Bishop Ayah to clerics: Stay off partisan politics * Calls for prayers as Lent begins

BY KENNETH JUDE

Catholics all over the world  marked Ash Wednesday yesterday in grand style. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of a forty-day season of fasting and prayer in preparation for the resurrection of Jesus Christ at Easter. For Catholics, it’s a season of reunion with God and a time to be more considerate to one another by giving and also another opportunity to rediscover the essence of Christian living while reflecting soberly on the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ on His way to dying for our sins. 

At various parishes, parishioners were administered ashes on their foreheads which signify that they are dust and to dust they shall return. At Christ the King Cathedral, Uyo the Local Ordinary of the Diocese, Most Rev. Dr. John Ebebe Ayah, in his homily, charged the faithful to be steadfast and committed to their Christian calling. He urged them to use the season to extend a hand of fellowship to one another by way of almsgiving, forgiveness and reconciliation. He urged all to pray for the nation especially in this season of transition.

In his Lenten message to the faithful themed “Christian identity in our present political Dispensation,’’ he admonished Christians to shun ethnic and religious violence but should rather see their differences in these areas as a way of cementing their unity.  “In our beloved Akwa Ibom, something of ethnic affiliation seems to be eating deep into our political fabric. Akwa Ibom state is richly blessed with rich human and natural resources. A greater percentage of the wealth of the nation comes from Akwa Ibom state. At the same time, we face a situation that might jeopardize our political good as a state that our ethnic groupings are a blessing from God; but when we begin to define politics in terms of who comes from where, it will certainly create problems that may not have easy solutions. Providentially, this pastoral letter comes at a time of great concern for us as a church and as a Nation. 

It is a period of transition, a time to put our records right for the future of our dear state and our nation, Nigeria.’’ He also admonished the faithful to be compassionate to one another, adding that Christians should not limit this gesture to their immediate circle of friends but should do so to all and sundry. In his definition of politics, the Bishop stressed that politics is a divine calling or vocation towards the proper ordering of human society and the prudent management of the resources (human and natural) therein. He added that the human person by his very nature is a political being, noting that there’s no way we can run away from politics and governance.

He called on clerics, especially those of the catholic fold to stay off partisan politics while urging them to avoid making unguarded utterances both from the pulpit and in public. He disabused the faithful from the belief that politics is a dirty game; he explained that the call to order the society and manage its resources is a divine one addressed to every human person. “The way and manner we accomplish this divine mandate depends largely on our orientation and our individual human capacities. It is on this note that I must point out here that every Christian is involved in the right ordering and management of these God-given resources for the benefit of all.  There is a great need for Christian politicians to have a rethink on the way and manner of practicing politics.’’

He decried the high level of political intolerance, character assassination, thuggery, extravagant spending of public funds at the detriment of the poor masses and wanton destruction of lives and property. He described as unfortunate the resort to religious, ethnic and tribal propaganda in today’s politics, noting that such acts only destabilize the peace and unity in the state and Nigeria at large. He said that politicians should rather base their campaign on issues and clearly spell out their programs for the populace and not resort to smear campaign that promote violence, hatred and other ills in the society. He urged politicians not to see politics as a do-or-die-affair where most people are led to dining with the devil in order to gain power. He also had some words of advice for clerics where he stated that men of God who sell their consciences for money or fall prey to the antics of desperate Politians’ are symbols of disservice to the Christian fold and the nation.

He called on politicians to put God first at all times as without which they cannot succeed on their own. The soft-spoken Bishop implored clerics and the faithful to pray for Nigeria and especially Akwa Ibom so that peaceful elections can be achieved.