Segun Akanni, Toronto, Canada 
The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, has told President Muhammadu Buhari that Nigerians are getting poorer by the day and in a state of hopeless.
According to the Archbishop, while the rich in Nigeria are swimming in affluence, the number of poor citizens sadly continues to be on the increase.
Onaiyekan challenged the President to change the leadership style of his government if Nigeria must recover from its current social-economic crises.
But Vice President Yemi Osinbajo expressed confidence that the nation’s future is bright.
Osinbajo and Onaiyekan spoke yesterday at the inter-denominational church service for the 2019 presidential inauguration ceremony held at the National Christian Centre, Abuja.
The theme of the inauguration church service is: “Setting the nation on higher levels of peace and national development in the fear of God. Habakuk 3:19.”
Speaking on his theme drawn from the book of Deuteronomy 30:19, “Let us choose life, not death,” Onaiyekan, who explained that there was no more time for blame game which will definitely not take the country anywhere, said Nigeria was not in a state where anyone should rejoice.
His words: “The truth is that our nation is not in a state for us to rejoice. The ranks of the poor are swelling by the day, hopeless and helpless, as they watch in frustration the affluence of the very few cruising in a different world. Such wide socio-economic disparity has led to anger, tension, violence and outright criminality in the land. All is not well. But all is not lost either.
“Again, here we must tell the truth. For too long, we have been seeing what seems to be a policy of polarization of the nation along primordial fault lines of ethnicity and religion. The result is that we have been indulging in the risky game of ‘dancing on the brink of chaos’. We do not know for how long we can continue to get away with this. But the handwriting on the wall is quite clear for all who care to see. It is sad that no condition is permanent: certainly not the present state of our nation.
“The greatest of God’s gifts to us, life itself, is in danger all over our land. Gunmen and women – unknown and known – have been sowing death, destruction and misery almost everywhere. Property, well-being, harmony and peace are endangered by generalized insecurity. Before God, this is the truth and not political propaganda mounted to discredit the government. The nation must be mobilized to join hands to face the disaster looming over all of us.”
According to Onaiyekan, for a positive change to happen in Nigeria, sincere change of leadership will also need to take place.
He said: “As we embrace a new term of government, it should be for us a new opportunity to change ways and review habits of governance, for a better Nigeria. We can and we should do this. God has endowed us with resources to achieve this, resources that we unfortunately turn into curses.
“The blame game of pointing accusing fingers at each other will not carry us far. For a positive change to take place, we must all be ready for a sincere change of heart, from the lowest to highest, but especially at the highest levels.
“Empty boast and bare faced denials of the realities around us cannot build the nation,” he added.
Onaiyekan stressed that it was important for Nigerian leaders to tell themselves the truth and accept failure.
“At this moment, we should do well to acknowledge our failure to do things the right way,” he stated.
He said that the 2019 elections have left behind thick clouds of acrimony that are still to clear.
The cleric said: “We are still waiting for the final verdict of the tribunals, on which we now rely, in a spirit of peaceful contest, guided by the rule of law. We thank God who has led us thus far. This is no time for celebration of victory or for lamentation over defeat.
“Rather, it is time to pull efforts together, with the grace of God, to tackle the serious challenges before us. In this new term of office, there is need for a drastic change of government system, if our nation is to be saved from imminent chaos.”
He said unfortunately, many have already lost all hope in the future of the nation.
“According to them, we are to get ready for the worst. Frightful conspiracy theories are making the rounds in the social media, shaping and twisting the attitudes and minds of many people. In this situation, the serious warnings from well-intentioned wise elders should not be ignored, less still denigrated without due respect.
“There are, we hope, many more people who still believe in our ability to build a united nation under God, and thus to realise the dream of our constitution. Doing nothing but complaining and pointing accusing fingers at others is to wait for the worst to happen.
“The positive and responsible option is to stand up to be counted and get involved in building the nation of our dreams. The Lord has put before us a choice between death and life. He urges us to choose life, for our own good and for His greater glory,” he said.
Onaiyekan prayed for President Buhari to be able to live up to the Christian and Muslim principle that all authority and power belong to God.
He also prayed that such powers must be exercised under his will.
“May he be liberated from bad advisers and unhelpful associates. May he see the wisdom of bringing on board every segment of the nation, for an improved sense of belonging, without which the problems of the nation will not be successfully addressed. God has given us a beautiful nation and wonderful people. May he give us the wisdom and the goodwill to make a success of it,” he stressed.
In his remarks, Osinbajo noted that Christians are to take the lead in giving hope to other citizens in the country.
According to Osinbajo, “Our days will be better and better. This is the reason why I am so confident; our ministry is that of reconciliation. We must not permit anyone to take advantage of the fault lines. Our country stands at the threshold of phenomenal great, the end of the story is light and joy. We begin with darkness and confusion but the end of our story is bright, the future of our nation is bright.”
Former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, who also spoke at the cer emony, urged Nigerians to pray for President Buhari and all the leaders so that they will give good governance and look after the interest of all Nigerians, irrespective of tribe, faith or belief.
He also tasked Nigerians to “love your country and defend it in whatever way we can. Let us have peace in the land and let us ensure that this nation continues to survive to eternity, God being our helper.”
The Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Bishop Nicholas Okoh, prayed to God to forgive and heal the land.
He committed President Buhari in God’s hand to give him the ability to rule and lead the nation in the right direction.
