By Peter Ajayi Dada
The Catholic Bishops of Ibadan Ecclesiastical Province say that the much-vaunted renewed hope promised Nigerians by the present administration is turning to utter desperation in many places and there is not much time left.
The bishops from Ibadan Archdiocese, Ilorin, Ondo, Oyo, Ekiti and Osogbo Dioceses also called on both the government and the citizenry to save the nation from what they called `a hostile, killing field’ in a communiqué they issued after their meeting held between February 5 and 6, 2024 in Ibadan.
It was signed by Archbishop ‘Leke Gabriel Abegunrin of Ibadan Archdiocese (Chairman) and Bishop John Akin Oyejola of Osogbo Diocese (Secretary).
The Bishops in the communiqué titled: `Nigeria: In desperate need of restoration’ said, “Our dear country Nigeria is fast becoming a hostile, killing field.
The ship of the nation is foundering under the weight of pervasive insecurity, economic hardship due to hyperinflation and the collapse of the naira, cybercrime, high cost of food, lackadaisical governance and widespread corruption.’’
They stressed that day-to-day living is fast becoming an ordeal for millions of Nigerians because pervasive poverty, driven by the harsh environment has driven many to desperation and even suicide.
It would be nothing short of hypocritical to put all the misery being suffered by Nigerians today down to change in the world economy, they said adding that the truth is that often Nigerians are simply left to their own devices and left at the mercy of the most cruel and aggressive criminals by inept and selfish political and civil leaders.
“In all this, governments often seem weak or altogether absent. Any remedy now is even already too late for many Nigerians who have lost their lives to terrorists, hunger, kidnapping and sundry disasters.
We plead for urgent action from all our leaders to save the Nigerian ship from sinking. The much-vaunted renewed hope is turning to utter desperation in many places and there is not much time left.,’’ they said.
If, however, we experience challenges and tragedies, we must look inwards and retrace our steps as necessary, even as we keep up hope in God’s promise, they advised.
Also, they condemned the perennial violence and bloodshed said to be at the doorsteps of hapless Nigerians as well as decried the unfortunate events that occurred recently within the ecclesiastical province.
“We are shocked by the regrettable kidnapping and killing of two traditional rulers; the Elesun of Esun Ekiti, Oba David Babatunde Ogunsakin and the Olumojo of Imojo Ekiti, Oba Samuel Olusola in Ekiti State and the kidnapping of teachers and school children in the same State.
“The same unfortunate fate befell Oba Peter Segun Aremu, the Olukoro of Koro in Kwara State and the kidnapping of his wife and two others. Thankfully the latter have now been released. This spate of criminality is a brutal assault on our collective reverence for traditional institutions and decency.
“It signals the descent of our society into a Hobesian state of nature, nasty, brutish and short, even here in the South West,’’ they said.
They condoled also with the victims of the recent explosion in the Bodija area of Ibadan as well as paid tribute to the sacrifice of the nation’s soldiers and security agents who had been risking their lives to provide security, `some of whom have gotten killed in the line of duty’.
They prayed to God to rest the souls of the dead, comfort those who were mourning, and provide for all who had suffered heavy losses from those events.
They appealed to the government to conclude that it was time to stop the spiraling violence and bloodshed before it becomes irreversible, by repositioning our security agencies to make them more pre-emptive and proactive.
They also admonished those leaders who were fond of talking and behaving as if all was well within the nation to have a change of heart. According to them,
There is cause for alarm when corruption runs riot in every sector with scant effort from the government to arrest and prosecute its perpetrators.
“Things are not under control when Nigerians get maimed, kidnapped and killed daily on our roads and even in their homes. There is a need to restructure our security apparatus and remove saboteurs where necessary so that they can collaborate and perform optimally. Disaster is imminent when people die of hunger and the living has to steal or scrounge for food to survive.’’
They reminded those elected officers that they were elected not to make excuses about problems but to find solutions that would change things for the better.
According to the bishops, the government should do away with insensitive aides who furnish the public with lies and innuendoes to mitigate the government’s failure in the face of recurring disasters.
Nigerians, they said, deserve to know the truth about their leaders’ programmes, activities and whereabouts.
They said that any country being run on corruption and falsehood would crumble under the weight of self-inflicted evil. Time for positive change is running out.
“Uprightness makes a nation great, by sin whole races are disgraced”. (Proverbs 14:34), they said.
They advised all to ensure that the injunction of Jesus that all must love one another must assume fresh relevance among them.
“It must apply to leaders and the led alike. All who are in positions of authority, however, have higher responsibilities because there shall be a verdict of history, a day of reckoning.’’
They urged them and all privileged people not to relent in their efforts to work for positive transformation in Nigeria.
According to the clerics, the government must upgrade the ongoing “governance by palliatives” to governance that promotes productivity, and accountability and which provides essential infrastructure like power supply and jobs for the populace.
They advised that it is better to teach people to fish than to give them fish from time to time, as Nigerians are among the most industrious people in the world.
They explained that embracing the culture of self-dependence by our industrious youth would be an effective way to limit the `japa’ syndrome, which is the forced exodus of our best brains from our shores to greener pastures.
They commended some of the nation’s leaders whom they said were doing their best to make a change for the better in their various capacities.
They also described what they called the high spate of suicide and murders among Nigerians in recent times, adding that it was a demonstration that the value placed on the sanctity of human life was and is diminishing.
“This is a recipe for disaster,’’ they said.
They added that marriages and families had begun to experience greater stress in contemporary times due to economic, social and cultural challenges.
We reiterated the sanctity and dignity of human life and appealed to relevant authorities and religious organizations to promote the preservation of Christian marriage and family values.
