Nigeria’s Archbishop of Lagos calls on Catholic Politicians to embrace Gospel values

As Nigerians prepare for what appears to be a tough Presidential contest, next year, the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Archbishop Alfred Martins has called on Nigeria’s Catholic politicians to embrace Christ’s values as they go about dealing with matters of the state.

The Archbishop called for an injection of “larger doses of the values of Christ” into the way Nigerians are governed and that politicians allow the Christian mission to be the driving force behind their leadership. Archbishop Martins was addressing participants at this year’s bi-annual convention of the Catholic Social Forum of Nigeria, held at St. Leo’s Catholic Church, Ikeja and hosted by the Lagos Archdiocesan Laity Council.

Speaking on the theme of the Forum,  “Lord Give Us Leaders After Your Own Heart,” Archbishop Martins stressed the need for more Catholic lay people to be involved in the country’s political affairs in order for the nation to be saved from further degeneration.  According to the Archbishop, “Given the present system of things among political parties in Nigeria, it is only if the Lord intervenes that we can get the sort of leadership that we crave,” He said.

The local Ordinary of the Lagos Archdiocese pointed out that the process of choosing the country’s political leaders needed to be improved upon, “What we see in political parties today, seems to be that those who are presented for elections, more often than not are products of processes that are not democratic in themselves.”  He continued, “This is why we have within political parties, primaries that are fraught with violence, acrimony and fraud,” The Archbishop said.

At presidential level, the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) party will today chose between former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar or former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari one who will stand against incumbent President, Goodluck Jonathan of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the 14 February 2015 election.

Archbishop Martins expressed mixed feelings about politicians already in the system. He declared, “While some ensure that Gospel values are put to use in the discharge of their duties, others have compromised their faith and religion for political gain.” He stressed the need for Gospel values to permeate the country’s political system.

Archbishop Martins further told Nigerians that, “We must reiterate that that ‘renewing the face of the earth’ means doing all that is necessary in order to affirm the dignity of every human person and this includes ensuring that people get the basic necessities of life: food, shelter, security, good education, water, electricity and other social amenities.”

Lastly, the Archbishop urged Nigerian Catholics to participate actively in the forthcoming electoral process, “not selfishly but selflessly.” He added, “Let us guard our rights jealously and not mortgage our future on the platter of what is now referred to as “stomach infrastructure”. 

The bi-annual Convention of the Catholic Social Forum of Nigeria was attended by delegates from all the nine ecclesiastical provinces of the Church in the country.

Source: Catholic News Service of Nigeria

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