Banditry/kidnapping: We’ve been badly beaten, wounded — Bishop Kaigama

. . . Says Nigeria’ll continue to dance dangerously on the precipice and country risks being captured by very dark forces

With the challenges of hunger, terrorism, banditry and kidnapping, Nigerians have been badly bitten and wounded, the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Diocese, Ignatius Kaigama, said on Sunday.

According to him, unless Nigerians raise their eyes in faith to God as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, they “risk being captured by very dark forces.”

He also said that Nigerians will “continue dancing dangerously on the precipice”, until they desist from greed, injustice, political insensitivity and the tendency to surreptitiously corner national patrimony for the benefit of a few,

The cleric stated these in his Homily delivered during his maiden visit to St. Fabian’s Parish in Efab-Jabi area of the Federal Capital Territory.

He said, “We must ask the question, “Why are things not working well despite the enormous blessings of God on Nigeria?” Until we desist from greed, injustice, discrimination, myopic view of religion, parochial ethnic interests instead of the common good, political insensitivity and the tendency to surreptitiously corner our common patrimony for the benefit of a few, we will continue dancing dangerously on the precipice.

“When we fail to be obedient to God and His commandments, we experience pain, sadness and lack of spiritual progress. Sin makes us slaves and wounds us grievously.

“But in the cross of Jesus we have the antidote which removes the poison of sin from our hearts. The central point of our Gospel today is that God so loved us that He sent His only Son to die for us. The Gospel begins with the story of the ancient serpent that was erected by Moses in the desert after Israel’s sin of rebellion against God followed by the bites of serpents.

“This was not the first time humanity would be bitten by the old serpent; the first was in the Garden of Eden; a bite that changed humanity’s attitude of reverence and love of God into disobedience and self-centredness.

“In the midst of the “snake bites” of hunger, poverty, terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, etc., leaving us almost helpless, we must like the Psalmist say, ‘I look up to the heavens, where shall my help come from? My help shall come from the Lord who made heaven and earth.’

“Like the Israelites, Nigerians in this journey of life have been badly bitten; we have been wounded by our human passions and inclinations, battered by our concupiscence and propensity to become inhuman to one another on account of religion, ethnicity and politics.

“Unless we raise our eyes in faith to our Lord God as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, we risk being captured by very dark forces.

“We must admit that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and the ideals of genuine patriotism to build a nation of our dreams.”