THE TRUTH FREES US ALL!
[Jn. 8:32]

LENTEN PASTORAL

By
Most Rev. Dr. V.A.Chikwe
Mater Ecclesiae Cathedral
Ahiara Diocese, Mbaise
Ash Wednesday, February 25, 2004

INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS THE TRUTH?

The truth frees us all. This is if we make “the Truth” always present in our lives. Jesus, the Truth, before His arrest prayed to the Father for his disciples thus: “Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. … I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth. … so that the world may believe that you sent me.” [Jn 17: 17-20] This truth frees us all especially in Igbo land, Nigeria, Africa and the whole world.

The subject of my Lenten pastoral letter this year is: “What is the Truth?”[Jn. 18:38] This question is contained in of Our Lord’s Passion which we will read on Good Friday this year, April 9, 2004. I intend that we reflect, pray over it in the light of the recurrent practice of corruption in our country.

“What is the truth?” This is the question Pilate asked Our Lord before he handed Our Lord to the people. Our “Pilates”, from the positions of Traditional Rulers, to the officers of Local, State and Federal Governments are always asking: “What is the truth?” They do so to play political Ping-Pong with the welfare of their people and country. Who would deny some of these “Pilates” need be reminded of the truth that frees us all?

PART I: JESUS AND PILATE IN THE PRAETORIUM

Jesus was brought to Pilate. Because of religious inhibitions the Jews would not enter the Praetorium. This made Pilate to come out and meet them. But he summoned Jesus to come with him into the Praetorium. This brought the two alone in the Praetorium where Jesus testified to the Truth [Jn. 18:33-38] Jesus testified to his kingship. Pilate did not contest it but questioned whether it was true. As if he did not understand it, Pilate asked Jesus: What is the Truth? It was a rhetorical question. Of course within that context Pilate did not expect Jesus to answer. But it is a question that has hunted Pilates, ever since!

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PRAETORIUM

The Praetorium means “common Hall” [Mk15:16], “governors house” [Matt. 27:27], “judgement hall” [Jn. 18:28, 33. The Praetorium, therefore, is the place where decisions of life and death are taken. It is there that policies concerning the welfare of the people are made. The Jews who refused to enter the Praetorium on religious grounds preferred to accept the kingship of Caesar in rejection of Christ the King of the world.

Let us for the moment not bother with the critical biblical and theological interpretations of Pilate’s question. They could be varied. I am concerned more with the social, moral, religious and spiritual implications of the Jesus and Pilate encounter in the context of our national growth, stability and economic development.

I think the connivance at the importance of truthful living is the source of immorality of our youth, the moral decadence of government officials and the demoralization of our people as a whole.

After Pilate asked the question, he still had the moral will to wash his hands and perhaps clear his conscience of the quilt of the decision he was eventually to take –the crucifixion of the Truth. The inability of our own Pilates to, at least, follow his example has made them, in my opinion fight bribery and corruption half way.

PART II: ATTEMPTS AT FIGHTING CORRUPTION

Fighting corruption half way is in the sense that programmes were not implemented. We have, for example, heard of Moral Re-armament, War Against Indiscipline and Sanitise in the past. They seemed to be News Paper propaganda and achieved little.

ANTI-GRAFT BILL OF 2000

Today we are hearing of Anti-Graft [Anti Corruption Crusade]. Those accustomed to reading our News Papers have also been accustomed to seeing bribery and corruption linked; the one necessarily linked to the other as inescapable consequence.

Anti-Corruption Crusade which forgets bribery or disconnects the two makes us read between the lines to decipher sincere intentions. Our News Papers are daily headlining bribery as something that, perhaps, is becoming part of our accepted practice. Right from our House of the Senate to remote Town Council Reports, in many parts of Igbo land, bribery is officially recorded!

I think our Anti Corruption Crusade must also declare war against bribery so that the corrupting influence of bribe must be eradicated just as bribery, the test of official corruption, is uprooted. I am happy to note that the 2000 Anti-Graft Bill did not forget the link between bribery and corruption.

It is, therefore, consoling that our “lawmakers passed an amended version of … anti-corruption bill, known as anti-graft law in February 2000. It increased the powers of parliament to probe official graft.” It is noteworthy that the bill's name was changed from the "Anti-Corruption Bill" to the "Corrupt Practices and Other Related Practices Bill". It is clear that bribery is a practice related to corruption.

PART III: CHURCH AND STATE FIGHTING CORRUPTION TOGETHER

FROM THE CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE

In our common fight against corruption, some events within our immediate past are just providential, not coincidental or accidental. They deserve our attention to help us look at the question: “What is the Truth?” [Jn. 18:38]

First, our President sent the Anti-Graft Bill to Parliament weeks after coming to power at the end of May 1999. The truth, then, I believe, is that he was giving our Nation a new direction for the new millennium. It is also true, I believe, that he was bringing his Christian formation to bear on his life as President! I believe it because the President is not a stranger to Christian religion, education and morality. Their contribution to his exalted position, as Nigerian number one man is not doubted.

Secondly, in this regard, I mention President Olusegun Obasanjo was one of the five dignitaries honoured [on January 24, 2004?] in recognition of their excellence for national merit award by Baptist Boys High School Abeokuta Old Students.

Thirdly, the President’s participation in the Christian Association of Nigeria’s Campaign Against Corruption on January 11, 2004, is remarkable. Because the President is not a stranger to the Christian religion and morality, he advised Christian Church leaders against accepting ill-gotten wealth. This, in my opinion, makes the fight against ill-gotten wealth a matter of cooperation between Church and State. As the President told the Christian Church leaders not to accept ill-gotten wealth, let me tell Government officials, through him, not to keep ill-gotten wealth.

“No believer”, he told the Christian leaders, “whatsoever should connive with corruption or condone it because that is not the way of God. The second thing that angered God and he decided to destroy the world He (Himself) created, except Noah’s family, was corruption.” It is true that the president spoke of “believer”, not just of Christian believer.

Fourthly, the Campaign Against Corruption organized by the Christian Association of Nigeria should energize the Government’s Anti-Corruption Crusade. So as we, the Church leaders preach against bribery and corruption to those who come to Church, the president must preach the same to those who do not come to church. He alone can reach them and speak the language they can understand and make them comply. We need co-operation between church and State, not political Ping-Pong to speak against corruption to all believers –Christians, Moslems, Traditional religionists, etc.

PART IV: CATHOLIC BISHOPS AND THE “PRAETORIUM”

The Catholic bishops have, from time to time, entered the “Nigerian Praetorium” whether in Lagos or in Abuja, and in the various State Capitals of the Federation. I am happy to note that their continued preoccupation and concern for the plight of our people have been communicated to our fellow Nigerians. These are documented in The Bishops Speak.

So when the bishops speak, please let the people listen. I would like to mention one instance in particular. The Catholic Bishops entered the “Praetorium” on March 18, 1984, and advised General Buhari not to take money from IMF. They had the concern of Nigeria and Nigerians in mind. He obeyed. How we wish that those who removed him from office did not led us into the IMF mess.

On that occasion, the General, inspired, I believe, told the Catholic bishops that no one religion should intimidate the other in Nigeria. How I wish this prophecy could be enforced so that in our common effort to fight bribery and corruption, no one religion should intimidate the other!

It is remarkable that nearly twenty years later Catholic bishops after their meeting in Owerri addressed the same concerns of Nigerians, with the title: Hope for a Better Nigeria. I want to draw attention particularly to two of their concerns: “Our Deplorable Roads”, “Continued Insecurity in the Land”.

“Our journey”, the bishops tell Nigerians, “from various parts of the country to Owerri, venue of our conference, has strongly reminded us of the deplorable condition of our roads, especially in the South East, in spite of the huge sum of money which the federal government claims to have invested on roads in the country. In a country where over 95% of the citizens have no other means of transportation the continued neglect of our roads is tantamount to an assault of the peoples’ right to basic social amenities. Nigerians look up to the government to address the problem.”

FEEDING THE PEOPLE –CONCERN OF BISHOPS

It is interesting that the Apostolic Exhortation, Pastores Gregis: The Bishop, Servant of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the Hope of the World was given on 16 October 2003. In its conclusion the Holy Father addressed, with more profundity, the subject of my 2000 Lenten Pastoral – Give them to Eat. He maintained that the “sheer human complexity of the settings in which the Gospel must be proclaimed today brings spontaneously to mind the Gospel account of the multiplication of the loaves.” [PG. 73] “The Bishops of the third millennium”, he continued, “are called to do what was done by so many saintly Bishops throughout history, up to our own time… This is the path that we too must walk: the Good Shepherd has entrusted his flock to each Bishop to feed it with his word and to form it by his example.” [PG.73]

The Holy Father did not forget to ask: “Where then will we Bishops get the ''bread'' needed to respond to the many requests which come to us from within and without the Churches and the Church? We could easily complain, as the Apostles did to Jesus: ''Where are we to get bread enough in the desert to feed so great a crowd?'' (Mt 15:33). Where can we find the resources we need? We can at least point to a few fundamental answers.” [Pg. 73] these resources the Holy Father identified as: 1) love of God, self, neighbour, nation and the whole world; 2) the universal Church and 3) the particular Church. [PG.73]

Lack of “multiplication of loaves” for our people brings me to the issue of insecurity in our nation which Nigerians bishops past and present have spoken vehemently about. Will the future ones still be faced with this same problem as if nothing happens? And I will remark that Jesus multiplied the bread already in the community. How can we Bishops influence multiplication of bread when it is all stolen, hidden and taken way and kept outside our communities and country? We must raise our voices louder to insist that our national wealth must become truly our “common wealth”, accessible to all!

The bishops in the Owerri Communiqué, therefore, lamented our national insecurity thus: “The insecurity of life and property in the country has become alarming. The menace of armed robbery and banditry in the country poses a grave threat to the exercise of our fundamental human rights. Government has not done enough to protect these rights against violation. We stress that people have a right to life and property and that government has a duty to protect these rights. The creation of job-opportunities for our teeming youth population will help to minimize the menace of armed robbery and violence. This will lead to an improved security situation.” But insecurity is the effect of corruption. And I think our peculiar civil war legacy is one of the sources of this insecurity. Let us pray and do something about it.

PART V: BEYOND THE CIVIL WAR LEGACY

Igbo catholic bishops explained these concerns as they particularly affect the Igbo people. We, among other things, addressed “Puppet Leadership” in Igbo land, as a continued source of misery and, “The Abandoned Property” issue as a threat to our sense of national security and protection. I will highlight them with reference to the role of The Bishop, Servant of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for the Hope of the World, and of course, of his people, especially in providing them bread.

I mentioned above the universal Church, as the Holy Father said, is the second resource a bishop relies upon to “multiply bread” for his people. But the third resource is located among us and is we. The Pope said. “A final, immediate recourse for a Bishop in search of ''bread'' to satisfy the hunger of his brothers and sisters is his own particular Church, when the spirituality of communion has taken root as an educative principle ‘wherever individuals and Christians are formed, wherever ministers of the altar, consecrated persons and pastoral workers are trained, wherever families and communities are built up.’ …For a Bishop is never alone: he is not alone in the universal Church and he is not alone in his particular Church.” [PG. 74] In the same way his people should not be alone.

The duty of Bishops is thus clearly marked out. It is the same duty as ever: to proclaim the Gospel of Christ for the salvation of the world. But how can we, Igbo bishops, be made to search for bread, by some organized policy that makes our “immediate recourse” no longer our in local Churches and in Igbo land? From where shall we begin, from outside? This is a matter of new urgency and calls for cooperation and commitment on the part of the whole People of God, especially in Nigeria.

We Igbo bishops, therefore, have noted: “Contrary to the democratic principles of self-determination, freedom and justice, there has been a lot of external interference and manipulation in installing leaders at various levels of governance in Igboland who are often not the choice of the people but merely surrogates. Generally, such surrogates serve the selfish interests of their political “godfathers” who use them to destabilize governance and truncate development.”

Every clear thinking Igbo person knows that these political “godfathers” have not all, and always been non-Igbos. But “anti-Igbo godfatherism” is always what we inherited since the end of the civil war in the name of Asika-aburu nwanne aburu principle and practice. It is time for all of us, Nigerians, to go beyond it and become convinced that the civil war is over.

Asika-aburu nwanne a buru is a language of threat often spoken from the position of strength. It has other forms of expression. In each case it is expressed to exhibit power –economic, political, and military, etc. It is a conqueror’s language. This is the language that has been spoken to the Igbo in different ways, at different times and in different places as a legacy of the civil war as if to say Igbo land is now at the outskirts of Nigeria and the Igbo people, everywhere in Nigeria, have been confined to a politico-economic Sabongari –Strangers’ Quarters! I say this because the asika-aburu principle has as its politico-economic practice: onye ube ruru orachaa. And it is we, Igbo people then structured into East Central State, who experienced this that know it is, and remains central to our woes. This has been the cause of many types of violence. This language and practice has to change if we have to deal with real causes and not effects of bribery and corruption in Nigeria.

CONCLUSION:

Before the whole of Nigeria becomes abandoned property, we must address not only the “abandoned property” issue but also the mentality it has nurtured – sense of insecurity. It is no gainsaying that our people are very demoralized. If the government does not take adequate steps Nigeria may soon become “no man’s land” in the same sense Europe declared the whole of Africa “no man’s land” necessitating the infamous Scramble for Africa.

The wish to escape from Nigeria is unabated. Euro-American citizenship is being acquired at the price of life and death. To make my point, the other day a man with his wife came to me to bless his wife who was going abroad to have his baby. I asked why. He explained that he wished the child in the womb to acquire foreign citizenship. I blessed her but have not been able to get the implications of this out of my mind.

With this type of mentality building very good hospitals here is just out of the question. This child in the womb has already been told that Nigeria is not safe. And the consequences are many. If nothing happens, Nigeria may become an abandoned property. May it not happen! May the Good Lord, the Way, the Truth and Life [Jn. 14:6] give all of us a heart renewed to know that only the truth will free us from our present predicament!

Most Rev. Dr. V.A. Chikwe
Given at:
Maria Mater Ecclesiae Cathedral
Ash Wednesday, February 25, 2004.

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