The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigerian, CBCN, has called on President
\nMuhammadu Buhari not to see calls for the restructuring of the country as
\ncalls for division.<\/p>\n
In a communiqu\u00e9 titled \u2018Statement of the Catholic Bishops\u2019 Conference of
\nNigeria on the State of the Nation,\u2019 and issued Thursday, in Akure, the
\nOndo state\u2019s capital, the bishops who gave an all-inclusive appeal to
\nNigerians to protect the country\u2019s democracy and rule of law equally
\nenjoined President Buhari not to make Nigerians think they are sliding
\nback to dictatorship. The communiqu\u00e9 read thus:<\/p>\n
Less than two years ago, from His throne, the Lord looked down upon
\nNigeria with mercy and compassion and then showed us how much He loved us.<\/p>\n
Against all odds, even when as a people we had almost given up on
\nourselves and the international community looked on, we were able to
\nconduct one of the most peaceful elections in our history.<\/p>\n
1. When Nigerians voted for General Muhammadu Buhari, they demonstrated,
\nbeyond the pale of religion and ethnicity, that they indeed wanted to turn
\na new page in a history replete with broken dreams.<\/p>\n
2. We hoped that drawing from past experience, the government would rally
\nour people around to confront the behemoth of corruption that had
\ndestroyed the very foundations of our society. Again, after we
\nsuccessfully contained Boko Haram\u2019s murderous escapade, we had hoped that
\nour nation would witness a massive programme of national rebirth and that
\nthe President would work and assemble a cross section of patriotic
\ncitizens from diverse backgrounds to commence a programme of national
\nrebirth and reconstruction.<\/p>\n
3. One-sided appointments into public office have displayed a tendency
\ntowards a form of sectionalism that we have found difficult to associate
\nwith the high moral credentials of the President. A hurricane of violence
\nby herdsmen and other agents of death has left in its wake a landscape of
\nblood and destruction.<\/p>\n
Political violence, corruption, kidnappings, armed robbery, ritual murders
\nand all ills of the past, are still very much present and we seem to be
\nprogressively sinking deeper into the mud. Our people are now ravaged by
\ndisease and hunger. The result is the rise in the curve of violence both
\nby the state agents and non-state actors among our own people.<\/p>\n
We recall that in his address to us, the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria, on
\n11 February 2015, General Buhari as a Presidential candidate stated among
\nother things:<\/p>\n
\u201cGovernment has no business preferring one religion to the other. The role
\nof government is to protect lives and properties of citizens and to
\nrespect and protect their constitutional rights.<\/p>\n
One critical right that every government must seek to protect is the right
\nof citizens to exercise their respective faiths, Christians and Muslims or
\nothers, in a lawful manner without fear or hindrance and to prosecute
\nthose who use religion as an excuse to destroy homes, schools, and places
\nof worship.<\/p>\n
When governments fail in that duty, they must then assist in the
\nrebuilding of the structures including destroyed places of worship and
\ngiving full restitution to property.\u201d<\/p>\n
5. As things now stand, most Nigerians do not see a government committed
\nto attaining these stated objectives. Furthermore, we find the calls for
\nthe expansion of the scope of Sharia law in public life at variance with
\nthe letter and spirit of the Nigerian Constitution. In view of all this,
\nto restore confidence of our people in Nigeria, and to reverse the feeling
\nof hopelessness and distrust, we make the following appeal:<\/p>\n
To the People of Nigeria:<\/p>\n
6. These are difficult and trying times for us as a nation and a people.
\nWe salute the courage and resilience of the majority of our people who, in
\nthe face of provocation and suffering, have continued to live by our
\ntraditional and genuine religious values of compassion and solidarity.<\/p>\n
While we must renew our commitment to the fact that God loves our country
\nand that His promises never fail, we must stand together and remain
\nresolute.<\/p>\n
We equally commend the courage of our young people, who, at various
\nlevels, sacrificed so much in the hope that this would mark the beginning
\nof a new era. We call on them to resist all attempts to turn them into
\ninstruments of the destruction of the very legacy on which they have built
\ntheir hopes.<\/p>\n
As Scripture says: \u201cWe glory in our sufferings, because we know that
\nsuffering produces perseverance; perseverance, produces character; and
\ncharacter produces, hope. And hope does not put us to shame\u201d (Rom 5: 3-5).<\/p>\n
To the Political Class: 7. It is a tragedy that over sixteen years after
\nour return to Democracy, the political class has still not come to terms
\nwith the fact that politics is a noble vocation. Political parties ought
\nto be platforms for the realisation of the lofty goals of nation building
\nand human development.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, far too many politicians in our country have continued to
\nuse politics merely as a platform for self-enrichment, oppression and the
\npursuit of goals that are totally at variance with our common good,
\ncollective wellbeing and aspirations. The result is that ordinary citizens
\nhave lost confidence in the political class. They have also become more
\nvulnerable and many have resorted to violence as a means of self-
\nprotection and personal wellbeing.<\/p>\n
We wish to state firmly that the debate about the restructuring of our
\ncountry should not be seen as an act of rebellion or as a call for
\ndivision. It should rather be seen as an expression of our people\u2019s desire
\nthat the political class return to the fine principles of democracy such
\nas true federalism, negotiation and consensus building as means of
\nachieving a more equitable distribution of the resources of our country.<\/p>\n
To this end, we urge the entire political class to rise beyond party and
\nsectional interests and loyalties and to heed the yearnings of Nigerians.
\nOnly in this way can we possibly reverse the dangerous slide towards
\nself-destruction.<\/p>\n
To the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria:<\/p>\n
9. We call on our President to wake up to the fact that most Nigerians are
\ntoday disillusioned by the frittering away of the high hopes which they
\ninvested in his resolve to turn things around. The President can no longer
\nsafely ignore the very strong allegations of a rise in nepotism and
\nsectionalism in federal appointments. This has further deepened the
\nfeelings of alienation and the rise of centrifugal forces that are
\nthreatening the foundations of our unity.<\/p>\n
Nigerians have been shocked and traumatised by the rampaging criminals
\nwho, without let or hindrance and under various guises, have gruesomely,
\nraped, kidnapped and mutilated innocent citizens across the country. In
\nthe process, they have vandalized and destroyed homes, farmlands, oil
\ninstallations and sacked entire villages and communities.<\/p>\n
The President should remember that his primary duty and responsibility is
\nthe protection of lives and property. Without this, nothing else has
\nmeaning in any society.<\/p>\n
An appeal and a Prayer:<\/p>\n
11. Finally, we acknowledge that our current woes did not begin with this
\nadministration. We also support the President\u2019s genuine resolve and
\nefforts through the various government agencies to tackle corruption.
\nNonetheless, we reiterate that this must not be at the expense of civil
\nliberties and the rule of law. The President must ensure that Nigerians do
\nnot feel that our country is sliding back into dictatorship.<\/p>\n
We acknowledge the deep sense of genuine commitment of our people to live
\nby the tenets of their various religious beliefs. True religion has to do
\nwith the relationship between human beings and God, which in turn guides
\nand nourishes correct relationship among people. However, unfortunately,
\nreligion in our country seems to have been hijacked and held hostage by
\nsome charlatans who continue to exploit religion to further their
\nambitions and interests. We therefore urge our people to be more
\ndiscerning in their spiritual quest. Government should make sure that
\nthese charlatans, no matter their claims, are not allowed to hide behind
\nthe mask of religion to continue to commit crimes. May God the Father of
\nmercy and compassion, bless our country Nigeria and turn our hearts
\ntowards His will.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigerian, CBCN, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari not to see calls for the restructuring of the country as calls for division. In a communiqu\u00e9…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":53276,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n