responsibility it is to protect the life and
property of every citizen seems either incapable or unwilling to do
this. The silence of the federal government in the wake of these
horrifying attacks is, to say the least, shocking. There is a feeling
of helplessness among the people and the danger that some people may
begin to take laws into their hands.
We therefore earnestly urge the government to take very seriously its
primary responsibility of protecting the lives and property of its
citizens and ensure that such mindless killings do not reoccur.
Herdsmen may be under pressure to save their livestock and economy but
this is never to be done at the expense of other people's lives and
means of livelihood. We would like to add our voice to those of other
well-meaning Nigerians who insist that a better alternative to open
grazing should be sought rather than introducing "cattle colonies" in
the country. While thinking of how best to help cattle owners
establish ranches, government should equally have plans to help the
other farmers whose produce is essential for our survival as a nation.
In a similar vein, daredevil kidnappers, who at present are having a
field day, with a feeling of invincibility, must be made to understand
that there is a government in this country. Government should invest
more in equipping our Police Force with modern high-tech devices that
will help them track down and arrest these criminals and make them
face the wrath of the law.
The Federal Character Principle is enshrined in the 1999 Constitution
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria:"_The government of the Federation
or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried
out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria
and the need to promote national unity and also to command national
loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of
persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional
groups in that government or in any of its agencies_" (Section 14,
Sub-section 3-4). Disregard for this Principle in some federal
government appointments as well as perceptible imbalance in the
distribution of federal amenities has created the loss of a sense of
belonging in many parts of the country, hence the constant cries of
marginalization, agitation for secession and calls for restructuring.
Conclusion and Assurance of Prayers
Our Church has always complemented the efforts of government in such
areas as providing quality education and primary health care services
to our people. We shall continue to support the effort of the
government in nation-building. As the voice of the voiceless, we shall
therfore continue to highlight the plight of our people and play our
prophetic role of sensitizing the government, thus promoting national
unity and cohesion. As we encourage you to spare no effort to build a
new Nigeria, we reassure you of our support and prayers for your
success. On the long run,Government under your watch must do all in
its power through good policies to restore confidence that government
is for all and sundry. Our collective efforts must be seen in the
desire to return to the fine principles of democracy such as true
federalism, negotiation and consensus building as means of achieving a
more equitable distribution of the resources of our country.
Thank you, Your Excellency, for the audience and may God bless you.
Most Rev. Dr. Ignatius Ayau Kaigama
Archbishop of Jos President, CBCN
Most Rev. Dr. William Avenya
Bishop of Gboko
Secretary, CBCN
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