The Catholic Bishop of Oyo Diocese, Most Rev. Emmanuel Badejo has urged Nigerians to fight for moral and ethical regeneration in families, and the society at large as the country celebrates its 60th independence anniversary. Badejo made the call in a statement he made available to the Catholic Herald newspaper on Wednesday in Lagos, saying that injustice and graft must be opposed and the rule of law must be applied equally to all.
He said that on the occasion of Nigeria’s 60th anniversary, all citizens of Nigeria still have to fight for independence because “Nigeria still lacks authentic independence.” The Clergy whose message is titled: “At 60 Nigeria Must Fight for Independence,” said Nigerians “must fight for independence from thieving leaders and politicians, corrupt civil servants and unionists, bloodthirsty terrorists and tribalists, economic mercenaries and religious bigots and all sorts of social miscreants who merely seek their own cut of the national cake at whatever price.
” He said that the lifeblood of a federal republic like Nigeria is equity in representation, distribution of resources, positions and privileges, explaining that “Nigeria has however been asphyxiated by the self-serving, sectionalist, and tribalistic character of most of her leaders. “Nigerians believed that President Muhammadu Buhari would be different when in his inaugural speech in 2015, he said that he belonged to everybody and to nobody. How very wrong they were! The President has since put in place the most divisive regime of lopsidedness and marginalization in appointments and recruitments to favour the northern part of Nigeria.
“The latest evidence is in the recent lopsided appointments in the Nigerian Customs Service, a major parastatal in the country. “In a barefaced manner and in such a multi religious and ethnically diverse country as Nigeria, seven senior positions there all went to Northern Muslims. This is to say the least, bizarre. I call on the President to lead the charge for the restoration of equity, fairness and balance in appointments and recruitments in Nigeria in order to restore the federal character of Nigeria and the confidence of the people and so exploit the strength that can be found in national unity.
Badejo said that Nigerians must endeavour to support one another to alleviate the sufferings of the less privilege. According to him, insecurity, violence, insurgency, corruption, unemployment, crippling inflation and pervasive criminality might still not eclipse the hopes of an independent Nigeria. “The strength of the nation’s diversity and the combined force of its people can still overcome any challenge if every leader who should nurture the country’s cohesion does not work against it.
“Some questions that Nigerians ask today show that after 60 years of independence, we still lack authentic independence. “Nigerians must fight for independence anew and all hands must be on deck, because we have no other country to call our home. “We must fight for independence from stealing leaders, civil servants, unionists, bloodthirsty terrorists, tribalists, economic mercenaries, religious bigots and all social miscreants, who merely seek their own cut of the national cake at whatever price,” Badejo said.
He called on leaders to spearhead the charge for the restoration of equity, fairness and balance in appointments and recruitments in the country. Badejo said that such would help to restore the federal character, the confidence of the people and also exploit the strength that could be found in national unity. He added that we must continue to lift our voices to God in prayers because of its many benefits. “God has done more for Nigeria than he has done for other countries.
Others only used God’s grace far better than us. “The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria(CBCN) has called for a 40- day prayer which will end on October 1. “We believe that it has worked for our country. God is answering our prayers but it is left to us to recognise the opportunities he offers to us and use them to our advantages,” he said
