It was Pope Saint John XXIII in his encyclical letter, “Pacem in Terris” (Peace on Earth) who said that “there can be no peace among people, unless there is peace in each person.”

Our Independence Day celebration denotes our freedom from our colonial masters. For the Christian in particular, the good people of Kaduna State and Nigeria in general it is being free not only to be my brother’s and sister’s keeper but my brother’s brother and sister’s sister. It is being free to be of loving service to one another and to our country. You can be of service to Nigeria.

Working to sustain our independence as a nation is something worthwhile and a necessary must. With it comes joy and national pride; and responsibilities. But sadly, we have experienced violence and conflicts in the state and a civil war in the nation at the end of which we resolved to carry each other as companions along the path of building up our state and country.

We all share the responsibility of building Kaduna and Nigeria into a state and nation that respects the dignity and equality of her citizens, regardless of tribe, creed, social status or circumstances. People of all faiths have a special contribution to make through putting into practice the richness of their faiths and placing it at the service of the state and country through lives of loving service.

Religious belief ought to be an enrichment to a nation and all of society. Sadly, it has often been used as a force for division and war in our state and country Nigeria. Such use of religion for destructive purposes is a disservice to any religious faith and is a distortion of its core truths and values.

For us Christians, the Word of God is our centre of gravity. The Word of God is the lamp for our steps. I would like us to continue to reflect on that Word and soak our minds and hearts in its relevance for us today. If we have the mind of Jesus Christ, then we need not be afraid, or lack confidence, knowing that we are walking in the footsteps of Jesus and that he is our companion on the journey. In Jesus is found righteousness which we are all called to emulate.

Nigeria is a political unit made up of over 200 ethnic nationalities and diverse religious groups. The cooperation of these ethnic nationalities and religious groups is important for its existence and survival as a nation. Unity and peaceful cooperation among these groups is important. Frequent crises and violence among these groups will only lead to divisive politics and loss of confidence in the system. This, in turn, will stunt the progress of the state and nation and indeed affect the consolidation of our democracy.

INSECURITY

There have been several ethno-religious conflicts and crises in the history of our state Kaduna and Nigeria as a nation, but in recent times, these conflicts and crises appear to be escalating at an intolerable scale. Ethnic conflicts and other criminal activities create an atmosphere of insecurity, and thus, a breach of the peace that is likely to affect legitimate social and economic activities both in the state and the country as a whole. These problems also have the very damaging consequence of giving the international community the impression that Nigeria is not a safe and secure place and as such not suitable for economic investments and activities; the latest being the Boko Haram insurgency and the likes of them. This is particularly worrying in view of the efforts being made to create the desired atmosphere to attract foreign investors. Effort in attracting these foreign investors will help unemployment in the country.

BOKO HARAM INSURGENCY

The Boko Haram’s menace began in earnest in July 2009, but has recently intensified. Many deaths have been recorded. The summer of 2014 has been especially violent, with bombings, massacres, and mass shootings being committed on a near-daily basis. In July 2014, Human Rights Watch estimated that 2,053 people have been killed in 95 separate Boko Haram-linked attacks in the first half of 2014 alone, and the number is likely much higher by now. Thousands more have been displaced by the violence.

While we thank government at all levels for the efforts to contain with the situation, with some successes, I urge our governments to employ all available resources human, material and spiritual to consolidate these successes. We call on the Federal Government to continue to do its best to bring the situation completely under control.

SPIRIT OF PATRIOTISM AND THE ELECTORAL PROCESS

For proper nation building, Nigerians should be conscious of and imbibe the spirit of patriotism at all times. We must be loyal and have love for our country. We should go beyond our waving of flags, singing the National Anthem and saying the Pledge to making concerted efforts in breaking the spirit of pessimism that is destroying the peace of Nigeria. We should go beyond talking of tolerance of one another to accommodating one another. Patriotism should stimulate us into full participation in the electoral process and the good governance of our country at all levels of governance. I urge you all who have reached the age of voting to go out and register so as to vote for credible leaders of your choice in the forthcoming elections come 2015. The principle of one man one vote, one woman one vote, one youth who has reached the voting age one vote, has in truth exposed the selfishness of some Nigerians who do multiple registrations to vote more than once. This can only end in the falsification of the number of eligible voters in Nigeria. I appeal to our politicians to be more engaging in issues that will move us forward in nation building rather than the blame game politics we see and hear today

CONCLUSION

I conclude with an extract from Pope St. John Paul II in an address to Muslim leaders in Abuja on March 22, 1998: “As Christians and Muslims we share belief in the one merciful God, mankind’s judge on the last day. Though we differ in the way we understand this one God, we are nevertheless akin in our efforts to know and follow his will. Among the important convictions that we share, both Christianity and Islam stress the dignity of every human being as having been created by God for a purpose. This leads us to uphold the value of human life at all its stages” To give support to the actualisation of the above extract is a must for all for the good of our state and nation.

•Being A Special Message of His Lordship, Most Rev. George Jonathan Dodo (shown in photo), Chairman of CAN Kaduna State, on the occasion of Nigeria’s 54^th Independence Anniversary yesterday, October 1, 2014.

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