Catholic Bishops in Nigeria have called on the federal government to show greater commitment in its fight against corruption, enthrone good governance and stop paying lip service to youth empowerment.

The Bishops, under the aegis of Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), in a 10-point communiqué issued at the end of their week-long second plenary meeting held at the Bishop Anthony Nwedo Pastoral Centre, Mater Dei Cathedral, Umuahia, Abia State, warned that the federal government’s transformation agenda could not succeed if they government was not decisive in tackling the myriads of problems besetting the country, particularly corruption.

The communiqué was signed by the president of CBCN, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama, Archbishop of Jos, and the secretary, Most Rev. Alfred Adewale Martins, Archbishop of Lagos.

The priests, therefore, challenged President Goodluck Jonathan to take decisive action in the anti-corruption war if he wants to regain the confidence of Nigerians.

“Fighting corruption demands courage and sincerity,” the CBCN contended in its the communiqué entitled ‘Promoting Authentic Development in Nigeria.’

“We challenge the President and the leadership of this nation to address with greater courage, forthrightness and political will the problem of corruption,” the Bishops added in the communiqué presented by the Bishop of Ekiti, Most Rev. Felix Ajakaye.

The clerics, while driving home their point that the federal government and public officials have greater responsibility in the war against corruption pointed out that “to eradicate corruption, greater responsibility falls on those in public life whose acts of public administration ought to be regulated by due process and the rule of law.”

They maintained that the President must show “a certain definite firmness” in pursuing sound and clear objectives, along with disinterested application of justice for him to regain the trust of Nigerians.

The CBCN said the way the federal government has been prosecuting the war against corruption leaves much to be desired as “serious allegations of corruptions have been levelled at some top government officials and other Nigerians (and) very little, however, has been done to thoroughly investigate and prosecute the culprits,” while “those who have been indicted have either escaped from custody of been granted indefinite bail, or have been set free.”

The CBCN expressed its dissatisfaction with Government’s handling of the fuel subsidy scam, insisting that Nigerians “have the right to receive comprehensive report on the management of fuel subsidy along with appropriate application of justice on the criminals” irrespective of their
status in the society.

The Catholic Bishops called for good governance as “Nigeria cannot become a safe, secure and united nation without good governance, (which) entails active and critical participation of the citizenry in the formulation of policies and in their implementation.”

On the issue of security, the CBCN expressed gratitude to God that that despite the tension and strife in the country created by Boko Haram Islamic fundamentalists, Nigeria still remained one, united country.

But the group urged governments at all levels and the various security agencies “to wake up to their duty to protect and defend the life and dignity of everybody before things get out of hand.

“In the face of sustained attacks on Christians and churches in Northern Nigeria, we insist that our patient response is not borne out of cowardice, but of universal Christ-like love, religious maturity and genuine patriotism. We fear that in the face of continued unprovoked onslaught, Christians might resort to legitimate self-defence,” the CBCN warned.

While acknowledging appreciable progress in the power sector reform and the efforts to improve infrastructure in some states, the Catholic Bishops said that “lip service is paid to fundamental issues such as youth employment, job creation, quality education that is affordable, etc, with
little or no action to redeem election promises.”

“This situation compromises the credibility of the current transformation agenda of government,” they observed.

* Photo: CBCN President, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama.

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