Catholic Church kicks, calls on Nigerians to reject the ‘budding injustice’
The country does not belong to any sect -KSM
The Catholic Church of Nigeria has kicked against Muslim-Muslim Presidential candidate and running mate ahead of the 2023 presidential election saying it would inflict the country with more security crisis and fuel more division. The Catholic Church said this in a statement jointly signed by Very Rev. Fr. Zacharia Nyantiso Samjumi Secretary – General; and Very Rev. Fr. Michael Nsikak Umoh Director, Social Communications of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN), the administrative headquarters of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) on Tuesday in Abuja. They cautioned Nigeria’s political parties against the alleged moves to present Muslim running mates for the 2023 presidential elections considering the peculiarity of the nation’s political atmosphere, which has over the years been segregated along regional and religious lines.
According to the administrative organ of the Catholic Church in Nigeria, doing the contrary will indicate deliberate attempts at fuelling activities of the non-state actors at jeopardising the already fragile peace of Nigeria. The statement read in part, “With the present glaring crisis and division in the nation, a Muslim-Muslim ticket would be most insensitive and a tacit endorsement of the negative voices of many non-state actors who have been threatening this nation’s unity and peaceful coexistence without an arrest. “Going by the Kaduna experience, we can perceive the havoc the Muslim-Muslim ticket has brought upon the predominantly Christian people of Southern Kaduna. We therefore strongly advise those political parties toying with divisive agenda to have a rethink by presenting a more inclusive ticket, while calling on all people of goodwill to resist this budding injustice that may be hatched against a cross section of the people.
“In pursuit of peace, it is imperative to remind everyone that all Nigerians, irrespective of creed or region, are equal; as such, there must be sensitivity in the spread of political positions without compromising competence. Finally, we call on all Nigerians, individually and collectively, to do everything in their power to seek and work for unity and justice, so that we may attain that peace we all desire. There is no alternative to peace!” The Catholic Church urged Nigerians not to lose sight of the fact that the unity of this country has, over the years, been maintained by a delicate balancing of the religious and the regional as it cited previous administrations. CSN recounted, “Even in the despotic military era, most juntas ensured a balance of the religious architecture in their regimes.
For instance, we had Murtala-Obasanjo, Obasanjo-Yar’adua, Babangida-Ebitu Ukiwe, Abacha – Diya. This also applied to the heads of the various military formations and the different government parastatals like Customs, Immigrations, Finance, etc. “Significantly, it was only during the General Muhammadu Buhari era as military Head of State (Dec 31, 1983 – Aug. 27, 1985) that we had a Muslim-Muslim military dictatorship. Similarly, only once did we have a Muslim-Muslim ticket in the 1993 democratic elections, which featured Abiola-Kingibe ticket and turned out to be one of Nigeria’s freest and fairest elections. But that government never took off! Fast forward to 2022, 30 years later, some individuals have tried to suggest the Muslim-Muslim ticket for the Presidential election in a country like Nigeria that has unfortunately been badly polarised.”
The Church noted that there would have been nothing wrong with a Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian ticket in a democratic dispensation, if there is mutual trust and respect for the human person and where the overriding desire for seeking political office is the fostering of the common good. The statement further read in part, “Going by the Kaduna experience, we can perceive the havoc the Muslim-Muslim ticket has brought upon the predominantly Christian people of Southern Kaduna.” The CSN counseled and beckoned on Nigerians in strong terms to kick against what it termed ‘budding injustice’, “We therefore strongly advise those political parties toying with divisive agenda to have a rethink by presenting a more inclusive ticket, while calling on all people of goodwill to resist this budding injustice that may be hatched against a cross section of the people. “In pursuit of peace, it is imperative to remind everyone that all Nigerians, irrespective of creed or region, are equal; as such, there must be sensitivity in the spread of political positions without compromising competence.
Finally, we call on all Nigerians, individually and collectively, to do everything in their power to seek and work for unity and justice, so that we may attain that peace we all desire. There is no alternative to peace!” The Order of the Knights of St. Mulumba, Nigeria on Wednesday lent its voice to warning the two leading political parties’ leadership against pairing their presidential candidates with Muslims in the 2023 election. Sir (Dr.) Charles Mbelede, Supreme Knight of the Order of St. Mulumba Nigeria, made this call at a Media Conference to flag off the 70th anniversary celebrations of the Order at St. Leo Catholic Church, Ikeja, Lagos. He asked the political parties to narrow their search for the vice presidential candidate to the Christian community stressing that Nigeria is a secular country that does not belong to any religious sect. Sir Mbelede recalled, “During the time of President Muhammadu Buhari’s presidential campaign, it is not a hidden secret, he was to make Asiwaju Bola Tinubu his running mate but people flagged that no we cannot have Muslim-Muslim ticket and that was how the Vice President emerged.”
Continuing, he stated outrightly the position of the Order of Knights of St. Mulumba, Nigeria, “What we are saying is that we stand for equity and fairness, this is a secular country; it does not belong to any particular sect. It’s not a Muslim country neither is it a Christian country. It’s a country that is owned by all so there must be equity. We stand by equity, we stand by fairness, whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well. “In a contemporary Nigerian society, we should have fairness , we should have equity. The cards must be on table and we think and believe strongly that Muslim-Muslim ticket is not the best, certainly not the best and can never be the best. We stand for equity, if there is a Muslim, there must be a Christian to counter balance the actions. That’s our stand and that is what we believe.
