By Abdu Rafiu

The public encounter, putting it mildly, between the Catholic Bishops and the Presidency must have given many a Nigerian a bitter taste in the mouth. I am referring to people who hold the institution of the Church and the dome of the state in great reverence. That is why it is not every time you call out the representatives and occupants of these institutions up there in sublimity, even when their peccadilloes are obvious, especially the Church.

And this reminds me of widespread axiom Nelson Mandela was fed with in his childhood days. He says in his very instructive autobiography, “Long Walk to Freedom”: “When I was a boy, amamfengu were the most advanced section of the community and furnished our clergymen, police, teachers, clerks, and interpreters. They were also amongst the first to become Christians, to build better houses, and to use scientific methods of agriculture, and they were wealthier than their Xhosa compatriots. They confirmed the missionaries’ axiom, that to be Christian was to be civilized, and to be civilized was to be Christian.”

It was not necessarily that the legendary hero of libertarian struggle to restore the dignity of the Blackman is saying only Christians are civilised. We all know that the cradle of civilisation was Mesopotamia comprising modern- day Iraq, Kuwait and Syria which are Moslem countries. These constitute the unique Region that witnessed the coming of Prophets and Teachers of Mankind sent by the Most High, and, of course, the Envoys of God who brought not religion but Truth.

Zoroaster (600 B.C.) was a Teacher of mankind, for example, who lived in Persia today called Iran. Embracing the undiluted or distorted Rays of Truth leads to inner polish and refinement, to spiritual maturity without which there can be no ticket to enter Kingdom of Heaven, Paradise. Spiritual maturity is the bedrock of civility and civilisation. It is everything.

When civilisation is associated with Christianity, therefore, the mind races to the Lord, Jesus, the Son of God, the Right Arm Part of God the Father together with the Holy Spirit, Imanuel, the Will and Power of God in Holy Trinity, on the Left Arm Part. Those who are said to be Christ’s true servants are invested with certain aura, certain awe that bows the spirit. So, my listlessness since the public encounter between the Presidency and Cardinal Onaiyekan can be understood.

The Presidency ought not to have responded to the statements by the revered Cardinal. He spoke in the accustomed spirit of Prophets generally. The Prophets of Old spoke to power, to secular authority, and the public in general: “Repent, for the Day of Judgment is Nigh.” The scriptures are replete with such pronouncements. You take what you need to take, bite your lips and move on.

The world knows that Bola Tinubu was the first as Governor of Lagos State to return schools to the missions, their original owners. I mentioned this in 2022 in the heat of Muslim-Muslim ticket controversy. There was a gap between when Tinubu handed over back the schools to their owners and when the next governor in the person of Peter Obi did in 2011, and Theodore Orji did in Abia the following year, 2012. I did state that Bola Tinubu was an American boy, sufficiently exposed to have nothing to do with religious bigotry.

In early January of every year at State House, Marina, he organised inter-denominational Christian night of praise and worship with leaders of various churches participating. His wife, Remi, is a Pastor at Redeemed Christian Church. She attended Our Lady of Apostles, Ijebu-Ode, at the same time Kemi Nelson, one of his commissioners was at Anglican Girls Grammar School, Ijebu-Ode, the sister school to Ijebu-Ode Grammar School. The majority of Tinubu’s commissioners and advisers were in fact Christians.

I stated at the time that the Muslim-Muslim ticket was only for him to reach the heartland of Muslim North to harvest votes. It had nothing to do with any faith and Christians should keep their minds at rest.

If the Catholic Bishops’ delegation displayed lack of awareness or momentary memory loss on these facts during discussions, it should be understood it was borne out of where they were coming from in terms of their parishes in many parts of the North, with particular reference to the Middle Belt which is Christian dominated and which was later to become the epicentre of kidnapping and terrorism. Only three weeks ago, Christians in this Belt pulled out of Christian Association of Nigeria and formed their own.

They accused the umbrella CAN of look warm attitude to their bitter experiences, the kidnapping and killing of their leaders and sacking of their communities and churches. The Conference of Catholic Bishops would naturally be distraught and cold to the Federal Authorities that control the security forces and read meanings into the seeming helplessness in the face of unabating terror on their parishes. Indeed, Pastor Adeboye said it was the Christians who are predominantly under siege in the country. He said he had not read anywhere of a Christian being named as a kidnapper or terrorist especially in the North!

The President truly answered the points raised during the meeting on the economy and the attendant poverty and hunger with facts and figures, with statistics! The statement from the Presidency also hammered on this and indeed went on to state that the government had many sources through which it gathers information and knows the state of affairs in the land and how the citizens are faring. While this may be so, I dare say the Bishops, pastors, the clerics are closer to the ordinary citizens through their congregation with whom they share experiences weekly and sometimes mid-week during special programmes and during conventions.

It needs to be stated that the President’s policies and programmes by way of more money to the states and local councils as well as attention to agricultural development are laudable. However, the generality of the citizens have not recovered from the shock which government spokesmen describe as the unavoidable pains arising from application of medication to a long ailment. To a great many statistics in the face of hunger are merely futuristic, indeed, academic. The true situation is the picture the Bishops painted. If the bishops said the country is bleeding, then that is the situation. They added that the economy is not helping the poor. That is their role.

A frosty relationship between the high-ranking bishops and the Presidency should be discouraged. It is unhealthy. Another meeting should be held where there will be a shaking of hands and parting on a good note of understanding by both sides.