The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, His Lordship, the Most
Rev. Ignatius Kaigama has stressed the need for political leaders to be closer
to the people who elected them.
The Archbishop said this while commending Vice President,
Prof. Yemi Osinbajo’s demonstration of love and solidarity with Nigerians
including the Church at all times.
Dignitaries at the meeting include the Governor of Imo State,
Sen. Hope Uzodinma, Ministers of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, Science and
Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, amongst others.
Kaigama expressed this sentiments in his sermon at the
opening mass of the first 2020 plenary meeting of the Catholic Bishops Conference
of Nigeria (CBCN) held at the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Abuja on Sunday.
According to Kaigama, “I am so happy that our Vice President
is here; it is not just being here but there is very profound sacramental
blessings that he is here; when you are with us and we are suffering, we are
together but when there is a gap with you, there is a feeling of insensitivity.
“We need to have access to our leaders; we need to have
access to the President and to the Vice President; to the ministers; they need
to be closer to the people that elected them. This is very important.”
The Vice President, on the invitation of the CBCN, attended
the opening mass which is a prelude to the plenary meeting of all Catholic
Bishops of Nigeria annually.
Speaking further about the need for a much closer
relationship between political leaders and their constituents, the Archbishop,
citing the example of Prof. Osinbajo’s uncommon love and concern for the
development of society, said, “so much is happening in our country today that
is why we need more patriotic Nigerians to help overcome some of the issues.”
He said: “We need to also work together to eradicate or at
least reduce the level of poverty; the level of diseases, sickness and
ignorance, unnecessary deaths and other issues affecting us. So much is
happening and that is why we need more patriotic Nigerians to come forth and
help address these issues.”
Continuing on the role of religious leaders in maintaining
harmony and order in the society, Archbishop Kaigama said the habit of
condemning political leaders and people in positions of authority, in places of
worship was harmful to society and inimical to its growth and hence should be
stopped.
According to him, “Our primary task as religious leaders is
to steer the people to conversion and holiness, but because of poverty and
hardship being suffered by the people, preachers are forced to become miracle workers
or political revolutionaries throwing verbal bombs, missiles, grenades,
poisonous gas and all sorts of things at political leaders from the pulpit.
“Now if you go to preach anywhere, all they want you to do
is to abuse the authority for causing the poverty and social deprivation that
we have but that is not the message of the Gospel.
“Yes, we must denounce evil; we must denounce corruption; we
must denounce reckless spending that cost the poor of their dignity; we must do
that at all times. But why should churches become the altar and the Mosque
become places where we antagonise our leaders instead of seeking solutions?”
He urged the Church to continue to pray for political
leaders at all levels for the progress and development of the country and called
on government to collaborate more with faith-based institutions in order to
deliver the basic needs of the people.
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