The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Osogbo, Most Rev. John Oyejola, has said that Nigeria has yet to be blessed with credible and purposeful leadership.
Oyejola said that successive governments in the country merely aimed to outdo its predecessor in [perpetrating corruption.
According to the cleric, the nation’s political leaders were only interested in looting, scouting and scheming for new tricks to loot the rich resources of Nigeria.
He argued that such attitude of the leaders had been responsible for the untold hardships Nigerians now face.
Oyejola said this while delivering his homily during a thanksgiving Mass held at St. Benedict Catholic Cathedral in Osogbo to mark the 26th anniversary of the creation of Osun State.
The bishop said it was unfortunate and saddening that the only language Nigerian youths, especially those within the 25 years age bracket understood was corruption, adding that the population of starving Nigerians had continued to increase astronomically.
Addressing the congregation, which included top government functionaries in the state, Bishop Oyejola urged Nigerians to be hopeful, despite these troubling challenges battling the country.
He said, “My dear people of God, when we as Nigerians look back and ponder on what we are going through, we can ask again: “But why must we be thankful?” Our nation and our citizens now experience untold hardships. Life is more stringent in Osun State and Nigeria as a whole, more than it was 26 years ago. We have not been blessed with credible and purposeful leadership.
“It is said that a people get the leadership it deserves. But you know as well as I do that we have not merited the undisciplined, callous, and heartless team of looters and plunderers we read about in the daily newspapers. Each succeeding government merely aims to outdo its predecessor in corruption; scouting and scheming for new tricks to loot the rich resources of our nation.
“Nigeria is ranked among the most corrupt nations in the world, little wonder why the immediate former British Prime Minister, David Cameron, when introducing President Buhari of Nigeria to the Queen of England sometime in 2016 said, ‘The President of the most fantastically corrupt country is around.’ David Cameron was right, even though the comment lacked finesse and it was a diplomatic goof of the worst order.
“The best language Nigerians, who are 25 years of age and below understand, is corruption. We eat corruption, we sleep in corruption, we breathe in corruption and are surrounded by corruption in Nigeria.
The cleric further said, “We Nigerians know that the starving members of our population is increasing rapidly; the hardships of families multiply; strikes and industrial action have totally lost their bargaining power; Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities has started another round of strike, to demand their legitimate entitlements from the Government. There is no respect for life and property.
“How else can one explain the fact that it does not matter if schools are opened or not for months and years? Ladoke Akintola University jointly owned by Oyo and Osun States has been under lock and key for months. How else can one explain the fact that though many are plagued by severe ailments yet our hospitals are mere consulting clinics and our best Hospitals in Nigeria are not good enough for our leaders?
” Most of our Highways and express roads are death traps. How else can one explain the sad occurrences of regular motor accidents on our highways? There is no adequate security for average Nigerians. How else can one explain the problem of Boko Haram, marauding herdsmen ravaging farms and killing people, who resist them, urban violence propelled and managed by uniformed and non-uniformed gunmen? Our cities and streets are no longer safe, armed robbers rob and kill with reckless abandon, every peace loving person is no longer at ease, yes we are no more at ease.
Oyejola added, “But we must follow our faith and be hopeful. St. Paul tells us: ‘When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed, count your blessings, name them one by one, you shall wonder what the Lord has done for you’. (Ephs. 1:3). My dear people of God, count your blessings, name them one by one. Just imagine: how many traveled yesterday and never arrived?
“Yes, how many went across the road and never returned? How many were admitted into hospitals for either child labour or treated for fever, cholera or typhoid? And the wind blew and they were gone. Despite these hardships, we have not died of hypertension. Look at the entire price hikes of food stuffs all over the country, we have not died of starvation. But by God’s grace, we are what we are still moving on as a nation . We can all say with all sincerity, – what the Lord has done for me, I cannot tell it all. So, we have every reason to thank God. May God continue to instill in us this awareness of thanking Him all the days of our lives, through Christ our Lord.”
