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General News of Sunday, 17 January 2021

Source: punchng.com

Nigeria needs priests, pastors after Christs' heart, says Kaigama

Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Diocese, Ignatius Kaigama Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Diocese, Ignatius Kaigama

The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Diocese, Ignatius Kaigama, on Sunday advised Nigerian priests and pastors to use the biblical Samuel as their role model.

According to him, Nigeria needed priests and pastors “after the heart of Christ” rather than those after their own hearts and the pursuit of personal ambition, while masquerading as prophets, servants or men of God.

Kaigama stated these in his homily delivered at St. Ignatius of Antioch Parish, Karu in Abuja where he said that the sluggishness of the national growth of Nigeria after 60 years of independence should not be surprising so long as massive corruption and other indices of division continued to thrive.

He, therefore, called on politicians to prove that they mean what they say in future elections by giving the youth the political oxygen to make meaningful contributions to the nation’s democratic project.

To drive his message to politicians, the cleric specifically used the New Year Message of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), in which he promised that the government would actively engage with the young people and turn their passions into ideas.

He said, “Priests and pastors in Nigeria, like Samuel, should concentrate more on rebuilding broken lives, broken homes; to help rid our society of social evils, and in our religiously polarized and tribally fragmented nation, to foster peace and harmonious coexistence.

“Samuel should be our model priest and prophet. The blasphemous behaviour of the sons of Eli the priest was the very opposite of priestly fidelity and selflessness.

“Instead of serving the needs of others and leading the way to Christ, some pastors and priests today aim at winning allegiance to themselves to become the rallying point, a kind of personality cult. Nigeria needs priests and pastors after the heart of Christ rather than those after their own hearts and the pursuit of personal ambition while masquerading as prophets, servants or men of God.

“The call of young Samuel today as that of Jeremiah shows that God calls not only the elderly but also the young to work for Him. The youth are therefore challenged to play more active roles in evangelization. In political governance, they are also to be given a chance to participate fully rather than being seen as immature citizens and agents of crimes.

“With their talents and energy, they can surely make meaningful contributions to our country. I recall that during the last general elections, there was a “not too young to rule” campaign.”

Kaigama recalled that Buhari in his New Year message made promises to the young people, but said “I hope that this declaration is truly meant to open the economic and political space to our young people, de-emphasizing monetary extortion, the practice of favouritism, nepotism, godfathers’ manipulations, and outright election rigging that excludes the youth from political participation.”

According to him, the distraction and destruction caused by massive corruption weakens, confuses and destabilises young people and thus, their inability to key into the project of ‘one people, one nation.’

He said, “For too long, ethnic stereotyping and deep religious prejudices have dominated our national life and discourse that these young people have grown up knowing nothing but the language of division, hatred, greed and manipulation.

“Are we surprised that after 60 years of independence our national growth is sluggish? Let us prove that we mean what we say in the future elections by giving our youth the political oxygen to make meaningful contributions to our democratic project.”