…Call for national unity
From: Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo
The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria CBCN has commenced its second plenary session for the year 2017 in Jalingo, the Taraba state Capital.
The week long Conference kick started Sunday Morning with an opening Mass attended by the leader of the All Progressive Congress APC Mr John Oyegun, the Taraba state Governor Darius Ishaku and wife and other top government functionaries and lay faithful across the country.
In his keynote address, the president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria Bishop Ignatius Kaigama said that calls for cessation and eviction in parts of the country were shamful and regrettable, while “the proliferation of hate speech has done the country every bad and no good and is highly injurious to our national psychic”.
Kaigama said that “we must intensify effort to avoid the polarization of this country on ethnic or religious grounds and should rather concentrate our energy on how to work sincerely together to provide enough food for the poor, rehabilitate our roads, establish health facilities in rural areas and attend to the plight of the less privileged”.
He said that the conference offers the opportunity for the Bishops to courageously perform their prophetic roles without bias by constantly awakening the political leaders to the imperative of justice and fairness as a requisite for development and an end to sociopolitical unrest in the country.
Kaigama insisted that immunity is a major problem in Nigeria and decried the situation where some people can say whatever they want and get away with it while the commoners have no right to air their views lest they are tagged hoodlums and miscreants.
He said that sincere dialogue at regional, ethnic and religious levels was expedient at this time for so that past mistakes can be corrected and a new course chat.
In his remarks, the Taraba state governor Darius Ishaku said that the visit was an indication of showers of blessing for the state since peace has eluded the state for too long, and commended the Conference for its consistent voice on topical national issues and global role in human development.
“Your consistent voice on national issues has indeed borne testimony that you are concerned with the good of the nation. I urge you to remain resolute in your stand against evil organizations that stand to cheapen human lives, and to speak the truth on issues with courage.
“The global role of the Catholic Church in human development in areas of education, health care delivery, management of humanitarian crisis is indispensable. All governments need the Church to compliment our efforts because you are able to penetrate the most remote areas and provide services and help in great ways”, Ishaku said.
The occasion featured the introduction of the new Papa Nuncio to Nigeria His Excellency Antonio Guido Filipazzi, who is now the Vatican Envoy to Nigeria.
The Bishops are expected to brainstorm on topical national issues and offer intensive prayers for the country and come up with a communiqué at the end of the conference on Thursday.