BY GILBERT EKEZIE
THE Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Okogie, has condemned the recent curriculum crisis in some schools in South West, describing it as a plot to make a particular religious group more prominent than another.
He stated this on Thursday during the celebration of 80th birthday and 50th anniversary of his priesthood ordination at the Holy Cross Cathedral, Lagos.
According to him, “I am seeing something that has not yet manifested. They are secretly trying to make Nigeria an Islamic State. But that cannot happen. During my tenure as the President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), then Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida tried it by going to Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC), meeting secretly and claimed to be an observer. As a Head of state of a country, how could he have gone to such meeting without anyone following him? Who sent him there? And the people he went to meet did not ask him who sent him. But at the end, his plans failed.”
Okogie also cited the activities of Governor El- Rufai of Kaduna State against Christian religious groups, stating that all are centred on religious intolerance and oppression. “What El-Refai is doing in Kaduna is another way they are moving. They move from one place to another. And after sometime, they hid and reappear again, thinking that no one is seeing them.
“In fact, Nigerians are watching their footsteps. And, if they think they will succeed in making Nigeria an Islamic country through all these activities, they are joking, because Christians will not allow that to happen. So, those trying to play such practices should be mindful of the repercussions and have a rethink.”
The Archbishop emeritus, who described the ceremony as extraordinary and one of the best, also called on President Muhammad Buhari to make a quick turn-around on the economy of Nigeria by going back to study his inaugural speech and APC manifesto, then start afresh.