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Nigeria's Bishops
Brussels, 22 September 2000
Please find here below "A Communique" of the Catholic Bishops Conference of
Nigeria".
Paolo (anb-bia, brussels)
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A COMMUNIQUE
Issued at the End of the Second Plenary Meeting
of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN)
for the Year 2000, held at the Catholic Social Centre, Kaduna,
from the 11th to 15th September 2000.
LET US LIVE AND WORK TOGETHER IN PEACE AND HARMONY
I. PREAMBLE
We, the members of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, held our
second plenary meeting for the year 2000 at the Catholic Social Centre,
Kaduna, from the 11th to 15th September 2000. After prayerful deliberation
on matters affecting the Church and State in our nation, we issue the
following communique.
2. GRATITUDE TO GOD
We thank God for the Great Jubilee Year that has offered us a unique
opportunity for mutual forgiveness of injuries, reconciliation, restoration
and healing. We thank Him also that we have witnessed one full year of
democracy, after long years of military dictatorship. We pray that the
gains so far achieved will be consolidated in the years to come.
3. ONE NATION - ONE CONSTITUTION - ONE JUDICIARY
We wish to reaffirm our belief in and commitment to Nigeria as one nation
under one God who cares for every Nigerian, irrespective of religion,
ethnic origin or language. By the same token, we reaffirm our commitment to
one national Constitution to safeguard our human and social rights and to
one judiciary to defend every Nigerian against any assault on his or her
person and rights. We must however call attention to certain dangers, that
threaten our nascent democracy as well as our unity, peace and stability as
a nation.
4. THE SHARIA
Notwithstanding the unfortunate bloody crisis in Kaduna early this year,
that claimed many innocent lives of Christians and Muslims alike, some
states in the North have adopted, while others arc still bent on adopting
the Sharia legal system as state criminal law. When the Sharia controversy
first started, we gave adequate warning and made our position clear. We
were told that there was nothing to worry about; that the Sharia would not
affect non-Muslims, and that their rights under the Constitution would be
fully guaranteed. Now, from reports reaching us and from what we have been
able to observe, it is sad to have to say that our original fears were well
founded. The reality on the ground in the states that have adopted the
Sharia shows clearly that non-Muslims are being negatively and unjustly
affected, They are being unjustly deprived of their legitimate means of
livelihood. Fanatics are being encouraged to molest law-abiding citizens
without cause.
Under the prevailing circumstances, freedom to practice and propagate one's
faith, guaranteed in our Constitution, is being progressively eroded, The
right of citizens to change their religion is often denied. In many cases
Christian bodies are denied land on which to build places of Worship. They
are also often denied access to the use of media or communication owned by
state governments. The civil authorities of the states involved cannot
claim ignorance of what is going on. No one is deceived by utterly empty
statements of useless assurances. The Federal Government says it is all
politics and that it will soon blow over. Maybe! But meanwhile, there are
Nigerians suffering and wondering if the state is interested in the welfare
of all citizens. We cannot continue along these lines and still pretend
that we want a united, peaceful and prosperous nation.
As a way out of the present crisis, we would like to restate what we said
in our Communique at the end of our First Plenary Meeting of the year 2000:
We are committed to one Nigeria, where persons of different religions and
ethnic traditions can live together in peace and harmony. We do not
countenance the breakup of Nigeria, neither are we in favour of the split
of Nigeria into different pockets, where one state lives under the
Constitution and a neighbouring state lives under another law.
The advocates of Sharia Law base their demands on two premises; namely,
* that people should live according to God's will in their private lives,
* and that this should be reflected in the public laws as far as possible
We Christians subscribe to the same premises. They are not the exclusive
preserve of Muslims. At the same time, we believe that all that is required
is that our laws should give enough room for everyone, Christians, Muslims
and others to follow their consciences in searching for and carrying out
God's will in their lives. To ensure a permanent solution to all these
problems, we are convinced that Nigeria will now have to review our
Constitution along these lines. There should no longer be room for special
provisions for any religion within our Constitution.
We call on Government to address the Sharia issue with the seriousness and
sense of urgency that it deserves with a view to finding solutions that
will bring the nation back to unity and harmony. Government should desist
from favouring one religion over others. Politicians too should refrain
from using religion to further their political ambitions and sectional
interests, knowing how this can easily divide the people and erupt into
violence. The people, on their part, should be vigilant and refuse to be
used as tools for the prosecution of the selfish agenda of unscrupulous
politicians and other agents of destabilisation.
Meanwhile, we support the initiatives of dialogue already going on between
Christians and Muslims at state and national levels, with particular
reference to the Nigerian Inter-Religious Council (NIREC). However, we
propose that NIREC be given a new sense of direction that will render it
more functional in dealing with the complex issues affecting
inter-religious dialogue and harmony In our country. In this connection, we
are happy to have received a courtesy visit during our meeting a delegation
of the Committee of Ulamas of Kaduna State under the leadership of AIhaji
Muhammad Baba Yan Gusau, We commend this friendly and cordial gesture.
5.STRENGTHENING DEMOCRACY
The fact that government and the political class have so far failed to deal
decisively with the Sharia issue is one indication, among many, that our
new-found democracy needs very much to be strengthened. To begin with, the
ongoing review of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
should aim at removing the many inconsistencies and ambiguities that give
room for conflicting interpretations of its provisions. There is a need to
return the nation to the practice of true federalism, as against the
unitary and arbitrary form of government that was foisted on us by the
military. The incessant bickering between the executive and legislative
arms of government over their respective roles is anything but edifying. It
dissipates the energies of government in tackling the many pressing
problems of the nation.
The civil service should be returned to its pristine status of independence
from the political establishment so as to ensure continuity in the conduct
of government business, irrespective of what political party is in power at
any given time.
6. THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION
The enactment of an anti-corruption law by the Federal Government is in
line with our «Prayer Against Bribery and Corruption in Nigeria.» We urge
that the law be applied without fear or favour. In the words of President
Olusegun Obasanjo, there should be no sacred cows. Anyone found guilty of
infringing the law should be brought to book, no matter how highly placed
he or she may be in the society. In the same vein, we commend the efforts
of the government at tracking down the staggering sums or money that were
stolen from our national treasury and stashed away in banks at home and
abroad. Such funds should be recovered and put back into our national
treasury for the benefit of all Nigerians. They should not be allowed to
disappear yet again into private accounts. Furthermore, we call on Western
financial Institutions to stop the corrupt practice of co-operating with
fraudulent public servants who loot public coffers by accepting stolen
money for safe keeping in their banks.
7. NATIONAL JUBILEE PILGRIMAGE
As part of our effort to call down divine mercy and blessing on our nation
in this Great Jubilee Year in honour of our Lord Jesus Christ, we invite
all Nigerians to a National Jubilee Pilgrimage at our nation's capital,
Abuja from the 30th of November to the 2nd of December 2000. The venue will
be the Pope John Paul II Praying Ground, Kubwa - Abuja. The theme of the
pilgrimage is «We Jubilate In Jesus Christ our Saviour.»
8. A MESSAGE OF HOPE
We call on all Nigerians to continue to be law-abiding and God-fearing,
while at the same time standing up for their rights. It is our firm belief
that, with God on our side, we shall achieve national unity, peace and
stability. But we must be vigilant at all times. We must guard our hard-won
democracy jealously and resist any and every attempt from whatever quarters
to sacrifice it on the altar of ethnic chauvinism or religious extremism.
As we have often been told, and rightly so, Nigeria is greater than any of
us. Therefore, no personal ambitions or sectional interests must be allowed
to come between us and the continued existence of our nation as one
corporate and undivided entity.
«Look, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands,
your ramparts are ever before me.
Your rebuilders are hurrying,
your destroyers and despoilers will soon go away.»
Isaiah 49:16
Our Lady, Queen of Nigeria, pray for us!
+ Most Revd John Onalyekan
President, CBCN
Archbishop of Abuja
+ Most Revd Joseph Ajomo
Secretary, CBCN
Bishop of Lokoja
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Veuillez nous excuser si vous avez deja recu ces textes
We apologise for any cross-posting
* ++++++++ *
Le materiel contenu dans ce communique' ne reflet pas forcement les points
de vue de l'expediteur. Celui-ci n'accepte aucune responsabilite' sur la
precision des sources originales.
------------- *
The material contained in this communication may not be taken always to
reflect the views of the sender. He accepts no responsibility as to the
accuracy of the original sources.
* ------------- *
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Un homme meurt chaque fois que l'un d'entre nous se tait devant la tyrannie
(Wole Soyinka, Prix Nobel litterature) *
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Everytime somebody keep silent when faced with tyranny, someone else dies
(Wole Syinka, Nobel Prize for Literature) *
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