Nigerians must make wise political choices in 2023, says Catholic bishop

Ignatius Kaigama, the Catholic archbishop of Abuja, says Nigerians should unite in choosing credible political leaders in the 2023 general election.

The clergy said this on Sunday while preaching at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church in Abuja. 

Kaigama said Nigerians should turn their frustrations into a propeller that would enable them to make reasonable collective decisions in 2023.

He likened Nigerians to biblical lepers who are besieged by a common problem, adding that without unity, the people are far from arriving at a solution. 

“In the ugly situation of our country, we must be united, particularly in making wise political choices because God can take away the socio-economic and political leprosy in the country and the only way we can ensure this happens is by using the ballot,’’ he said.

“Let us follow the example of the Jewish and Samaritan lepers who set aside their differences and came together to find a solution to their leprosy.

“The gospel narrates how the Jews and Samaritans never came together and never saw eye to eye on anything just like how it is in some parts of our country where some people believe that they are better than others.

“However, because of the disease of leprosy, the Jews and Samaritans came together. This is how ‘wahala’ can bring us together.  I have seen that ‘wahala’ has been plenty for us in this country: poverty, insecurity, corruption and so much suffering.

“You go to school you cannot graduate, you finish school, no work, you hear about snakes swallowing money, monkeys taking money and termites eating vouchers.

“All these are ‘wahala’ and so they should bind us together, it should make us unite like the lepers. They came together and achieved a common good so when we are together, we will be able to make better choices in the coming elections.

“Let us join together like the lepers did, they came together and found a solution to their problem. So if we come together, we will find solutions to our collective problems in the country by electing leaders who will address these problems.”

The clergy cited the COVID-19 pandemic as a situation that brought the country together, adding that such can be emulated 

He, however, said Nigerians should not develop amnesia once they have obtained solutions to their problems

‘’Look at the COVID-19 pandemic, see how people came together irrespective of class, clime, tribe or religion and found a solution and the pandemic has reduced,” he said.

‘’We are quick to forget the good that happens to us. When something good happens to us, we get amnesia but for the bad things, we never forget.

“So we should say today that we will not develop amnesia but we will remember everything and stop focusing on the bad things that happened to us from January to December.”