Catholic Bishops of Nigeria have thrown their weight behind the war against corruption in Nigeria, urging Nigerians not to see the war as a project to be implemented by the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari alone.
The Catholic Bishop of Abuja Arch Diocese, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, who made the prelates’ position known in Abuja at a press conference after the opening Mass and Session of the First 2016 Plenary of Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, said the fight against corruption is a necessary step to put Nigeria back on the pathway of economic and political stability.
According to Cardinal Onaiyekan, there is no going back on the war against corruption, a war that the Church has been waging for many years with their own appropriate weapons of prayers, warnings and exhortation, long before any government started talking about it.
“The government can count on us in this battle for the very soul of our nation. Government must continue the commendable legal efforts to thoroughly investigate the crimes of the past, transparently prosecute accused persons, and hold the guilty accountable to the law of the land. As we are now witnessing, this is not a smooth and easy process.
“To restore the nation to descent society, we need to go beyond the legal process, to a serious moral national spiritual rebirth. We need to explore alternative and parallel strategies based on the moral principles of the three Rs, namely Repentance, Reparation and Reconciliation. Repentance entails the recognition of wrong-doing, with a resolution to change ways in a right direction.’’
He said he hoped that the alleged criminal diversion of funds meant for arms into private pockets had now stopped due to the fact that there was now a great progress in the military response to the insurgents.
‘‘Our nation is going through a critical condition requiring grave decisions, drastic change for the future. The new government, with its victory at the last elections, has received the mandate of the people to lead this process of change. But, it has also the duty to try to bring the challenges before us. We cannot afford to allow our nation to be polarized along ethnic, religious or even political lines, thereby dissipating our energies,” Onaiyekan said.
Also, the President of Catholic Bishop Conference of Nigeria, Bishop Ignatius Kaigama, advised Christians to encourage the new administration by their patriotic conduct, which will be a great incentive for it in its efforts to promote attitudinal change and infrastructural development.
“We therefore call on officials to avoid corruptly sharing among themselves, resources meant for laudable projects that are always well conceived, but end up being badly executed or not done at all.
“We align with the efforts of President Buhari to clean the Augean stable through his attempt to purge our nation of moral dirt and to disinfect Nigerians from the quest for unhealthy material aggrandizement, which is largely responsible for the needless poverty in the land and poor infrastructural development,” he said.
-Leadership