KSJI boss tasks political leaders on people

By Sunday Ani

The Supreme Subordinate President of Knights of St John International (KSJI) in Nigeria, Prof. Remy Uche, has charged members of the organisation who are in leadership positions in Nigeria to use their positions to influence people-oriented and people-friendly policies by the government.

•The newly initiated

He made the call recently during the admission of new members into the Order by the Lagos Grand Commandery. The event, which attracted 33 new members from all the local commanderies under the Lagos Grand Commandery and Ladies Auxiliary took place at SS Michael, Raphael and Gabriel (Archangels) Catholic Church, Satellite Town, Lagos.

Speaking against the backdrop of the current biting economic hardship, Prof Uche attributed the development to the recent removal of subsidy on petroleum products, and said what the KSJI is doing is to tell its members who are in government positions to make the government come up with policies that are people-oriented and people-friendly. “We are not there but we have members who are in the national assembly-Senate and House of Representatives; those in the state assemblies and even at the local governments levels. They should not support things that make life hard for the people.”

“We are also praying that God gives us leaders who will feel the pulse of the nation and talk about policies that can transform this country because Nigeria is well endowed with natural resources and we are supposed to be living comfortably,” he said.

He called on the government to create employment for the teeming unemployed Nigerians, saying, “The people in government should provide jobs because insecurity is a result of joblessness. Most people driving Motorcycles (Okada) and tricycles (Keke) are graduates of higher institutions. So, we are appealing to those in government to begin to implement policies that can transform this country. We also pray that God will transform the leaders.”

On the structure of KSJI, he said: “There are 18 Grand Commanderies in Nigeria that make up the Supreme Subordinate Commandery, Nigeria. The headquarters of the Knights of St John International known as the Supreme Commandery is in the United States of America. The highest echelon of KSJI is the Supreme Commandery with the headquarters in the USA. After that, comes the Supreme Subordinate Commanderies in Nigeria, Liberia, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Togo among others

We then have the Grand Commanderies, the District Commandries and the Local Commanderies. Those who can bring membership are the Local Commandries.”

The University Don described members as extraordinary Catholics who bring out their time, talent and treasure to serve God. “They support the work of God, and evangelization. They do charity work like going to hospitals to pay bills for the poor. They are practical Christians (Catholics ) who not only listen to the word, but also put it into practice using their time, talent and treasure.

“We have lawyers, doctors, engineers, businessmen and other professionals, who bring out their time, resources and talents to support and defend the Catholic church. They are involved in the training of priests and the religious. They also help individual members within the organisation.

“They are structured under what is called Family Apostolate. It is an Order, where the fathers are knights, mothers are ladies, male children are cadets, while female children are there as juniors,” he said.

Membership is not just for any Catholic. According to Prof Uche, “To qualify to be admitted, one must be a Christian; a married and practising Catholic, confirmed in the church. He must not be a member of any banned organisation in the Catholic Church.”

Also speaking, the Grand President of Lagos Grand Commandery, comprising Lagos State and all the six South West states, as well as Kwara State, Sir Joachim Chux Amamgbo, reeled out some of the charity works the organisation has executed in recent times. He said the KSJI donated N8 million to the flood victims in the South South, rebuilt St Stephen Catholic Church at the Kirikiri Maximum Prisons, fed and clothed prisoners among numerous other charity works.

“We have 25 Commanderies and 23 Auxiliaries in Lagos Grand and each does its separate charity works. Support for flood victims was done by the Supreme Subordinate Commandery Nigeria, but the rebuilding of the church at Kirikiri was done by the Lagos Grand Commandery and Auxiliary. We also donate blood in most of the general hospitals on a monthly basis free of charge. The Hospital Apostolate also visits hospitals to pay bills of those who are discharged and abandoned in the hospital because they cannot pay their hospital bills,” he said.

The four-day event also involved exemplification of members into the second and third degrees of the Order.