Catholic bishops back Buhari’s anti-corruption battle

Most Rev. Gabriel Abegunrin

President Muhammadu Buhari has got the backing of Catholic bishops for his anti-corruption crusade.

The bishops urged Nigerians to cooperate with the Buhari Administration to ensure sanity in the polity by rejecting corruption.

Acting under the aegis of Catholic Bishops Conference of Ibadan Ecclesiastical Province, comprising Ibadan Archdiocese, Ondo, Ilorin, Oyo, Ekiti and Osogbo dioceses, the clerics canvassed a “regime of justice and equity, where merits are respected and the rule of law exalted”.

The call was made in a communique issued at the end of the second plenary meeting of the bishops held at the Jubilee Conference Centre, Oke-Ado, Ibadan, Oyo State from August 17 to 18.

The communique, signed by the Most Rev. Gabriel Abegunrin  and the Most Rev. Felix Ajakaye, President and Secretary, with the theme “Choose today whom you will serve” was made available to reporters by Rev. Ajakaye in Ado-Ekiti on Wednesday.

The bishops said: “We note the renewed hope for a new Nigeria generated in our country since the last general elections. We thank Almighty God for the relatively limited violence and bloodshed during the exercise.

“We call on our compatriots to cooperate with the current administration to bring sanity back into our country by showing common determination to reject corruption, nepotism, favouritism and to enthrone in our country a regime of justice and equity, where merits are respected and the rule of law exalted.”

Noting that the country had been recognised as one of the most religious in the world, the bishops said: “Our prayers can only truly be answered if we do the will of God as He has commanded.”

Reiterating the Catholic Church’s unmitigated belief in the sanctity of human life and family life, the bishops emphasised the need for the government to ensure that lives are protected from conception to natural end.

They said: “The society must do everything possible to facilitate the growth of family living as a way of promoting responsible parenthood, good upbringing of children and reducing juvenile delinquency.”

Deploring youth involvement in violence, delinquency and sundry misdemeanour, the bishops challenged Catholic youth to strive to become credible agents of change and apostles of God’s mercy to families, the country and to the world through positive engagement with modern media and a deliberate commitment to good morals and behaviours.