Cleric worried over spate of insecurity, poverty

The Catholic Archbishop of Kaduna, Most Reverend Matthew Man-Oso Ndagoso, has expressed worry over the alarming rate of insecurity and poverty in the country.

He said banditry and kidnapping pose threat to corporate existence of Nigeria.

Speaking at the 2020 Kaduna Archdiocesan Pastoral Council Meeting in Kaduna state, Archbishop Ndagoso said the peace and security of Nigerians and Nigeria as a united entity is threatened by the menace of banditry and kidnappings for ransom.

“Apart from the socio-economic, socio-religious and ethnic conflicts, continued incessant kidnappings, herders/farmers clashes, banditry and abject poverty which has unfortunately become one of our national trademarks.

“The insecurity situation reached a crises point last year with many people killed and hundreds of homes and property especially in Kajuru and Kachia local government areas destroyed.

“Today our country, richly endowed with both human and material resources is occupying the unenviable position of the world’s capital of poverty due to our inability as a nation to harness and manage our resources for the common good,” he said.

He urged governors of each state to be creative as too much concentration of power and resource at the centre has made a lot of them ineffective. He noted that Coronavirus pandemic has made an already bad situation worse, causing hopelessness and despondency among the citizenry.

Archbishop Ndagoso then urged the church to be an example to the government in the prudent management of scarce resources for the common good.

“The pandemic has exposed the weaknesses of our traditional assumptions, systems and structures, our false securities and highlighted one of our most cherished principles of Catholic Social Teaching (CST), the principle of subsidiarity and solidarity.

“The #EndSARS protest which is gradually metamorphosing into a movement which was planned and executed by the youths of our country is a clear message that we can only ignore them at our own peril,” he said.

While he condoled with communities affected by communal clashes and attacks by bandits assuring them of continued support and solidarity, Ndagoso encouraged the “priests to continue to promote and foster not only ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue but also inter-ethnic and inter-cultural relations. This is what our church universally is known for”.

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