LETTER TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD, October 02

Exhortations On Nigeria's Golden Jubilee Anniversary

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!

I am sending you my greetings from a little French town of Beaupreau. You may be wondering what I am doing at Beaupreau. You may remember that a year ago I was involved in a motor accident that took the life of our dear Fr. Nonso Stanley Anaedo and broke some of my ribs. It took place on 14th September 2009, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, with the news of the death of Fr. Nonso coming to me on 15th September 2009, the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. Our Mother who knew what it was to lose a loved One was by my side at the hospital bed of St. Mary's Hospital, Gwagwalada to console me and my surviving travelling companions, Sr. Julie Agbakoba, MC and Mr. Gabriel Anyigbo, our driver. Now, I am in France to celebrate the anniversary in a Hospital, Polyclinique du Parc, Cholet at the instance of an association in France called Missionaries of Mary Messenger of Love, (Missionaires de Marie Messagère de L'Amour). It is the way of divine providence that I am in France for this Anniversary Medical Check-up (AMC)! I thank God for the opportunity. I also thank the very kind members of this association led by Mère Marie-Pierre LORRE (MMMA) offering to pay for my AMC. The divine Provider indeed provided for me more than I could imagine. Dr.Nicolas Maillot (Surgeon), Dr. Christophe Cassé (Urologist) and Dr. Riou (Cardiologist) were very kind and friendly. They facilitated the medical check-up and gave me free medical attention. I thank them. I am very grateful to my angel, Sr. Maryann Ume, who accompanied me as my guardian and interpreter. May God reward her sacrifices!

Though I am in France, I still sense the heavy atmosphere in Nigeria, I would say, giddy feelings in Nigeria about the coming celebration of the Golden Jubilee of the political independence of Nigeria. A hefty sum of money has been budgeted for the celebration, of course for the elite of elites, for the glitterati of the society. I do hope that the common people in Nigeria will be allowed to pick up the crumbs from the richly decked tables of the masters. For the common people in Nigeria, the coming celebration may make no meaning, no sense, no impact. If left alone, the day will pass as any other day. But we must join the elite to celebrate what we do not really understand, that is, the true meaning of political independence. We must rejoice that we have exchanged one form of servitude with another form. The difference is that the enslavement is no longer by a foreign power but by our brothers and sisters who believe that Nigeria is made for them and them alone while the majority of Nigerians would be considered as pawns in the game of power chess! We must celebrate, suffering and smiling!

I joined my brother-Bishops in issuing the message to our nation on the occasion of this celebration. I still associate myself with the hope of the message, the hope that Nigerians will experience change of heart, liberation, solidarity and patriotism. Change of heart is basic to our celebration. It is true that God has endowed this country with enormous wealth in human and material resources. When our governments announce their budgets of trillions and the income from black gold, I cannot but rejoice that I am a Nigerian in a country with great potentials, potentials to put enough food on the table of every Nigerian, provide electricity 24 hours of the 365/366 days of a year, have running potable water in every household in every part of this country, build and maintain schools of high standards with education available for all its citizens, have medical facilities and health cum social insurance for all Nigerians, have good network of roads and rails throughout the country and ensure peace and security everywhere in Nigeria. This is my hope and the hope of every Nigerian. God has provided the resources to realise this hope fully, if only the elite would allow the proper utilisation and distribution of our God-given wealth. But selfishness, parochialism, greed, corruption have combined to under-develop Nigeria and short-change Nigerians! A change of heart is called for at this Golden Jubilee celebration!

We are celebrating the Golden Jubilee of our political independence but we need liberation. How can we be celebrating with over 700,000 Nigerians in prison awaiting trial, innocent Nigerians languishing in prison. Our laws presume a person innocent until tried and convicted according to the laws of the land. But the reality is the case. Many unfortunate Nigerians are thrown into prison on accusations which are in most cases capricious, false, tendentious or outright malicious. Our prisons are instrument of oppression and of showing fellow Nigerians the power of one's connections, influence, authority or wickedness. This is the time “to proclaim liberty to captives, sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim a year of favour from the Lord” (Luke 4:18-19). Governments at all levels in Nigeria should as a matter of justice and mercy constitute high-powered Committees of Prerogative of Mercy made up of religious leaders and members of civil organisations, men and women of proven integrity to go to all prisons in Nigeria and review the records of all inmates and recommend those to be released unconditionally and those to be released on parole and those to be recommended for expeditious trial. This will make for a more just and free society.

Still on the matter of liberation, how can we be celebrating the Golden Jubilee of our political independence where there is a general disregard for truth and integrity? As a nation, we find ourselves in bondage, in bondage to the masters of the underworld. Jesus Christ challenged the Jews about their state of slavery. They prided themselves as free people but they were imprisoned by their sins. The Good News from the Saviour was and is: “If you make my word your home you will indeed be my disciples; you will come to know the truth. And the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32). To the claim to false freedom of being the descendants of Abraham, Jesus countered: “In all truth I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave “(John 8:34). We are enslaved by the sins of greed and corruption, the sins of lies and falsehood that keep our country down. We are made for greatness. We can only aspire to greatness when we as a nation change our ways and embrace the new way of truth and integrity, integrity of intention, integrity of motivation, and integrity of process which will ensure the integrity of the outcome. Truth and integrity will liberate our nations from the false values which control our politics, economics and even religion. Our contribution as Christians to the nation must always be the presentation of Christ the Way, the Truth and the Life to our society challenging everybody to be committed to the way of truth and integrity: “Christ set us free, so that we should remain free. Stand firm, then, and do not be fastened again to the yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1). May the Lord give us the Spirit to change the face of Nigeria through the change of heart of every Nigeria. St. Paul tells us: “Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17). May all Nigerians experience true and perfect freedom of the children of God, having been freed from slavery to corruption (see Romans 8:21)
On solidarity, we need to look crucially at the yawning gap between the rich and the poor in Nigeria. I rejoice with all the rich people in Nigeria. I cry with the poor people. But my heart bleeds at the amount of looting of public funds that go on in Nigeria. It is true that there are many Nigerians who became rich by hard work and by benefiting from economic opportunities. But there are also many locusts, opportunists who become rich by taking undue advantage of their positions in public life to convert public funds to their private property. We were regaled to the mind-boggling sums of money called Abacha Loot. Is Abacha the only leader who looted Nigeria? Some previous leaders amassed more wealth than Abacha and are moving around making a mockery of poor Nigerians. Some of the leaders and public officials after Abacha stole back the recovered Abacha loot and looted even more. The looting spree continues unabated with billions of public funds allocated for public works going into private pockets without a thought to making life better for the common people in Nigeria. In the name of God let this looting stop so that the abundant resources in this country will benefit the majority of Nigerians. There is enough for all, provided that the abundant resources are used judiciously and purposefully to benefit the maximum number of people in our country.

A sense of morality and patriotism is required to turn things around, to have men and women, children and youth who wish the best for the country through active concern for the common good of all Nigerians. Nigeria needs a crop of men and women who are prepared to make sacrifices for Nigeria, to serve our fatherland with faith and honour, to contribute to the commonwealth rather to loot the common patrimony, to bake the national cake rather than to angle to share the national cake, and of course to take a lion's share of the cake. Morality is an imperative for a just and ordered society. The citizens who value morality in private and public life will definitely strive to do the right thing always and in every situation and this is what many Nigerians avoid, doing the right thing. Cutting corners, creating confusion, erecting barriers, making bottlenecks and causing hardship and suffering for others are some of the ways of making life difficult for others in Nigeria. Morality should engender law and order which are essential requisites for a well-ordered society, a society in which everybody finds contentment and peace. But as often as we sacrifice morality on the heathen altar of selfishness, greed and corruption, so often do we get the confusion and disorder that mar our society and make life a nightmare for the majority of Nigerians. For the love of Nigeria and Nigerians, let every Nigerian give up his or her evil ways and turn to righteousness which exalts a nation. Our nation Nigeria deserves to be great but only the good people of Nigeria will make it great.

God has given us a big country, the most populous country of black people with a population of over 150,000,000 Nigerians. God has endowed us with rich human and material resources, resources that can make our country the Garden of Eden, better than Dubai, Singapore and other countries that have developed themselves in recent times. Making Nigeria great is a task for every Nigerian. Your contribution no less mine will turn our dear country already a land flowing with milk and honey into a just and prosperous country of our dream. Let us as individuals and as a nation give up the self-destructive and short-sighted ways by which we have made the Giant of Africa a dwarf in the comity of nations. Ghana with fewer resources is taking the centre stage while Nigeria is becoming a good-for-nothing crippled giant suffering haemorrhage of its citizens in search of greener pastures elsewhere. For employment, they head to Europe, Asia and America; for education, they troop to Ghana; for medical attention, they turn to India; for business, and they flock to China. Nothing except politics, 419 (Advanced Fee Fraud) and kidnapping offer people the chance to get quick and easy money in Nigeria. Is this not a real aberration?

The government has to make politics less attractive and crime very expensive so that Nigerians can generally face the arduous task of economic and social development through hard work and entrepreneurship. The government has to encourage local entrepreneurs, especially those engaged in productive and service enterprises and industries. Before independence, Nigerians depended on the productive sector coal from Enugu, cocoa from the West, pyramids of ground nuts and cotton from the North, palm produce from the East. With these, the governments were able to develop the country, each Region doing its best. With independence and the discovery and exploitation of oil, Nigerians abandoned farming and faced distribution and consumption of oil money. Our Golden Jubilee celebration should make us come to our senses and diversify our economy. People should embrace once more production and provision of services. As it is, I am writing this letter on the Feast of St. Matthew, the tax collector who had a change of heart. From being a tax collector who would normally exact more than was stipulated, he gave up all to follow Jesus Christ in poverty and total dedication to the Gospel. Taking a cue from this, every Nigerian is called to abandon all the evil, parasitic and sinful ways of making money and embrace honesty and integrity in private and public life.

We are entering the month of October, a month with special devotion to our Lady. Providentially, I will visit Lourdes from 26th to 28th September. I will carry you all to our Mother Mary, praying for the well-being of our country dedicated to Mary, Queen of Nigeria. On October 1st, we will celebrate Our Lady Queen of Nigeria as a Feast. We will thank God for all the favours which our country has received these fifty years. With Mary as our heavenly Patroness we are assured of divine protection and blessings for our land. As usual, let every Catholic take part in October devotions, praying the rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary in private and in public. In all parish churches, there will be common praying of the rosary and the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary followed by Benediction with the Blessed Sacrament. In churches in the outstations, people should come together to pray the rosary and litany. Thos who cannot go to the church for the common praying of the rosary are required to pray the rosary in their families or privately. May Mary our Mother and Queen obtain for us the graces and favours we need to make our country a nation of truly free, just and prosperous people!

Happy Golden Jubilee Celebration to all Nigerians, to our political leaders who are enjoying the benefits of the God-given resources and to those fellow citizens who are suffering deprivations, unjust incarceration, oppressions, hunger, diseases and poverty!

Given in Breaupreau, France on 21st September 2010, the Feast of St.