On Chibok girls
It is good news that some of them are trickling in but among those found, some people are still doubting if these girls are among the over 200 girls we are talking about because not until there is proof that they really belong to this group of girls. Right now, I have not seen any parent or guardian that came out to claim that yes, the girl is his or her daughter.
On the cannonisation of Iwene Tansi
The Holy Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church which I and some of you belong to do not just wake up overnight and say they are canonizing people, I remember during the funeral of Saint John Paul, everyone in the arena was shouting that he should be made a saint but it is not possible to push Rome in that way. There are certain things which they will look out for and certain stages which must be followed. Beatification is just one of these stages, there are other first class three or four miracles that must be performed and if these miracles are not seen, then it will be where it is. Beatification cannot happen. For example, Mother Teresa will be officially canonized by September 4 because all these stages have been fulfilled. There are faithful who are looking at all these things, not that somebody will just wake up and say because it is Tansi due process should not be followed. All these stages should be followed and fulfilled. It is the first class miracle that is delaying it. On the Holy Father’s visit to Nigeria His Holiness do not just go out of the Vatican and start moving around as he likes. There was a time he visited Africa but there was information from the Pope’s advisers that Nigeria was not safe for him to visit and that is why he did not visit again. I think if the atmosphere is clear, the Pope will come.
On pro-Islam bill which has passed the second reading in the National Assembly
The issue of OIC has been on ground since former military President Babangida enrolled Nigeria into that organisation and both Christian and Muslims gathered and met in Abuja. I was the one in charge of the Christian group and the meeting was very stormy. It was not a new thing but what has been on ground for a long time and I think they only forced this regime to go for it and I do not think they are going to succeed. They told us during that discussion that Nigeria is just there as an observer and we asked what it will take to be a permanent member and one of them got up and said our Minister of Petroleum, Education and Foreign Affairs must be Muslims and once these three Ministers are Muslims, what is left? When we shouted against the combination of Christian, Muslim and traditional religion in the school curriculum that there will be a special teacher that will teach the students these three religions, how can a Muslim teacher teach Christian religion or traditional religion? They denied which is the second check. Now, they believe that the only way they can be successful about it is to come through the National Assembly. But if our own Christian Ministers will not speak against it, then the blame will be on their heads.
On most memorable years
As you can see I am still alive and not dead yet. Well, my journey in life was not that smooth but so far so good. The beginning was fair. I was brought up in a Christian way which I am still keeping to by God’s grace and gradually we believe in the fear of the Lord which my parents instilled in us firmly that once you believe in the fear of the Lord, everything will work out well and probably that is what keeps me going. My memorable days, I think in my second year as a priest, I was shocked when I was asked to go to the war front. I ran to my bishop, the late Archbishop Aggrey, thinking he would ask me not to go and take someone else there but he replied that there are souls there and that is what I was trained for. Another one that I still remember was the death of my mother. I knew how she had been to us and the family especially in keeping us in the right path. Also when one of my juniors, Bishop Alaba Job, became bishop and I was his senior, I was shocked and I said will I be saying `My Lord’ to him? You know, human nature is always there. Two weeks later, he came to meet me in the cathedral where I was assigned to work and I asked him ‘how do I address you?’ He said I should not worry about that and that in two weeks my own will come and, a few weeks later, I was nominated as the auxiliary bishop of Oyo where I was rejected by my own brother priests not to talk of the lay people but thank God it did not drag all long like the Ariara incident. Later I was transferred back to Lagos and then ordained as Archbishop. The final one was when I was made a Cardinal. I was in Okokomaiko when this gentleman said he had been looking for me for weeks that I had to report to Rome and I was surprised; `Rome for what?’ He brought out two scrolls, one in Latin and the other in English language; after reading them he referred to me as `Your Eminence’.
On his successor
Archbishop Adewale Martins Lagos is a very difficult place to handle. I know what I went through in my 39 years in Lagos and I nurtured most of the priests. Archbishop Martins was born and bred in this diocese and when he was made a bishop, he left here for Abeokuta Diocese where he worked for 14 years. To me, I give him kudos because considering his age, I did not expect him to do most of the things he is doing now. He is the right man in the right place.
On Rev. Father Mbaka’s claim that those who transferred him wanted him dead
As a priest I was shocked when I heard that from his mouth. Nobody will take your life if God did not sanction it. That he was wanted dead, who told him that? Were assassins sent after him or he was only imagining it or he saw it in a vision as he always says he always sees visions? These are highly contestable and as a priest what will he say about death? Why must he fear about death? And that he was not happy about the transfer, why is he a priest? A priest should be ready to go anywhere. I was in the war front two years after my ordination as a priest. If he was not happy about his transfer, then there is something wrong about his priesthood. His priesthood should come to question.
On the present administration applauding former President Goodluck Jonathan for conceding defeat in last year’s elections.
The truth cannot be hidden. That President Buhari commended former President Goodluck Jonathan is an open confession. President Buhari has to be very careful because people are watching him and people are saying why can’t he take his inaugural speech, meditate on it and start afresh. I think why the government is not getting it right is because of the ministerial list, various candidates from different quarters and he was trying to satisfy them and that is why we are in this mess today.
Reflections on CAN…
When we started this association, the CCN, CSN realized that there were other Christian groups who were not members and decided to bring them in. Gradually, other people that came in tried to disorganize us. I was there for eight years as CAN President and the others were not satisfied, they wanted to lead because they had hidden agenda, After that, Sunday Mbang came in who was a Methodist and also a member of CCN. He made a bad decision by warming up to President Olusegun Obasanjo and since that time OBJ did not have respect for us (CAN) because we sold our birthright. During my tenure as CAN leader, any time we wanted to meet, we did not source for fund from government. We did it on our own. During the Kaduna riot, I and my Secretary had to sort out ourselves financially. But unfortunately when these gentlemen started coming in, they wanted to see the governor, President and money started rolling in. In this situation, what effect could they make?. I know how Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor came in, they were all saying it was time for the Pentecostals to be the President of CAN and I replied that the leadership is not about turn by turn and that is why we are where we are today. In the last election, some people came to me and asked me to vote for them and I asked why should I vote for them. I am sorry to say this, what is happening there is a disgrace to Christianity.
On the Kaduna State religion regulation bill
We are watching, these people are attempting to islamise this country but they are failing. They have been on it for a long time and God did not allow it to happen. El-Rufai has caused a lot of problems since he assumed office as Kaduna governor. He will just get up and take a decision without thinking about the repercussion. He said he did it in Federal Capital Territory and people only shouted but he had his way. He is always at loggerheads with Christians. There was a time he made a statement that Jesus Christ is just an ordinary human being like every other person, no divinity about him. He admitted that Jesus Christ is a prophet but not a great prophet while Prophet Muhammed is the greatest prophet. How can he be uttering these statements? Is it because of his position. He has to be checked. The second person we have to check is Governor Amosun. He and El-Rufai are very close to President Buhari. Anytime Mr. President is travelling, it is either Amosun or El-Rufai is there already or meet Buhari in such place. Why will El-Rufai destroy this country with religious statements. Does he know what is called war? El-Rufai must be watched, he does things without passing through the House of Assembly and the funny thing is that Buhari will never talk and that is wrong. What kind of father is that? He’s supposed to be the father of the nation. In one of my comments, I said they want to destroy our youths so that they will not come up. Look at their own youths, majority of them are Almajiris begging left, right and centre.
On what the Christian community can do in the face of all challenges
They should hold fast to their faith; even when they try to make them deny their God, deny their beliefs, they should hold fast to their faith. When I was the President of CAN, the Federal Government gave us N100 million to build a cathedral and also asked the Muslim to build such a thing in Abuja but I told my colleagues that we were not collecting the money but to show you the kind of people we have in Christendom, some of my colleagues said even if we did not want it, we could put it in the bank and when they need their money back we give it to them and we keep the interest. Christians should not be afraid but bold to confront challenges. There is a pastor that abused El-Rufai and he said he will die and they said he is not dead yet. I think that man should be checked and at least warned, he should remember that Nigeria is not his whole constituency and he should not be talking carelessly because he is in office, they are there today, tomorrow it will be somebody else.[b] As I said earlier, the real problem with the Buhari administration is that this one will bring his candidate notwithstanding if such person can perform or not, and another will bring his. He should change three quarters of the ministers. They did not know where they are going, that is the problem. Lai Muhammed challenged me on a write up that I wrote tagged ‘Enough is enough’. He came to my house one Sunday night with Chief Jim Nwobodo and said I should have asked for audience with the Head of State and he would have granted me such instead of writing such article. I asked him to tell me what was wrong with the article that I wrote and that if not for Alhaji Bola Tinubu, he will not be where he is now. He replied that he has been together with Tinubu right from his youthful days. I know how Buhari came in. I warned Tinubu seriously when they were debating about Muslim, Muslim ticket. I told him, `Bola, I do not care if you produce two devils or Muslims provided the two Muslims are patriotic and fear God’. He said his main concern which was giving him sleepless night was to drive the PDP away and that he had got the solution. Tinubu asked me if I knew Buhari and I replied that was he not that man that did examination three times and failed? I said `Bola, he will fail again’ but he replied that he will not fail because he had gone round and that politics is a game of numbers. He said if Buhari was dying tomorrow and he went to the North to present him as candidate, he was sure to get over two million votes. He was even boasting that Buhari had changed or that they will change him.[/b]
On how he feels at 80
I am still strong though not as strong as before. I forget things easily probably because I overuse my head but this leg is causing me a lot of trouble. On what he wants to be remembered for That the man called Okogie passed through this world and nothing less. I just want to fulfil the purpose God created me . On President Buhari’s failure to mention the names of treasury looters. Buhari thinks he is diplomatic but he is not. Nigeria of 1916 is not Nigeria of 2016. They are dragging the people gradually to the wall and once they get there, there will be revolution. What kind of revolution? I cannot say but it will be bad if the revolution is from the youths. He should call a spade a spade, he passed the issue to Lai Muhammed and everybody is now calling them liars.
On some Catholic priests joining pro-Biafra agitation?
Why should I not be happy? They are free. The problem with our government is that they fear unnecessarily. What has that boy (Kanu) done? Why can’t they sit back and think of how they can resolve the issue amicably and without involving soldiers here and there. Government should live up to their responsibilities to the masses. This present administration should revisit their inaugural speech and start afresh because they have not done anything at all.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/06/told-tinubu-buhari/ |
