WEEPING FOR OUR POLITICIANS

[LENTEN PASTORAL LETTER]

By

Most Rev. Dr. V.A. Chikwe
Maria Mater Ecclesiae Cathedral
Ahiara Diocese Mbaise
21st February 2007

Introduction:

Weeping for our politicians has become urgent because of the situations in which we find ourselves in our country Nigeria. They are our politicians, because they are among us. They are our brothers and sisters. They are of our own. They are a part if not the greater part of our socio-economic, politico-cultural problems.

Weeping is a human way of expressing sorrow for a pitiable situation and self-imposed bad but changeable condition.

In the Judeo-Christian practice there are weepings of despair and hopelessness and there are weepings to express disappointment so as to inspire hope for change. In our case in Nigeria, from time to time, Nigerian Catholic bishops have “wept” for Nigeria in forms of prayers, especially when our country is in distress or during elections, as the Bishops of Onitsha and Owerri ecclesiastical Provinces have done recently.

In our Pastoral Statement titled, UPHOLDING UPRIGHTNESS IN THE 2007 ELECTIONS, read in all our churches not long ago; we Bishops saw the 2007 Elections as “A fresh Opportunity” for Nigerians “to go to the polls in order to elect credible and competent leaders to direct the affairs of our nation.” The five points we expressed as “Our Concerns” could be regarded as our points of “weeping” for the future of our nation to realize change in this “fresh Opportunity” God has given us.

“Our Concerns” then are “weeping” for a positive future change not a lamentation for past mistakes. This Lenten Pastoral Letter: Weeping for Our Politicians belongs to this type of weeping for a real positive change.

PART I

WEEPING FOR CHANGE
The books of Lamentations, Ezra and Nehemiah can be considered as prayer books for Nigerian politicians. This is in the sense that these books deplore the fall of Jerusalem, the calamity on Israel caused by the enemies of God and by Israel herself.

THE BOOK OF LAMENTATIONS
The book of Lamentations is in fact a series of prayers in the form of lamentations. It recalls the horror of a people, or persons, alienating themselves from their Creator, their Source of life and, who then after remorse, seek reunion with their God.

The book of Lamentations sees the seed of the hope for this reunion in the experience of being far from God. Therefore, it can be considered as offering hope and an invitation to all God’s people everywhere and every time to help and engage actively in assisting those affected by national crises. It reminds us all that it is not enough to mourn over the reversal of good fortune. It insists that the causes of disaster must be discovered and analyzed so that such calamities may be avoided in the future.

The third Lament is a good example to buttress the point of this Lenten Pastoral Letter. This is because the third Lament insists that God is faithful even if we are not. “For the Lord’s rejection does not last forever; though he punishes, he takes pity in the abundance of his mercies” (3:31 -32). It maintains that Our God is just. “When anyone tramples underfoot all the prisoners in the land, when he distorts men’s rights in the sight of the Most High, when he presses a crooked claim, the Lord does not look unconcerned” (3: 34 -36). And this third lament also assures us that Our God always comes near the desolate and gives hope. “You came to my aid when I called to you; you said, ‘Have no fear!’” (3:57).

My dear people the Lord is once again telling us not to have fear. You remember that the first words of my first Lenten Pastoral Letter to you in 1988 were: “Fear not little flock.” I tell you again as I told you then, fear not! Be assured that “the Lord does not look unconcerned” over the “crooked claims” of corrupt politicians.

PART II

THE BOOKS OF EZRA AND NEHEMIAH
The books of Ezra and Nehemiah were regarded originally as one book. In later editions of the Hebrew Bible they were accepted as two books. My interest in them as one unit is that they record the expeditions to Jerusalem for the purposes of rebuilding the city, its temple and walls.

It is spiritually instructive that these expeditions were decreed by Cyrus in the first year of his reign (536 B.C.).

Religiously speaking, it shows that God is not far from the Gentiles as the Jews believed. It shows that He uses even the gentiles to fulfill His will. Therefore, this decree by King Cyrus of Persia is believed to be the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah. “I say of Cyrus: My shepherd, who fulfils my every wish; He shall say of Jerusalem, ‘Let her be rebuilt’, and of the temple ‘Let its foundations be laid’” (Isa. 44: 28; cf. 45: 1 -6).

Let me mention in passing that Ezra records the first expedition under Zerubababel (Ezra. 1 -6) and the second expedition under himself in chapters 7 – 10. Nehemiah records a later expedition (445 B. C.) for the purpose of rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem.

It is instructive to know that the Babylonian exile was a major disaster for the Jews. But it helped them to purify their ideas of their relationship with God. Their return from exile was therefore a demonstration of their unmerited God’s favour. They returned to a city that had been destroyed and to a non-existent temple. A new life had to be established. Jerusalem had to be fortified, a new temple built in it.

The book of Ezra is concerned with the task of national reconstruction of the Jews as a people after the Babylonian captivity. Those seventy years of captivity in Babylon made the Jews understand better the faithfulness, justice and mercifulness of God. They saw that God will always come to the rescue of the very really oppressed people.

Our continent has seen our people uprooted, our cultures eroded and our people in a type of “exile” under foreign powers. Our freedom fighters won political independence. Their period and its task were considered as that of fighting. The task of reconstruction of the countries and cultures of our continent has yet to be accomplished. Our first generation of leaders, the freedom fighters, gave us hope; but our second generation politicians and leaders must give us freedom not fighting!

This is because, even now there are forces opposing true moral and religious reconstruction and resettlement. What is of most profound significance is the establishment of a people devoted to the worship of God, in spirit and truth, so that we can enjoy the freedom of the children of God.

PART III

ROLE OF MORAL AND RELIGIOUS LEADERS
Need for Total National Reconstruction
As regards our national reconstruction, it has to be total: body and soul, social and political, religious and economic, etc. The relevance of the book of Ezra for us today is that we can no longer distance ourselves from what is happening around us because they are affecting us in every way. They are with us! And they cannot leave us alone, so we cannot ignore them.

There is an urgent need for politicians dedicated to the task of building Nigerian people as a community, politicians interested in building up Nigeria as a nation of law and order, and community where justice and peace reigns, a community that guarantees the true worship of God in spirit and in truth. It is a task of total national reconstruction, human, material, spiritual, religious, social, economic etc. I

It is not the role of political leaders only. It is also part of the role of the moral and religious leaders of any and every community.

The message of Ezra, the priest-scribe as a religious and moral leader is that the Babylonian captivity left in the minds of the Jews lessons they had to learn –that they were punished for breaking God’s law. This led to the logical consequence that if things were to be set right, obedience to God and proper worship had to be restored.

Let be emphasized that Ezra is considered as an important post-exilic teacher of the law. Ezra’s prayer and confession (chap. 9) of the people’s sins and guilt of idolatry concretized at the time by their marrying foreign wives.

Many biblical examples abound to emphasize the worship of false gods as marrying foreign wives. Therefore the call for the return to the worship of One God made the Jews to recognize their guilt of idolatry and to divorce their foreign wives as a show of repentance.

Ezra the priest-scribe, as a religious and moral leader, cried for the people to the Lord and made the people to accept their guilt and resolved to make amends. “While Ezra prayed and acknowledged their guilt, weeping and prostrate before the house of God, a very large assembly of Israelites gathered about him … and the people wept profusely.” They said. “We have indeed betrayed our God…” (Ezra, 10: 1ff)

In fact Ezra established the foundation of the Jewish religion which was practiced up to the time of Jesus. And the practice of weeping is clear in the passion episodes. For instance, in his triumphant entry into Jerusalem to suffer and be crucified Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem (Lk. 19: 41). And at the Eighth Station of the Cross, Jesus tells the women of Jerusalem: “Daughters of Jerusalem” said He, “Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but for yourselves and for your children”. (Lk. 23: 28)

His entrance into Jerusalem is followed by a series of events: the driving out of the sellers out of the Temple (Lk. 19: 45 -46); the conflict about His authority (Lk. 20: 1-8); the parable of the vineyard and the Tenants (Lk. 20: 9 – 19). I will briefly come back to the parable of the vineyard and tenants later.

To foster a community centered on Law and order is not just the responsibility of political leaders alone, it is also that of the moral and religious leaders.

I have mentioned that the books of Ezra and Nehemiah were regarded as the same account of the reconstruction of Jerusalem in the immediate postexilic period in Israel. The Book of Nehemiah sees Jewish national reconstruction as that of a community centered on law and order. It lays the foundation for a meaningful new beginning.

The message of Nehemiah, therefore, was to draw the attention of the Jewish returnees to the necessity of a community built on law, order and true worship of God.
It is important to reiterate here what I have said before that Nehemiah was appointed the governor of Judah by King Cyrus of Persia. King Cyrus, it is also important to know was “inspired” by God to decree the reconstruction of Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the temple. As has been seen above, he was called “shepherd” and the “anointed” of Yahweh. “Shepherd” and “Anointed” are titles regarded as exclusive for those who had special relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

It is important to observe that in the work of the restoration of Jerusalem three characters stand out: Zerubbabel the builder of the temple; Ezra, the teacher of the Law; and Nehemiah, the builder of the fortifications of Jerusalem.

It is in viewing their work as a connected whole that a meaningful national reconstruction will stand the test of time. In our case there is sometimes structured opposition between the political and religious and moral leaders.

Our consolation, as religious and moral leaders is that in his work of rebuilding a community centered on law, order and true worship of God, Nehemiah met with strong opposition, but through determination and faith in God he succeeded.

The relevance of the book of Nehemiah here is that it presents us with the urgency of building up Nigeria as a community that upholds law and order, there must arise problems, but we must not see or regard them as insurmountable.

The book of Nehemiah was addressed to the post-exilic Jews. And the post-exilic Jewish history resembles the post-colonial history of Nigeria and, in fact, of Africa.

Nigeria, like the Jewish nation at that time needs to restore the socio-religious and cultural values that have been lost sight of as a result of national corruption and of foreign influences, and strong political, religious and moral leaders are needed!.

Nigeria needs to be protected against neo-colonial forces that still try to destabilize Nigeria and exploit Nigerians. Nigeria needs the legal structures that will establish justice and peace, and encourage development and a sense of community among all Nigerian peoples. All involved in this task must trust in God and take after the example of Ezra –the priest-scribe.

PART IV

WEEPING TO EVOKE REMORSE
Weeping to evoke remorse and repentance is known in salvation history. Weeping as a lesson in the life of Judeo-Christian heroes and as a means of alerting people to danger and arousing them to positive and salutary action is also known. (Neh. 1: 4ff; Neh 8: 9). Let us all weep for Nigeria, for some Nigerian politicians, and for some religious and moral leaders.

At this juncture I deem it necessary, in the light of very recent developments around and among us to ask whether our politicians are bringing development or corruption home to our people. It is now a household political jargon that: if you cannot beat them join them!

If you cannot beat them join them is often used to discourage the young and enthusiastic politicians from persevering in fighting the established money bag corrupt politicians. And it is often invoked to support evil and inspire a position of immorality to justify helplessness and passivity at the interest of wicked politicians.

Our weeping this time is to convince our Christians that if we cannot beat them, we will not and must not join them! That we must continue to fight them with prayer and fasting, the very tools our Lord assured us to use in casting out stubborn demons.

In the light of the same very recent developments around and among us, one cannot but ask: what is the essence of the government, especially the Local government among the Nigerian people. It appears to me, and I repeat, it appears to me that the understanding of the Local Government now is localizing corruption, bringing it home and near to the people.

Time was when “Government” was understood as some distant institution operated by foreigners, often regarded as enemies of native people. It was in this understanding the Nigerian peoples were not attributed with any form of indigenous government. They were called natives as if they were to be strangers in their own homes! We often heard and still hear expressions such as: “before government came” to the natives.

Therefore, it is worthy of note, for instance, that “Local Administration” has existed in Nigeria since the 1950s in various names such as “Divisional Council”, “District Council”, “County Council” “Community Council” etc; but never as Local Government. This was because they believed that “government” could not be associated with traditional and local setup of the natives.

But since the same 1950’s various reforms have taken place. However the Local Government Edict of 1976 seems to have established the present system of Local Government system. Perhaps it is then providential that present local Government system was inaugurated under the auspices of the military regime of General Olusegun Obasanjo [our present President] in 1976.

Remarkable too is that there have been further reforms in the system including those of General Muhamed Buhari in 1984 and General Babangida in 1988.

And these three eminent Nigerian soldiers turned civilians are still strong political influences on our national destiny and perhaps on its development if not on its destruction.

However, it must also be noted that the 1999 constitution (section 7) guarantees the continued existence of Local Government in Nigeria and guarantees a democratic system of governance at the Local Government level. And I know it is found in the 1989 constitution and as amended in 1999.

PART V

LOCAL GOVERNMENT OR LOCAL CORRUPTION
BETRAYING POSITIONS OF TRUST
I am personally perturbed, and I believe many Nigerians are that the Local Government System is becoming a system of broad-basing corruption and bringing the same home and near to our people. Some of our Local Governments are just functioning in such a way that the conscience of the ordinary person is being lax in the face of political and moral evils plaguing our society –if you cannot beat them join them is just in practice.
Ecclesia in Africa recognized and lamented this fact. It noted. “Africa's economic problems are compounded by the dishonesty of corrupt government leaders who, in connivance with domestic or foreign private interests, divert national resources for their own profit and transfer public funds to private accounts in foreign banks. This is plain theft, whatever the legal camouflage may be. I earnestly hope that international bodies and people of integrity in Africa and elsewhere will be able to investigate suitable legal ways of having these embezzled funds returned. In the granting of loans, it is important to make sure of the responsibility and forthrightness of the beneficiaries.” [n.113]
You see, it is our very brothers and sisters who are just embezzling the funds meant for their communities and lavishly use them in the midst of and against their people who are wallowing in abject poverty, and nothing seems to happen. Rather there is Party infighting to replace but not correct them –if you cannot beat them join them is practiced.

The aims of the local government system in Nigerian politics, it appears to me has been betrayed. Positions of trust have been converted into positions of power, corruption and political intimidation. The owners of the local community have been alienated from its resources both internally generated funds and federal allocations.

The sole aim of Local Government system, I believe, is that it serves as a veritable vehicle for bringing development to the grass-root. That is to say to make services and development activities responsive to local wishes and needs. But this is no longer the case.

When the Local Government does its work well it provides two-way channel of communication between local communities and government (both State and federal) as regards needs and wishes of government and people. But all this is not happening the way it should. And some of those responsible, the Chairmen of the Local Governments are our brothers and sisters, our politicians.

It becomes more perplexing to know that in the circumstances that non-indigenes become Chairmen of Local Governments they do not work with Local councilors –the representatives of the people. They therefore work like new Warrant Chiefs –leaders imposed on people from outside.

But today, even when selected by their Party, not elected by the people some of the indigenes who become Chairmen of Local Governments still are like the Warrant Chiefs because they are imposed on their people and from outside – the home and Abuja front political syndrome we often hear about.

Should we not weep for those who are just destroying their own people, whether they are home or Abuja fronts? Should we not work hard not to elect new and partisan politicians who have turned positions of trust into local, state and federal established positions of power and money politics against all of us? They are Chairmen of corruption!

But since in a certain sense we and our politicians have become our own problems we must solve them. The ballot is our opportunity, educated conscience is our means, the love or our country must be our goal. It is noteworthy that at the very grass-root, the localized level of politics, non-indigenes are appointed to head Local Government when Local Government Councils are dissolved and there is no election to replace them. In such cases they are not called Chairmen. They function as Administrators (the military uses the term sole Administrator) because they don’t function with members or councilors, they often behave as hirelings.

Conclusion: In the light of the message of this Pastoral Letter, I strongly tell our corrupt politicians that the vineyard will “be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce it fruits.” (Mt. 21: 43). May God help us all, and may Our Mother, Mary, the Mother of the Church intercede for us in this as always.

Most Rev. Dr. V.A. Chikwe
Bishop of Ahiara.

Given at:
Maria Mater Ecclesiae Cathedral, Ahiara Mbaise
February 21, 2007.