The Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) of the Catholic Diocese of Zaria, Rev Fr Patrick Bako Zichiyang, has highlighted leadership by blind leaders as the root cause of Nigeria’s affliction. He made this known in Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria on Sunday, 27th February, 2022, where he is serving as an associate priest.
Fr Zichiyang built his stand on the day’s Gospel reading of Luke 6:39-45 in which Jesus said that blind men fall into a pit when they are led by their counterparts in asserting that the nation’s case is no isolation.
“Nigeria is a traumatized nation today as a result of blind leaders who have led us into the pits of insecurity, economic and educational collapse,” he said.
“We suffer today because they have led us into the pits of collapsed economy and poor education. Knowledge is not by appearance, it is by communication and productivity. Jesus Himself never desired leadership for those who are not knowledgeable in building the society.
“Leaders need to know the buttons to press for the benefit of the society. When He was about leaving His disciples, Jesus needed to hand over the leadership of His Church to – a man with knowledge, discipline, wisdom, and understanding. That was why He handed over the leadership of His Church to Peter because Peter confessed him to be the Christ, revealing His true identity as a result of divine revelation.
“A foundation must be built on knowledge for it to stand firm not on ignorance or doubt. Your knowledge should form you to discern between justice and injustice; love and mere pretence; and between respect for human life and destruction.
“As a nation generally, when it comes to politics and governance, we are still insisting that the President of Nigeria must come from a particular region, a sign that we are yet to be knowledgeable. It is competence that we are supposed to look for and not regionalism.
“This is our story today, from families to the society. When a man comes from a region and he has no knowledge and competence, he will not only destroy the region he is coming from, but also the seat of authority. This is why we need men and women of knowledge. Can a blind man lead a blind man? What a challenging question? The days are fast approaching for yet another election in our country.”
“We have a challenge and the solution is having the proper knowledge, so that when you are informed, you will be able to vote for the right people. We must go have our voter’s card; we must go out and vote if only we desire to change our story as a traumatized nation.
“Many will say ‘I can’t queue just to have voters card, but you can queue to buy a litre of petrol for 240? What a contradiction! As a youth, you say ‘no old man will rule’ you again, yet you don’t have voters card and some of you who have voters card do not vote when elections come. If you don’t go out and vote, those you don’t want to rule you will emerge as winners and rule over you.”
Insisting that the needed change must come from the masses, the clergyman informed the faithful that life is not all about the spirituality that they display by going for night vigils alone, stressing the need to put their brains to good use during the forthcoming elections.
By Olivia Obijiaku