Hardship: Religious leaders’ve failed Nigerians –Archbishop Nwaobia
From Ogbonnaya Ndukwe, Aba
Anglican Archbishop of Aba Province and Chairman, Southern Nigeria Bishops Conference, Dr Isaac Nwaobia, has said that despite the shortcomings of the recent “EndBadGovernance” protests, it was an eye-opener to politicians towards being accountable to the people.
He blamed religious leaders for failing to play their roles well, saying that Nigeria’s present situation was unfortunate bearing in mind the great resources God bequeathed to the nation.
The erudite clergyman called on the Abia State governnent to urgently conduct council elections for governance to flow into rural communities.
Looking at the country’s present predicament with unabating hardships, do you agree it was right for the presidency to go for a new jet at this time?
It is quite unfortunate that we have found ourselves in this position in Nigeria, a country blessed with many resources for the benefits of its average citizens. Things have turned upside down. I want to say that it is very unfortunate, because the people’s sufferings are not hidden. It is manifesting everyday. When one goes to the bank, half of those you see in the banking hall are begging for fund. In the motorpark, three quarters of the people there have one excuse or the other. At the airport, able-bodied men and women are seen begging for money to buy water, ordinary water to drink. If one parks his car in front of a supermarket, people come to besiege him looking for what to eat. They are all not pretending, rather demonstrating how bad the situation has degenerated into. In our climes, especially in Igboland, it has not been in our culture to be beggars. If one doesn’t have, he or she goes to relations or friends or even community for assistance. The family or hamlet will cover the person, but the situation now tends to mean that people have exhausted all avenues of help from within. So, it was heartless for those in government to think of themselves, their own welfare only instead of the entire citizenry. They ought to be reminded that they have come to serve us (the public), not their immediate families and relations. If they had managed the resources entrusted into their care by Nigerians, they would still have enough to use personally. Why I am saying this, is that if one considers the amount being spent on the new presidential jet and get it involved in rehabilitating one of the bad refineries or even building a new one, it would go a long way, be enough to bring down the high levels of hardships we are facing. One can imagine that each of the 109 Senators in the National Assembly, got N160 million, to buy a car which all of them would be afraid to drive on any street for fear of being waylaid. Some of them will just park the vehicles while others that didn’t buy will put the money in their personal accounts in banks. We know that they cannot in the present situation demonstrate using the big cars in public with most Nigerians going hungry daily. If governnent had channelled the money into one area of cushioning the effects of hardships, or in physical development, the impact will be better felt by Nigerians. It is unfortunate that things are going this way for us.
The Tinubu administration, is urging Nigerians to be patient as it was working at policies to turn around the economy as the problems were not caused by his administration, what’s your take on this?
They are not sincere. The current President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was the leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the Muhammadu Buhari government. They together, were those that campaigned and grabbed power from former President Goodluck Jonathan regime and handed it over to Buhari. He was part of the government. According to records, he nominated the then Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo. He was said to have also nominated seven persons that occupied ministerial positions, which means that he was part of the system. He was also busy at the time praising and hailing the regime, telling us that Buhari had done well. He said then that Nigeria under Buhari was being highly rated in socio-economic development. So, he cannot come now to deny them and run away from any blame on their failures and his claims that hardships were caused by mismanagement by previous regimes are neither here nor there. It is wrong and unacceptable by Nigerians. Secondly, he saw the poor state of affairs before coming into office as president, it is his core duty to put things right through his claimed leadership skills. Unfortunately, we are seeing recklessness. We are seeing mismanagement because the first foreign loan his administration got, block money from the international market, was allegedly used for his personal welfare, that of the vice president, legislators. The money was shared to offices, including state governors, local government structures even when it didn’t go to the grassroots. This is indirect bribing of individuals occupying those offices and telling them, “this is your share,” and leaving the populace to continue wallowing in abjact poverty. The blame lies squarely on his table and not the past regime or those before it.
While Nigerians feel the pain and complain of recklessness in government, religious leaders continue to eulogize politicians and ask for prayers on their behalf. Don’t you think this is a major part of why they don’t bother much, on how to effectively handle the sufferings?
I will tell you that religious leaders in Nigeria, take sides based on who is on the political leadership seat. They are biased when it comes to who is in government in the context that if the president is a Christian, he will be hailed by his group as doing well even when things are going very wrong. The same applies to a Moslem occupying the president’s seat. As Christians, to pray for our leaders is an instruction in the Bible. The same Bible also directs the leaders to carry out their social responsibilities associated with the offices they occupy. We have, over time, found the politicians’ ego and have been encouraging them to go on even when they are wrong. This is unacceptable. As religious leaders, if we have been playing well our roles, what we are seeing today among our political leadership would have long been checked. There must be a voice to speak out on what is right or wrong and ways of returning to good governance. In biblical times, Prophets Amos, Jeremiah, Isaiah, among others, were there shouting and admonishing the people and their leaders on how to do good and refrain from evil. All those prophets were there telling of the impending doom that were to come if the leaders and the led refused to repent and return to good governance. So, the duties of religious leaders, be they Christians or Moslems, imam or priest, is to forewarn the leaders and call them to order when things are going wrong and encouraging them where necessary. Whereas, we have failed in that social responsibility that’s why the country is where it is today.
In the recognition that religious leaders have failed the country and its people, there must be remedies, can you name some of them?
The remedy is for religious leaders to come together, caution ourselves and then have a voice, a strong one to rebuke the stupid acts of those in governance in Nigeria.
But sir, we’ve been hearing some voices from across the country, people like Archbishop John Onaiyekan, Matthew Kukah, Lucius Ugorji, and your good self, among others. Also from the Islamic end, certain leaders are talking, why are the authorities not listening? Politicians attend churches and mosques, why being adamant to advice from their leaders, one would ask?
Well, you heard the story of the fake bishops who allegedly endorsed a presidential candidate, during the campaigns for the 2023 elections in Nigeria. We have only about five per cent genuine religious leaders in Nigeria, while 95 per cent others are there encouraging what is going on and urging their perpetrators on. You will agree with me that five per cent in any sum is like a drop of water in a mighty ocean. It does not seem to have any positive effect or response on those we are talking to, but if, say 50 per cent of Nigeria’s religious leaders, reconsider their God-given statutory role in the society and play it effectively, the truth of the matter would be unveiled. There are ministers of the gospel, whether Christian or Moslem in every nooks and crannies of this country. You see them in the presidential and state Government Houses trooping in, in their long robes and flowing garments, as their colleagues are coming out. Their mission, is to discountenance the warnings, condemnations the few of us may have gone to give the political leaders on their recklessness. They go to tell the politicians not to mind us, pledging alliance and support for the wrong, corrupt activities being perpetrated in government. Once they are doing that, they are contradicting the other persons. Large numbers of religious leaders in Nigeria, are not talking rather they are castigating those that are bold in doing so.
Nigerians embarked on protests between August 1 and 10, on what they termed, “EndBadGovernance.” Did the protests which led to destructions of lives, property and arrests, in certain parts of the country, make any impact or otherwise on governance?
Yes. I want to agree that it produced to a reasonable extent, the objectives for which the organizers made the move. One, in accountability, the government of the day and in the future, will realize that the public expects them to account for their activities in all segments. The recent policies that are coming up, are indications that the government heard the protesters reactions to what they had been doing. Secondly, it created an avenue for advice on those angling to be leaders, to prepare well for good governance, if they want to be leaders indeed. Lack of proper preparation with mere interest and decision to rule has led Nigeria to where we are today. People go into political offices without agenda. Even the party manifestos are thrown away and not followed. Most of the parties in Nigeria have no Think Tank, the erudite body that weighs the people’s will and aspirations to prepare policies to be implemented when given the mandate to govern. Its key functions revolve round the immediate needs of the people like we have today, and fathom ways of handling them for the greater benefits of the larger society. If we look at the current situation in Nigeria, talking about insecurity, Nigerians do not know President Tinubu’s plan to fight it. No person knows and no one knows what direction the administration is pursuing to fight the menace. One year is gone and he (the president) is begging us for time. Time for who?
As a known voice in the Southeast, what is your take on the call for all Igbo to vacate Lagos by some Yoruba people?
Some persons have been responding to that threat, but like what I used to say, it is not being seen as an agenda for the Igbo or any other ethnic group. I see it rather as a propaganda. Maybe those saying that want to use the stance, “to let the cat out of their bag” to see its effect and the response it will receive. In the context that the Yoruba, Hausa, or other ethnic groups, including those in the minority, are not owning it up, people are thinking that it is governnent propaganda to create an atmosphere of tension in reaction to the EndBadGovernance protests, or giving a black colour to Igbo to kill it. Yet, it is still good for the Igboman, so that he will be conscious of where he is coming from. We need to come back home. We have propagated the “Aku Ruo Ulo,” philosophy and we are still shouting it till today. Ndigbo can manufacture their goods in Igboland and export and transport them to all parts of the world. However, leaving one’s father’s house miles away to another man’s land, buy and close a sea, fill it with sand and start building; the people will then begin to think that you are stupid. It is high time our people began to think about returning home to invest. They now call you, “foolish man, come and go,” and there’s a problem. It is true that in this country, policies do not work as enunciated. Constitutionally, no person is a refugee in Nigeria. For somebody to rise and say, “Igbo must go,” “Hausa must go,” “Yoruba must go,” and vice versa, it is anti-constitutional behaviour for which the person should be fished out and punished. Security agencies should do their work to bring those propagating that to book.
Looking at the Southeast presently, are our elders, including the governors, doing right in uniting us as a people?
No. We are not getting it right as should be. Recently, Dr M.I. Okpara, the late premier of the defunct Eastern Nigeria, was celebrated in Abuja, the nation’s capital. A foundation was named in his honour, which was long overdue because his administration laid the foundation for the basic development of the Southeast and Southsouth. It is clear that there has not been cohesion beginning with the splitting up of the area into states and local governments. We would have done well, if we were united, if we are seeing ourselves as one people. I imagine then Nigerian Cement factory in Nkalagu, being a joint project of the Southeast governnents. I imagine then agricultural industrialization from Calabar to Port Harcourt. Cocoa, rubber, here and there. M.I. Okpara was from Umuahia, but he did not limit his work in his hometown. Imagine the Hotel Presidential in Enugu and Port Harcourt, with another big hotel then, in Calabar. The one in Enugu is currently fizzling out, now home for rats and not functioning. So, there’s nothing bringing us together. The Southeast governors that should have been the focal point are still far away from being united. If they were united, they will be speaking with one voice. A good example, why should Okpara Foundation be launched in far away Abuja and not Enugu, which was our regional capital where he lived and served the people meritoriously, or in some other Southeast town? That is the evidence of not being coherent with the desires of the public. Our leadership both in Ohanaeze and others, should work very hard to strengthen our unity. There’s a saying in Igbo, “Igwe bu ike,” meaning, “united we stand, divided we fall.”
In Abia, there are a lot of critisms on Governor Otti’s style of leadership. People accuse him of not taking advice nor consult the elders on issues. You are a father and stakeholder in the state, how do you see these allegations?
The governor, until the election that brought him into office, was a private sector operator. That culture is in him and he believes in positive delivery, without passing through too many hurdles. He is not a career politician. The Abians that voted him into office should know that and as a banker he knows that every minute of the day counts. Otherwise, career politicians know and apply more democratic ways in handling things. I say this because when one has a House of Assembly, representing the constituencies, he will work through the system to get the ideas of knowing the people’s needs. In our situation in Abia, presently, if such processes are fully applied, too many things would be delayed. All the criticisms are from his political opponents and one doesn’t expect them to be quiet. After all, politicians are reorganising and restrategising by the day, for the next elections. Some of them have been taking free food from the government table, but were sent away when Otti came on board. They want to come back to retain what they had enjoyed in the past. The wind of change brought in by Peter Obi and Alex Otti adventure, it seems that he (Otti) has no political godfather in the state. So, the old structures are being reactivated to attack him. I say it is good for the masses. It will make him to be on his toes while striving to do things the right way. For us, we give him a pass mark expecting that in his second year in office, he will improve in the areas criticisms are pouring in. If they are not criticizing him, then they are not doing their work as opposition. If he is not being criticised, it means that he is not working. There should be checks and balances and that’s what is happening. It is good for our state.
As a father, do you see the governor as one that listens to counsel, open up to advice?
The ones that I have given him, he accepted and got our suggestions implemented. I feel that beyond me, there should be others too, a collective way of listening to the elders, which I cannot say here, he is or not doing. I know that past administrations in the state had Elders Council, they were listening to for advice on issues relating to good governance for the state and its people. One can call them a think-tank, where people come with suggestions, good ideas that will be forwarded to the governor as the will of the people. Like I said earlier, the ones I have given to him have been accepted and implemented. I believe he is also listening to and doing so with other elders.
In view of the present hardships, are there hope for the citizenry?
Really, I pity Nigerians on the current state of impoverishment across the land. I use my environment to read out what our people are passing through. In the last three years, I’ve not been able to adjust upward salaries of our church workers because funds are not streaming in. Many of our members children are suffering due to no food as their parents’ businesses face hard times. While the country’s population continues to increase, the hardships continue to expand, reach higher grounds. I want Nigerians to continue to be resilient, not to lose hope. Coming home, Abia governnent, should urgently conduct local government council elections, to step down governance to flow at the grassroots without waiting further. Governance should not be up there at state and federal levels alone. It is the local governments that affect positive rural development in the communities. They are the people that should feel the impact of the dividends of democracy. Local governments do internal roads grading, attend to domestic issues like security. One man cannot handle problems of the masses at the local levels in the 17 councils in Abia or 774 in the country. There must be division of labour with local people taking care of the council areas. The Supreme Court ruling on financial autonomy for the councils should be fully implemented.
It has been suggested that non-viable states and local governments be scrapped and merged with financially viable ones…?
I don’t feel that there’s any council area or state that is not viable in Nigeria. I have a fair knowledge of local government operations, having at one time been head of personnel management in the system. If the councils are allowed to manage their staff, employing the number they need, they will do well to generate revenue that will be used for their services. The problem all over the country is that politicians get waiver from state governments to employ all sorts of workers not needed in the local governments. This in turn brings burden of heavy salary bill. LGs have responsibility of engaging in agriculture, works (public works department) for development of community roads, maintenance of primary schools, community health institutions, provide security and take care of traditional rulers. In return they manage and collect revenue from markets, taxes from taxable adults. If they are given a free hand to manage their affairs including workforce, none of them will become solely dependent on Federal Government allocations. Each council can generate what it will use, if allowed to operate on its capacity. The people will feel the impact and development will spread and saturate our communities.
