The Catholic Archbishop of Jos, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama on Tuesday said Nigerian politicians are concerned about how to protect their own “geopolitical, religious or ethnic landscape”.
He spoke in reaction to the gale of defections from one political party to the other.
Kaigama stated this while declaring open the 16th General Assembly of the Catholic Archdiocese of Jos.
According to him, “Defection has become a much used word in the lexicon of contemporary Nigerian politics. Many forget that it is a negative word.
“How I wish it were all about a new breed of leaders who put people rather than themselves first.
“How I wish it were a sudden realization that those entrusted with political offices and politicians have dashed the hopes of most Nigerians.”
The Clergy lamented that after about sixty years of independence and about twenty years of democratic rule, the country was still struggling to provide “adequate social security, food security, and patriotic national identity”.
He further decried that, “Nigerians are being consumed by violence, especially violence generated by hunger and youth unemployment.
“I should be happier if defection could bring about healing the wounds of ethnic, political, religious and terrorist acts, or bringing about sincere reparation as in the case of Zacchaeusin Luke 19:8, who, having realized he had cheated the people he was meant to serve, confessed to Jesus: ‘I will give half of my belongings to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will pay him back four times as much’.
“Our politics should be about forging a bridge of national unity rather than providing a means to a buoyant financial power and prestige.”
The Archbishop maintained that good attention should be given to deteriorating roads, increasing nefarious activities of kidnappers, militant herdsmen and armed bandits “who seem to outsmart the security agents”.
“All our politicians care about now is to protect their own geopolitical, religious or ethnic landscape.
“I pray that this time around our politicians allover Nigeria will be kind enough to engage in only those things that can bring genuine development and socio-economic improvement to the lives of Nigerians and above all, peaceful coexistence despite political differences”, he stressed.
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