Commentary@ITREALMS:
When Hitler rose to power in 1933, majority of Germans were
overwhelmed with joy without knowing the reasons behind his words and actions.
By 1937 the real Hitler could no longer be hidden.
People were worried but handicapped. Opposition voices were
sought and completely clamped down. Those without the ‘real German blood’ were
marked out for extermination. Physically and mentally challenged citizens were
rounded up and never seen again. The reign of terror was institutionalized. No
one was allowed to ask questions, give answers or make any comment on any of
Hitler’s policies. Spies infiltrated all associations to know who would violate
any of these rules. So many associations were banned. Many people were
incarcerated in prisons and many others were executed. But there was one group
who owing to their nature, structure and mission that could not be silenced:
the Catholic Bishops' Conference.
The German Bishops sent their delegates to the dying Pope
Pius XI on his sick bed and made him aware of their sorrows in the hands of
Hitler. Only a few days later, the worried pope issued an encyclical titled:
"With burning worries" (Mit brennenden Sorge), the first papal
encyclical to be written in German.
In this passionate and touching encyclical which was read in
all Catholic parishes in Germany on the Palm Sunday of 1937, the dying pontiff
inter alia thanked the bishops for their courage and for their love for the
church and humanity. He condemned in its entirety the inhuman ideologies of
Hitler. It was this encyclical that indeed exposed the nefarious acts and
intentions of Hitler to the entire world. More still, it highlighted the unwavering
position of the Catholic Bishops and of the Church.
Hitler saw the successful writing, printing, dissemination
and reading of the encyclical as a big sabotage. But with the stance of the Church having been
defined, the resistance against Hitler's ideologies began to gather force till
he was defeated.
Our dear cardinal, archbishops and bishops, members of the
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), no other group is powerful like
you in Nigeria. You do not only represent the church in Nigeria but you are a
branch of the Holy See, the Vatican, which is a sovereign state. You are not
only the ambassadors of the Church but also that of a sovereign state. You do
not only have a moral authority but a robust "political" influence
too. You remain till date the most networked, stable, educated, and
internationally connected, respected and beloved organization in Nigeria. Not
even the federal government can challenge you on these.
I must commend you for the roles you play in the defense of
human rights and the promotion of the dignity of every Nigerian. I must commend
you especially on your last letter to the government and also for the
successful peaceful protest against the killings in Benue. But that these two
actions have not changed anything in Nigeria with regard to protection of lives
and property means that other strategies have to be tried out as well.
Imagine the number of people that have been killed by the
untouchable herdsmen since your last letter and the mass demonstration. Imagine
the number that will likely be killed before the end of this year. We cannot do
anything about the lives that have been wasted than to bury them (if ever we
get access to their remains), but we can really do much to protect those yet to
be slaughtered and those yet to be disposed of their ancestral lands.
Before us the security forces have become the thugs of the
ruling party. We saw the election conducted in Ekiti state recently where
30,000 policemen and women were dispatched and yet election was turned into a
Bazaar where the highest bidder bought the highest votes. Where do we go from
here? What do we expect from all these? Should we call such a situation an act
of governance or mis-governance? Are you not worried about the future of our
country? Are we not to be frightened by the implications and consequences of
these events?
We are living at a time when the government (as always) has failed to live up to her
responsibilities. I speak of the government who with their security arsenal has
failed times without number to protect the lives of Nigerians in Benue; the
same government that had security men dispatched to Ekiti during the recent
elections; and the same government that controls the military that was said to
have ‘technically’ destroyed Boko Haram. This same government with their
security apparati will also have to supervise the 2019 elections. The same INEC
that conducted a Bazar-election in Ekiti State will still conduct elections in
less than one year from now. Are you not worried, dear bishops? Can we really
sleep comfortably amidst all these?
Everything appears to have collapsed: security, education,
judiciary, health care delivery, job opportunities, and leadership. Poverty has
quadrupled, crime, sickness, death have skyrocketed. Besides, the government
has no solution to any of these.
Many Nigerians believe that restructuring is the only
solution to our intractable malaise. Many others talk about separation. What
are your own antidotes? What is your position? If it is restructuring please do
let us know, and if not, let us know your solution, and then you can go ahead
and present it to the government. There is nothing wrong in having a well
thought-out solution and position to the socio-political problems of our
country especially when the protection of human lives and property are
concerned. Our Christian faith even obliges us to do that; just like the German
bishops saw it as a duty to draw lines during the time of Hitler.
This not time for apportioning blames or blowing big grammar
or being politically correct but a time
for proffering immediate but deeply-reasoned solution that will save the lives
of our people. Paying a visit to the pope should also be on the agenda as a way
of leveraging on your global network of solidarity.
Our dearly beloved bishops, we need you now before we all
perish. If you don’t help no one else can. We all know what it means to be a
prophet in times like ours. That is why we will never stop praying for you and
the Holy Father. This is a time to be prophetic! It is a time to defend the
wounded Jesus who came that "they may have life, and have it to the
full".
*Contributed by Rev Fr Angelo Unegbu
Pix: President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria
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