by Christiana Gokyo, Jos
JOS – “As Nigeria clocks 63 years today and, usually, the age of 60 and above for a person or a nation is a mark of growth and maturity; sixty-four years in the life of an African nation is obviously a landmark,” remarks Archbishop Ishaya Audu.
Some Nigerians born on October l, 1960, or even after, are already participating in the control and management of this country. The reason of our gathering here today is to celebrate Nigeria at 63 and to pray for our country and our dear State, Plateau.
The Catholic Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Jos, Most Rev. Dr. Matthew Ishaya Audu, disclosed this in his Sermon to mark the 63rd Nigeria Independence.
According to him, “If we want our country to be better in the next 64 years to come, we must repent and change our hearts; I mean all of us.”
He recalled thus: “We have had numerous elections in Nigeria. Most of them have fallen short of acceptable standards of credibility. Leaders have been selected and imposed on Nigerians, who have done unspeakable things to the people of our nation.
“The 2023 elections were no different, with all the promises. SPIRIT OF PATRIOTISM for nation-building. Nigerians should imbibe the spirit of patriotism. Patriotism is a virtue that does not fall from the sky, but is cultivated and nurtured in and by citizens.
“Patriotism should go beyond National Anthem and pledging of loyalty to the nation in words to real and concrete actions. Patriotism grows with respect to the degree of participation of the citizens in electing their leaders, participation in the governance of their respective communities, the level of civility exercised in the process, as well as the sensitivity with which elected officials treat the citizens,” Archbishop Ishaya Audu stressed.
He noted that, “The spirit of patriotism is further enhanced through an integrated development program founded on principles of human rights, Common Good, solidarity and subsidiarity.
“During Nigeria Independence, the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria dedicated the country to the maternal protection of Mary Our Lady, Queen and Patroness of Nigeria. For this reason, instead of 26 Sundays of year A, we are celebrating the Solemnity of Our Lady, Queen and Patroness of Nigeria (only in Nigeria),” he said.
“A little bit of history of Nigeria here would help us to appreciate what we are doing today and even of doing it better. It is to fulfill the need of our collective aspirations as a free people that led the founding fathers of our nation like Herbert Macaulay, late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo; late Sir Ahmadu Bello and late Sir Tafawa Balewa, to mention just a few of them, took on the nationalistic gauntlet to confront the evil of colonialism and colonial rule.
“Fortunately, for Nigeria, they conquered the white rulers and succeeded in driving them away from the land by October l, 1960, unlike other nations that only after long wars and heavy bloodbath that brought them independence, the Independence of Nigeria as a nation was won without firing a single bullet.
“These Nigerian nationalists became the first crops of leaders, who took over the mantle of leadership of the country from the departed white rulers,” he said.
The Archbishop observed that, “The complex socio-political and religious dynamics of the various peoples that make up the present-day Nigeria, prior to Independence, can lend themselves to a multiplicity of interpretations, but these are best left to historians and social scientists.
“However, less than a decade after Independence, Nigeria went into a bloody and needless Civil War, leaving devastating consequences, not only on the physical level, but also on the national psyche.
“Over sixty years ago, and in the minds of many Nigerians, the dreams, hopes and aspirations of the founding fathers of our nation, seem to have been dashed. Sixty-three years on, Nigeria seems to have been going round in circles and moving ahead very little,” he said.
He further observed that, “Sixty-three years on, Nigeria trails far behind other nations, with similar circumstances as ours at independence, whether in democratic advancement or in economic development.”
According to the Archbishop, “When you look at other countries that were on the same pedestal with us 63 years ago – countries like Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, United Arab Emirates – it is saddening, infuriating even,” noting that, “Despite the bounteous gifts of people and resources that we can boast of, our nation has remained a bumbling self-acclaimed ‘giant’ with feet of clay.
“On account of all this, the debate rages in Nigeria over whether we should be celebrating or mourning or, in fact, singing songs of lamentation. Many Nigerians today truly wonder whether there is any cause for the celebration of the sixty-three of our independence, as someone described it, ‘A Gold that does not shine is not a gold,’ ” he stated.
“However, some of us believe that we do have a good cause to celebrate, for, in spite of our woes as a nation, in spite of a succession of failed political leadership, in spite of our individual and collective failings, God has been so good and kind to us as a nation and keeping us still as one nation.
“For this reason alone, we should celebrate and let this celebration become our Act of Thanksgiving to God, asking for His forgiveness for our failings and ready to start afresh with new commitment and fresh spirit as we move towards another 64 years, hopefully,” he noted.
The Archbishop added that, “Nigeria is a country abundantly blessed by God with rich human and natural resources, with good vegetation, tolerable climate, and vast development potential.
“We should thank God for the enormous resources that our country has been blessed with. Our greatest resources have been our people; we are blessed with the largest population in Africa – over 200 million strong and the greatest concentration of black people anywhere in the world.
He stressed that, “Our people are also hard working and enterprising. All over the world, Nigerians are recording incredible achievements in diverse fields of endeavours. Materially, too, we cannot ask God for more.”
The Archbishop further explained that, “Our country has been blessed with resources beyond our dreams. Ours has been a country literally flowing with milk and honey for these past 63 years!
“You may not know – we have become the envy of many nations on the African Continent and beyond; the story of African continent protest before God,” he noted.
“Remember, we were once known as the ‘Giant of Africa.’ Politically as well, Nigeria at 63 can count so many achievements; that at 63 and it is the democratic government that is in power in Nigeria is itself a blessing to this country.
“From the three geographical regions that Nigeria took off at Independence, we now have become a Republic with 36 States and a Capital Territory, Abuja,” he noted.
The Archbishop recalled that, “The creation of many states has also helped in spreading infrastructure across the country. For all of these blessings and many more, we thank God and indeed, we can never thank Him enough for all that He has been and doing for this nation, Nigeria, for the last 63 years.
“We must accept also that there are many things that have not gone well with Nigeria in the past 63 years: our educational system can best be described as limping, our healthcare system is comatose, our roads and high ways are at the brink of total collapse, with crippling or epileptic electricity-supply and soaring unemployment.
“How can we ever forget the fratricidal Civil War that brought our country to the brink of extinction, from 1967 to 1970?, and after 50 years, many of the scars of that unfortunate episode in our history are still with us in many aspects of our national life,” he stressed.
“We also cannot readily forget the ill-advised incursion of the military into governance in Nigeria, thereby truncating the enthronement and development of democratic governance in our land.
“Out of 63 years of Nigeria as nation, the military rule took 30 years – lleaving civilians with only 34 years. The political class, which the military criticized and disarranged, was left to lament their lots, and many talented politicians died in the process of struggling to regain power seized by the military.
“We have had recurrent case of violent upheavals: brothers setting on brothers and killing one another in cold blood, and what is the cause? The reasons given ranged from ethnic to religious differences, from disputes over land to political tussles.
“All of them have resulted in spilling innocent blood and destroying unquantifiable amounts of property, bribery, corruption, no accountability, and no commitment to our nation, ‘419’ and now kidnapping banditries.
“One can go on and on with the catalogue of woes that have befallen Nigeria since independence, but the true conclusion is that all of them are man-made and self-inflicted,” he said, pointing out that, “You can see, the problem in this country is with us its citizens and not God, who has given this nation to us. For all of them, all of us Nigerians must say, ‘mea culpa.’
‘We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God’ – to paraphrase the great Apostle of the gentiles, Saint Paul. Therefore, there is the need for a fresh start; we just cannot continue like this in this nation. We have to start with God, who has made us citizens of this nation called Nigeria.”
The Archbishop further stated that, “Many of us do not take God serious. If the citizens of this nation would fear God and know that, at final analysis God is going to judge each and every one of us, we will not do what we are doing to this country and to its citizens.”
He urged government to “plan a budget that would adequately remunerate working class and, when it is due, so that they can have shelters, private properties and take care of their family members, as well as remunerate senior citizens at their retirement, who served our fatherland, by promptly paying their pensions and gratuities.”
He observed that, “The differences and varieties found in people, languages and cultures as well as religions should in this process be harnessed as assets for nation building, instead of being exploited by greedy and unpatriotic people.
“Christians and Muslims, should for patriotic ideal pursue initiatives, which widen the path of equal respect, harmony and collaboration.
“Christians and Muslims in Nigeria should collaborate in nation building, if they are genuine devotees of their religions, who imbibe the positive values in the respective religions, such as love, compassion, justice and peace,” he stated.
“It is the constitutional responsibility of the government to intervene so that her citizens can live, work and have a choice to stay in any part of this country. At 63, our nation must cherish and provide for her youths, who are more than half the population. Archbishop Matthew Audu concluded that, “Nigeria should rise to the challenge of giving her children a dignified condition of living. Nigeria has resources to train her citizens through a sustainable and systematic educational process for legitimate self-determination and empowerment,” he said, and called on all Nigerians to pray fervently for this country, saying, “for prayer can do many things than we can dream of.”