At 59, What Will Save Nigeria?

By  Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie

At 59, may God bless our leaders and all our fellow-citizens. May God bless the government and people of Nigeria with wisdom, courage and patience to work together in harmony so that we may build a Nigeria that does the will of God, a Nigeria we all can be proud of. All those who believe in God and who wish Nigeria well must pray and work for a better Nigeria. 

*Cardinal Okogie 

We must not just bend our knees in prayer, we must also roll up our sleeves and work for Nigeria. We must overcome our addiction so that we can enjoy the numerous blessings with which the Almighty had endowed us as a country—our addiction to falsehood.  Our allergy to truth is our greatest undoing. 

Nigeria’s Heroine In Captivity: Let Leah Go! – Cardinal Okogie

By Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie

Leah Sharibu has become a symbol of Nigeria in captivity. Yet, this powerful symbol is ignored. How does one explain the fact that in the latest scramble for Nigeria’s wealth that the 2019 elections were, not even once was her name mentioned in any speech? No one even said a word about the Chibok girls! What mattered most to our political gladiators was how to win votes, or, to put it more accurately, how to be declared winner. Are these daughters of ours disposable? 

*Cardinal Okogie 

The insecurity that led to the abduction of Leah and the Chibok girls was given no attention.  Yet, it was caused by a combination of recklessness and negligence of our political leaders in matters of security. They had an opportunity during the campaigns to tell Nigerians how they would take responsibility for security and for the economy, for education and for infrastructure. But they settled for sophisticated forms of vote buying, dashing pittance to Nigerians whom they have impoverished by their politics. They resorted to the use of violence as potent instruments at the service of their inordinate ambition, using as militia young Nigerians deprived of access to good quality education by successive governments.

Cardinal Okogie To President Buhari: We Are In Danger In Nigeria Today!

...Open Letter To President Muhammadu Buhari

By Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie

Dear Mr. President,
We read from the media the admonition to religious and traditional rulers at a recent interfaith conference in Abuja.  You advised them to refrain from partisan politics so as not to lose the esteem people have for them.

Nigeria: Beware The Ides Of March

By Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie

“Beware the Ides of March,” said the soothsayer to Julius Caesar in William Shakespeare’s famous play Julius Caesar. In those words, Caesar was given an alert about his imminent assassination in the hands of Roman politicians, among whom was his friend Brutus. Approaching another year of elections, this admonition has become frightfully pertinent.

*Cardinal Okogie

For what is being witnessed looks like a reenactment of the Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. In this reenactment, Julius Caesar would represent Nigeria, the Roman politicians who plotted his assassination would represent the average Nigerian politician, with Brutus, the politician pretending to be Caesar’s friend, representing politicians who, in their diabolically deadly intrigues, pretend to love Nigeria, but are actually plotting her descent into bloody disintegration.

President Buhari, Call A Spade A Spade!

By Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie

Every human life is precious. The life of every Nigerian, irrespective of ethnic, regional or religious affiliation is to be treated with dignity. 

All around the world, citizens look to their government to protect them. But, here in Nigeria, the blood of the innocent flows like water despite Nigerians’ desire and demand that government secure their lives and property.

*President Buhari 

Not too long ago, Chief Olu Falae, a senior citizen of Nigeria, was abducted on his farm by herdsmen. Since then, others have struck in Enugu, Delta and Oyo states. In the Middle Belt, they have robbed, raped, and slaughtered human beings like cows. They have taken over other people’s land in the name of grazing.

A member of Miyetti Allah appeared on television, justifying as retaliatory the killings in Plateau State. He was not the first member of Miyetti Allah to make the statement. Nigerians are baffled that he is yet to be arrested. Where were those responsible for our security at a time they were needed most? 

For The Sake Of Our Nation, Nigeria

By Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie

For the sake of our nation exposed to insecurity by absence of governance, the time has come for us to differentiate between a political jobber and a statesman. A political jobber is a merchant who buys and sells loyalty in order to be in power. He does not care about the morality of his means.

*Cardinal Okogie 

He would, therefore, do everything to win an election or be declared the winner. His sole and ultimate objective is access to power and to the perks of office. But the ultimate aim of a statesman is not power. It is service of the common good. And even if he plans to win an election, he does not transgress the boundaries of morality. He is fair in running for office and fair in running the office. He works for the good of the nation and for the good of its citizens.

For The Sake Of Nigeria, Our Nation!

By Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie

For the sake of our nation exposed to insecurity by absence of governance, the time has come for us to differentiate between a political jobber and a statesman.  A political jobber is a merchant who buys and sells loyalty in order to be in power.  He does not care about the morality of his means.  He would, therefore, do everything to win an election or be declared the winner.  His sole and ultimate objective is access to power and to the perks of office.

Cardinal Okogie 

But the ultimate aim of a statesman is not power.  It is service of the common good.  And even if he plans to win an election, he does not transgress the boundaries of morality.  He is fair in running for office and fair in running the office.   He works for the good of the nation and for the good of its citizens.  Rather than use or threaten to use violence, he shares his vision with the citizens, respects their right to share or repudiate the vision, and their right to decide through an electoral process free of fraud or coercion.  Political jobbers manipulate the electoral process.  Statesmen respect its integrity.  The choice before Nigerians in the 2019 elections, therefore, is that of choosing between political jobbers and statesmen.  And, for the sake of our nation, we must make a right choice this time around. 

Nigeria: Who And Where Are The Criminals?

By Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie

“Everyone is talking about crime. Tell me, who are the criminals?” So sang, more than forty years ago, the Jamaican artiste Peter Torsh in his album “Equal rights”. Today, that question has become extraordinarily pertinent in our beloved country Nigeria. Here in Nigeria, we talk of crimes: armed robbery, kidnapping, and now, murder by herdsmen.  But who and where are the criminals?  Are we pretending not to know them?  And are we pretending not to know where they are?  But our God of JUSTICE looks on!

*Cardinal Okogie

Nigerians are familiar with the drama of parade of suspects. On prime time television, the police treats us to it. Some men and women are apprehended by the police, made to sit by dangerous weapons, and paraded as criminals.  And the story ends there.  We hear of no prosecution, no conviction, no sentencing.