GENERAL
THE Emeritus Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, has warned Nigeria’s political class to stop taking the patience and resilience of Nigerians for granted.
Onaiyekan gave the warning in Abuja on Monday when he received a delegation of members of the Initiative for Fostering Unity in Diversity, Youths and Nation Building (IFFUIDYANB) at his home in Abuja.
He expressed worry over what he described as the non-challans of Nigerian leaders to current issues in the country, especially in matters concerning the younger segment of the population.
The cardinal noted that the elite should desist from believing that Nigerians were resilient and could be taken advantage of anytime, anywhere.
“The best expression I have for what is happening in Nigeria is that we are dancing on the brink of chaos.
“Sometimes, we take two steps forward and four steps backward. But, it is a game that we should not be counting on.’’
Onaiyekan said that the thinking of some people about the resilience and patience of Nigerians to absorb all kinds of difficulties might in fact, be wrong.
“There is so much that is being said about the resilience of Nigerians that we have unlimited capacity to absorb shocks. But this may not be the case forever.
“I have for more than 30 years been preaching all over the world that Nigeria is a special country where Muslims and Christians live together.
“But the belief by some elites that Nigerians had elastic capacity to absorb every form of difficulty is a dangerous gamble.”
According to the cleric, those fomenting trouble in the country use the resilience of Nigerians to continue to deprive them of their rights.
He called for urgent measures by political leaders to chart a new path for youths to discourage the increasing rate of brain drain, popularly known as “Japa Syndrome”.
Onaiyekan said: “the question is, how long shall we continue on this path. The youths are anxious to work.
“They are not happy to be unemployed, underemployed or mis-employed.
“When I see able-bodied young men and women hawking groundnut, I tell myself: this is wastage. They should be producing.’’
The cardinal said that it was worrisome that people who should act to make the difference for the people, especially youths were keeping quiet and doing nothing.
He pleaded with well-meaning Nigerians to make investment in youths a priority to engender a better future for Nigeria.
Onaiyekan, however, commended IFFUIDYANB members for making visible efforts at ensuring the unity of Nigeria by aspiring to bring youths together to forge a common future.
“We now have “Naija Unity House’’ where we plan to bring youths across religions and across tribes all over the country to discuss Nigeria.
“We have had series of governments that seemed not to be so concerned about youths and the explanation for this is simple — selfishness and wickedness. It has nothing to do with tribe or religion.
“There is no lack of initiatives and I am sure IFFUIDYANB is not the only kind of NGO with this kind of initiative.
“One would have expected the political class to drive this kind of initiative,’’ Onaiyekan stated.
The leader of the delegation, Mr Steve Ebo, said that the group was concluding plans to hold a reality show for youths in the country in the near future.
He said the aim of the show was to bring a number of Nigerian youths together under one roof for a serious discussion on the future of youths in the country.
Ebo said that the show, which would commence soon, would last for more than 30 days and that it would feature eminent personalities, who would take housemates through salient national issues.
According to him, the show is aimed at fostering unity, promoting peace and supporting good leadership as well as peaceful co-existence among youths.
“What are the aspirations and intentions of our founding fathers? What is the way to get this country united?
“Can we go above where we are today, how can we unite as youths to make this country a better place?’’
Ebo said that the event would afford youths an opportunity to air their views on what they wanted from Nigeria, adding that it would showcase 37 youths, selected from the 36 states of the federation and the FCT. (NAN)
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July 10, 2023 @ 18:53 GMT|
Tags: Cardinal John Onaiyekan Mr Steve Ebo
