Mr. Kingsley Ekwem is the President of the Lagos Archdiocesan Catholic Men Organisation of Nigeria. In this interview with the Editor, NETA NWOSU, he speaks on the goals of the organisation, his agenda as President, challenges, corruption and President Bola Tinubu’s tenure as well as Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration. Excerpts:
Congratulations on your emergence as President, LACMON. Why do you think you gained the majority votes? How has the journey been so far?
Thanks for congratulating me. I honestly don’t know why I got the highest votes. I did not campaign for this position. I went in as a delegate from Lekki Deanery. And I came out as the president. I deliberately did not campaign for the position, and I told people that reached out to me that in the circumstances of the services to humanity and most importantly to God in his Church, that the office or any office for that matter demands, in principle, I will not campaign for that office or any office. I prayed to God and reflected with him that if I am nominated to office, I will accept and if I am voted into office, I will serve with His help and grace. In that event, He should tell me what he wants me to do and grant me the grace, wisdom and courage to do it, then I will give it my best effort to His glory. Perhaps the voters will be in the best position to say why they voted me in.

As for the journey, it has its ups and downs, different dynamics from when I led Lekki Deanery as its coordinator. Political calculations, personal interests of participants in the organisation, all manner of intrigues, high points, low points etc. One thing is clear to me. Not all who say they want to serve man and therefore God really and truly want to serve. Some have perhaps other things in mind. There are some fantastic individuals too who genuinely offer their time, talent and treasure to serve God. One is encouraged by this set of people. By and large, it has been interesting, challenging and time consuming. But God never promised anything would be easy. He only promised His grace and that He is giving. He will help us succeed to His glory.
What are the goals of this organisation? Have these goals been realised so far? If not, what efforts would your leadership team make in achieving these goals?
The goals of any organisation are expected to be in the constitution of that organisation. Apart from a proclamation that Christ is our leader and the need to grow spiritually, among very few others, the present LACMON’s constitution is not that helpful in terms of goals and objectives in practical terms. That’s why we have instituted a constitution review and drafting committee to review and overhaul the entire constitution with clearly defined and articulated goals and objectives. They are currently working on this specific assignment. I am sure very soon the Committee will come up with a draft constitution that would comprehensively cover all vital areas that it currently does not refer to and cover. We look forward to receiving their report soon and once adopted, we begin the process of getting it approved by the Church authorities. In the meantime, we are working with what we have at the moment.
We are changing the focus of our yearly convention to concentrate more on marriage and family values, two major issues that impact heavily on our faith, since our faith is built around the covenant of the family. We are also focusing on welfare of members, taking deliberate and intentional steps to bring in younger people to the CMO fold, through the use of technology of all kinds, building clear structures for CMO, proper and better management of our time in CMO meetings, focusing more on how we live our marriage vocation, of course, having in mind that marriage is our path to sanctity, investible insurance products for members, support for the Church as part of our duty, reigniting interests in those values that we are known for, while taking advantage of the good parts of technology and deemphasising the negative parts that are killing these human values. There are more things we are doing at the moment.
Why did you opt to be President of LACMON? Please let us into your agenda. What is the timeline for this agenda?
My reasons for opting to accept being LACMON’s president are basically as I have stated earlier and of course more. In addition to all I have said, I am interested in how we men live unity of life in servicing man and God, our lives inside and outside the Church should not be far apart. There must be unity of purpose in this regard. I am interested in things that draw us closer to God and not away from God. I am interested in doing apostolate within the context of LACMON and changing orientation to organisation’s and leadership values. As for my agenda, it is as I have stated in the preceding question, primarily on formation, focus on marriage and family values, getting members to have formation, especially on the social teachings of the Church etc. As for timelines, we have a four-year tenure, God willing. We are working within this timeline in a segmented and structured way in pursuing our goals. Let’s pray and trust that God will help us in achieving most of them, if not all and much more.
What is your present membership strength? Does this capture all the men in the parishes and out stations?
I don’t have the exact membership strength at the moment because it is constantly changing with new members being admitted in our quasi parishes, parishes, particularly on Sundays, depending on CMO meeting days of a given parish. We are working on increasing membership strength by at least 30%, in membership across the over 220 parishes, 20 Deaneries in the Lagos Archdiocese that is one of the biggest in the world. By our constitution, all men from 25 years and above are expected to be members. That’s why we are particularly focusing on the younger age bracket, hoping that with and through technology, we can woo many of them into CMO. So, our strength now is still a far cry from what it should be. We are working on increasing membership strength.
What are your challenges so far?
This is related to my answers on the journey so far. Conflicting personal interest of members as distinct from the purpose and reason for leadership and authority, which is all about service. Sometimes, people think elections are not over, yet it is. Getting people to focus on the right values and not on things that don’t really matter etc. You can imagine the rest. But one is encouraged by many that truly want to serve. But surely and slowly, our plans are beginning to fall in line as more and more people key into the programmes we pursue that is for common good. With the high level of corruption, immorality and crime in the society, do you think the men folk are playing their roles effectively as Fathers. The perpetrators of ills have fathers and originate from homes.
That’s precisely why we are focusing on family values, the values of true and authentic marriage, not the deconstruction that is being introduced to bastardise these ancient institutions. Corruption is deeply entrenched in the society. It goes without saying, that these corrupt men which may or may not include you and I, are products of homes also. So, what do we do? We begin and begin again and again. Talking about it. Writing about it. Making genuine, deliberate and sincere efforts about changing the narratives of corruption, and in this direction, the Church has a major role to play. Recognising less and less in a more visible manner all those people that are clearly implicated in this regard and rewarding people who are living a life of virtue, both in the family and work places. Immorality? Hmmm! Let’s not even go there. Is huge and have crept into the lives of our children, in our families etc. We can’t be done here if we are to talk about these fruits from the same evil tree! But let’s begin from somewhere! Governor Babajide Sanwo Olu has spent about 10 months in his second tenure.
How would you describe his administration as regards his manifesto?
I am not fully familiar with all aspects of his manifesto. But governance is a result- oriented thing. He has done well and continues to do well in some aspects, especially on infrastructural development of the state. But there is need to complete and consolidate on some projects that seem abandoned. Governance transparency is another issue I think he should focus on as there is a very negative perception of how his government is being run by many people. Quite honestly, he has not done badly, but needs to do more, especially on security of the residents of Lagos State and on fair and equal treatment of all residents under his care and jurisdiction.
Things are going worse with every day, and President Bola Tinubu keeps asking Nigerians to be patient despite economic policies like removal of fuel subsidy, CBN reducing money in circulation and MPR rate being increased that do not resonate with the masses. May we have your views please?
Governance is a very challenging thing, especially with the state of the nation at the moment. But our government has to be held accountable for being in government. Security is the most important reason why government exist in the first place. We need to see more efforts made in this regard. And the solutions to the insecurity in the country are not unknown. It is the will to implement and deal with it that seems insufficient. Government knows what it should do, let them do it across the board! Well, we have been having patience since the time of Babangida. We are still being called upon to have patience. well, what can we do? Any government we have is a product or assumed to be a product of our collective vote. So, let’s live with our actions and hope that our leaders will do a lot more in areas of our lives that matter most.
I am not an economist, so I may not appreciate much the economic implications of CBN’s actions, but what is known is that governance is a result-oriented thing. The question is: are we getting results as we deserve? Your guess is as good as mine. Nigerians are worried, perturbed and afraid. Insecurity has taken over the country. People are saying even if we don’t have enough to eat, if we feed our children who graduated over 12 years ago without a job, at least we should have peace; we should be able to sleep with our eyes closed, and hopeful when we wake up the next day to continue hoping? How do you think these issues of hunger, insecurity and unemployment can be resolved? My response is as contained in my earlier response to the last question, in one word, good leadership! That’s the only solution! Without security, perhaps there is no need for government! We would be running around in circles! We can only hope that governments across the board (not just federal government) should do the right things to stem the tide of insecurity, unemployment and take steps to engender security, good governance which at the end of the day would be for the common good of all.