Nigeria on the brink, leaders must change – Onaiyekan

Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Cardinal John Onaiyekan has said it’s no time to celebrate electoral victory or defeat of political opponents as the country is currently ‘dancing on the brink of chaos.’  

Oniayekan said this Sunday at the interdenominational church service for the forthcoming presidential inauguration held at the National Christian Centre in Abuja. 

In a message titled, ‘Let Us Choose Life Not Death,’ taken from Deuteronomy 30:19, the cardinal said there was need for a spiritual reflection for the peace and prosperity of the country. 

He said: “At this moment, we would do well to acknowledge our failure to do things in the right way. Here the words of the psalmist should challenge each of us: ‘If you Oh Lord should mark our guilt, who would survive?’

“The blame game of pointing accusing fingers at others will not carry us far. For a positive change to take place, we must all be ready for a sincere change of heart, from the lowest to the highest, but especially at the highest levels. Empty boasts and bare-face denial of the realities around us cannot build a nation.

“We are in the house of God, and before God we must tell the truth. The Lord Jesus has told us that ‘The Truth will make us free.’ The truth is that our nation is not in a state for us to rejoice. The ranks of the poor are swelling by the day, hopeless and helpless, as they watch in frustration the affluence of the very few cruising in a different world. Such wide socio-economic disparity has led to anger, tension, violence and outright criminality in the land. All is not well.

“The greatest of God’s gift to us, life itself, is in danger all over our land. Gunmen- and women-unknown and known- have been sowing death, destruction and misery almost everywhere. Property, well-being, harmony and peace are endangered by generalised insecurity. Before God, this is the truth and not political propaganda mounted to discredit the government. The nation must be mobilised to join hands to face the disaster looming over all of us. 

“Again, here we must tell the truth. For too long, we have been seeing what seems to be a policy of polarisation of the nation along primordial fault lines of ethnicity and religion. The result is that we have been indulging in the risky game of ’dancing on the brink of chaos’.

“We do not know for how long we can continue to get away with this. But the handwriting on the wall is quite clear for all who care to see. It is sad that no condition is permanent: certainly not the present state of our nation.

“But all is not lost either. As we embrace a new term of government, it should be for us a new opportunity to change ways and review habits of governance, for a better Nigeria. We can and we should do this. God has endowed us with adequate resources to achieve this, resources that we unfortunately turn into crises and problems. Ethnicity and religion are two cases in point,” the cleric further said. 

He also spoke on the country’s sharp division over ethnic and religious affiliations, saying, “our ethnic diversity is God’s will and gift that we ought to appreciate and celebrate. 

 “We should beware of those who seek to manipulate this in a game or divide and rule, for selfish interests. In our emerging global world, we should be building on our long experience of living together across ethnic lines, if we are not to allow ourselves to be left behind in our fast developing modern world.

“We are living in a world where many are abandoning faith in God, at great cost to humanity now and in the future. We do well to commend ourselves for our generally high level and of religious fervour. But if this is to translate into a righteous nation, we must all seek the will of God for good human relations. This cuts across our religious differences and affiliations. 

“Religion is good, but not enough. It is useful, and can even be worse than useless if it does not promote good human behaviour (James 1: 27). We cannot deceive God. We may, by our human failure, give religion a bad name. But God will always be the Holy and Religious one. Religion evokes strong emotions that ought to be deployed for solving the ills of our nation, not compound them. 

“Those who manipulate religion for their selfish political interest end up destroying religion and harming the nation. Our Constitution is not perfect but its basic provisions about freedom of religion are valid and must be scrupulously respected by all, especially by those who control state instruments of corrosion.” 

He also said there was need for leaders at all levels to change their system of governance in order to address the numerous challenges facing the country and its people. 

“In this new term of office, there is need for a drastic change of government system, if our nation is to be saved from imminent chaos. The sad fact is that many have already lost all hope in the future of this nation,” he said.

Future bright -Osinbajo 

Speaking at the church service, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo called on Christians in the country to lead in giving hope to others, saying the country’s future is bright. 

“Our days will be better and better. This is the reason why I am so confident; our ministry is that of reconciliation. We must not permit anyone to take advantage of the fault lines. Our country stands at the threshold of phenomenal great, the end of the story — light and joy. We begin with darkness and confusion but the end of our story is bright, the future of our nation is bright,” he said. 

Also speaking, former Head of State, retired General Yakubu Gowon, called on Nigerians to love and defend the country to the best of their ability. 

“Love your country and defend it in whatever way we can. Let us have peace in the land and let us ensure that this nation continues to survive to eternity, God being our helper,” he said. 

Gowon also called on Nigerians to pray for President Muhammadu Buhari and all leaders in the country so that they would give good governance and look after the interest of all Nigerians irrespective of their tribe, faith or belief. 

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