The President of the Bishops Conference of Nigeria, Most Rev. Ignatius
Kaigama, has said that contrary to insinuations, the church has not endorsed
any presidential candidate or anybody seeking elective position at every level in
the 2015 general elections.
Kaigama, who is also the Catholic Archbishop of Jos, said that rather the
church would continue to demand good governance and accountability from
those holding public office.
The bishop, who was represented by the Vicar General, Administration and
Religious of the archdiocese, Monsignor Cletus Gotan, at the commencement of
the 2015 Lenten Campaign at the St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Jos on
Sunday, said that every political office aspirant would receive the blessings of
the church.
He added that such blessing did not mean that such a candidate had received
the endorsement of the church.
The cleric expressed worry at the tension being generated by the 2015 elections
as if there would never be any other election in the country and advised
politicians to desist from campaigns of hate and division.
He said that the theme of the Lenten campaign, “Enforcing the right to good
governance,’ was conceived with the realisation that the ultimate goal of any
person seeking any office should be for public good and that such a person
should exhibit a high sense of service and responsibility in the discharge of the
demands of such office.
Kaigama said, “The heat generated by the present campaigns is as if there will
be no 2019 and that politics will come and end in 2015. We should be careful
and learn from countries that have been engulfed in one form of crisis or the
other, especially of religious nature because such countries are yet to come over
the trauma they went through.”
While praising the efforts of the Justice, Development and Peace/Caritas
Commission in organising the campaign, the second of its kind, the cleric
lamented that Nigerians appeared to have lost all sense of humanity as they
appeared to have abandoned the feelings of others and respect and sanctity of
human lives.
He cited the example of the recent massacre of about 2,000 people in Bagga,
Borno State by the extremist group, Boko Haram, regretting that while Nigerians
treated such a massacre as a non-issue, the whole world including the French
staged a 3,000-man match just for 12 people killed by another extremist group
in France.
The archbishop urged all Christians, especially Catholics, to use the opportunity
of the Lenten period for a sober reflection and a total turn around to God.