Independence: Clerics pray for indivisible Nigeria

Independence: Clerics pray for indivisible Nigeria
NAN-H-29
Prayers
Abuja, Oct. 1, 2017 (NAN) As Nigeria celebrates her 57th Independence Anniversary, some clerics have called for a peaceful and indivisible country saying “Nigeria is better as one unified country”.
The Most Rev. Alfred Adewale Martins, Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, in his homily on Sunday at a special Mass to commemorate the 57th Independence of Nigeria, in Lagos called on government to address the challenges threatening the unity of the country.
`Government should be quick in addressing the challenges that threaten the unity and corporate existence of Nigeria.
“I charge our government to address the concerns of the people.
“Government should imbibe the virtue of listening to the people, whether their concerns are real or not; frivolous or weighty.
“There is poverty in the land; poverty in the midst of plenty and a people who are hungry are bound to be irritable and angry.
“There is also insecurity, robbery, kidnapping of citizens, distractions and killings from cult factions, Badoo, Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen , as well as agitations from ethnic groups.
“All these are because of feelings of marginalisation and it threatens the unity and corporate existence of our nation. ”
Martins advised Nigerians to be guarded in their utterances.
“As citizens, I urge us to be careful and charitable in what we say about one another because we are all equal in the sight of God.
“We should not run down the country and ourselves by what we say because the country is stronger and more progressive as one nation,” he said.
Martins said further that Nigerians have genuine reasons to acknowledge God for his mercies all through the country’s 57 years as a nation.
The Archbishop tasked Nigerians to imbibe peace and dedicate everything to God to avert war.
“We should pray, acknowledge our sins, make amends, use the sacrament of reconciliation for sin and peace, as well as make reparations.
“Our leaders should also be sensitive, fair, transparent, focused, have the fear of God and address the concerns of the citizens.
“If we are committed to these, there will be peace in the land, ” Martins said.
Similarly, The Bishop of Umuahia Catholic Diocese, Most Rev. Lucius Ugorji, has urged Nigerians to continue to pray against the forces f disunity and disintegration.
Ugorji gave the charge on Sunday in his homily to mark the nation’s 57th independence anniversary at the Mater Dei Cathedral, Umuahia.
The cleric identified “poor governance, impunity, corruption and ethnicity, “among the evil forces that restrained Nigeria from becoming the giant of Africa.”
He said that “the hope of the black man lies on Nigeria” and prayed that Nigeria must remain united and strong to provide the expected hope and leadership to Africa and black nations of the world.
He urged Catholic faithful “not to get weary praying to Mother Mary for her intervention,” saying: “She is our hope and comforter at a period of tribulations.
According to him, “Our faith should not be shaken by the hardship and troubles we are passing through because we have Mary, who is our hope when we face tribulation and stormy sea.”
The bishop recalled the nation’s ugly experiences during the slave trade and colonial era in the hands of the Europeans.
He said that although colonialism brought Western education, Western civilisation and administration to Nigeria, “it caused us a lot of trouble as a people.”
He described the 1914 amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates by the British colonial masters as “forced marriage, which the people did not propose or concede to.”
He traced the current agitation by some sections of Nigeria for restructuring to “the prevailing imbalance, inequality and injustice in the country.”
The cleric regretted that many Nigerians had become disillusioned and disappointed in the nation due to bad governance, nepotism, inequality and injustice by the political leaders.
“But our God is the God of peace, justice and equity and that is why we as a country would continue to put our trust in Him in times of trials,” he said.
He hoped that God, “who transformed water into wine, which gives joy to our heart, will transform our situation and bring joy to our heart as a nation.”
He admonished Nigerians to use the period of the independence celebration “to thank God for giving us fertile land.”
“God has blessed us with abundant human and material resources of all kinds,” Ugorji said.
He further said that God imbued Nigeria with the immunity against hurricane and other disasters that intermittently ravaged other nations of the world.
“And, in spite of all the crises and challenges we have gone through, we are still together as one nation,” the bishop said.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the anniversary celebration was low key in Umuahia and its environs while security operatives were deployed in strategic locations of the city to maintain the peace.
In a related development, Rev. Fr Godfrey Onah, the Bishop of Nsukka Catholic Diocese says Nigeria’s greatness lies in its citizens.
Onah made the remark in Nsukka at St Theresa’s Catholic Cathedral Nsukka in his sermon to mark Nigeria’s Independence anniversary.
He said for the country to overcome its present political and economic problems, every citizen in the country must love his or her neighbour as himself/herself irrespective of tribe, religion or political affiliation.
” We are celebrating 57th years of our independence anniversary today, there are many problems facing the country because we have refused to love our neighbour like ourselves.
“God has blessed Nigeria with natural resources and manpower, the hope to be one of the leading economies in the world lies in us as citizens of this country,” he said.
Onah said no amount of structural changes without change of attitude by the leaders and the led would solve the problems of the country.
” The problem is not in the structure but in our attitude, actions and utterances as citizens of this country.
” There is need for every Nigerian to truly believe in God, because when you believe in God you will see everybody as your brother or sister as well as be your brothers/sisters keeper,” he said.
The bishop urged Federal government to always use dialogue in resolving various agitations and cry of marginalisation across the country since the country would only achieve more when there is peace and unity.
“There is no problem in this world that dialogue will not solve, so President Mohammadu Buhari as the father of all Nigerians should invite the leadership of agitating groups to round table, listen to them and know how to solve their problem.
Also, Istifanus Koce of ECWA Good News Church in Kuje, Abuja, called on all Nigerians to eschew any form of division and imbibe the virtues of unity and tolerance.
Koce told the New Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kuje that unity and love were paramount to the stability and harmony of the country.
He said that unity would be enhanced if Nigerians were quick to love and forgive each other as one people bound by the same destiny.
The cleric attributed most of the challenges facing the country to impatience by some Nigerians, saying that unity and love would foster the development of the country.
He said that, “Nigeria is 57 and we have come a long way, it is very necessary to see ourselves as one for the unity of the country.
“We should love one another and stay united for the growth and development of Nigeria.
“Division is not in the interest of any nation, every grievance should be channelled through the appreciate institutions.”
The cleric urged Christians to forgive one another and eschew any form of violent act that would bring about division and hatred.
He urged Nigerians to unite in prayer toward overcoming the nation’s trying times, and expressed confidence that God would soon intervene in a miraculous way. (NAN)
Reporters/VIV/EAL
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Editing by Vivian Ihechu/Ekemini Ladejobi