CONFUSED CBCN!!! AS NIGERIA'S CATHOLIC BISHOPS NOW HOPING IN VAIN…SEE

Are Nigeria's Catholic bishops hoping in vain?


CONFUSED CBCN!!! AS NIGERIA'S CATHOLIC BISHOPS NOW HOPING IN VAIN…SEE

Christian Rowland writing for ODOGWU MEDIA...Like ever before, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) is once more appealing to all Christians and the rest of Nigerians ‘not to lose hope’. This is as contained in the communiqué issued at the end of its Second Plenary Meeting held at St Charles Borromeo Pastoral Centre Jalingo, Taraba State earlier last month. In the release jointly signed by its president, Most Revd Ignatius Ayau Kaigama, Archbishop of Jos and secretary, Revd William A. Avenya, Bishop of Gboko, they advised that their compatriots look unto themselves and their country in a light better than how they view it presently.
 
This, coming against the back-drop of the palpable tension the land is currently soaked in, is arguably going to soothe nerves.However, as has been pointed out by many an observer of the Nigerian scene, it is surely going to take more than the endless recital of their famous ‘Prayer for Nigeria in Distress’ – fashioned when distress was yet underway– to see us through the malady.

Any wonder then that, despite all the effort targeted in this regard, all has so far managed to hit the rocks.
Like the bishops opined, there forever remains an urgent need to address the grievances appearing to perpetrate these tensions. Part of this – like they are quick to affirm  include those complaints in many sectors of the country against the often easily perceived one-sidedness in appointments. 
 
Apart from the general ones, this has even extended to those into key institutions and even sensitive national offices hitherto governed by our national quota rota. Consequently, it has among other things, led to a plethora of complaints about alleged marginalization and the unfair distribution of resources and amenities.
 
Topping the avalanche remains alleged cases of selective application of the rule of law especially when ‘sacred cows’ are involved. And talking of cows, the bishops were also quick to call for a check by the authorities of the continued havoc being unleashed in various parts of the nation by armed herdsmen. According to them, these should no longer be treated as mere clashes between pastoralists and farmers as has often been the case. The reason for this call of theirs is not far-fetched as ‘apart from wanton destruction of farmlands and crops,
 
some of these armed herdsmen are known to have laid siege on entire villages, killing, maiming, kidnapping, and raping’. It is well known that, apart from the bishops, many concerned individuals as well as groups have lent a voice to this call for a better check on these rampant cases of security breaches in the county. A case in point remains the instance where the plying of certain  if not all – of the nation’s highways has suddenly metamorphosed into a calculated risk in terms for innocent commuters.
 
It can be recalled that only recently the police headquarters had barely finished parading the alleged brains behind the menace on the Abuja- Kaduna highway than for one of their top officials to end up in the number of those abducted in the next heist on the selfsame route.
 
All said, even undone, by far the most encouraging aspect in the CBCN communiqué happens to be their never lacking humble suggestions as to how a way can be forged out of this morass we are embedded in. Critically identifying nation building as a collective responsibility of all compatriots, they thusly vouch safed that unless there is a ‘true conversion of heart’ to make realsacrifices for the common good, we shall only be reshuffling our problems – a la at a game of cards– without solving them. 
 
In this regard they found a sure alignment to the integral development of our citizens in the provision of quality education. Hence their unalloyed call on the federal government to see to it that they honour all past – and future legal agreements they enter with various professional groups in the land to forestall frequent work-to-rule actions by them. The more so in the education and health hectors by implication like recently.
 
Here at ODOGWU MEDIA , while lending this voice to this plaintive call by the CBCN, we are also abided to highlight that the Church – and indeed all other religious congregations in the land – have great roles to play here. The Church, on its part, should in emulation of the reason for their very existence, lead by example. Rather than playing ostrich by ostensibly pandering to the spiritual needs of their followers only, the time is more than nigh for them to actively participate in the political life of their congregation. 
 
Yes, like has been exemplified in South America through the preaching of a theology of liberation as opposed to one of servitude. Only this way can headway be made out of the bishops’ endless allegiance to hope copied from epistles St Paul addressed to Corinthians and Romans.
 

Written and edited by Christian Rowland,
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CONFUSED CBCN!!! AS NIGERIA'S CATHOLIC BISHOPS NOW HOPING IN VAIN…SEE CONFUSED CBCN!!! AS NIGERIA'S CATHOLIC BISHOPS NOW HOPING IN VAIN…SEE Reviewed by RowlandGate on Thursday, October 05, 2017 Rating: 5

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