Fr. Ali Nnaemeka Cornelius, OMI ( Nigeria)
Nigerian Oblate Fr Ali
Nnaemeka Cornelius, OMI writes about plight of the abducted schoolgirls in
Nigeria, prays for the abducted girls and urges for more actions to free the
girls. Fr. Cornelius is currently doing parish ministry in the Imo State,
Nigeria.
We pray for
the abducted Chibok schoolgirls and with hope that one day they will embrace
their parents, families and friends at home.
Nigeria in the eyes of the world has
become a nation where more than two hundred girls could be kidnapped and
nothing is done. In fact, it is almost the only news trending on all the social
communication media. It has even overshadowed the Ukrainian crises and the
World Trade Forum going on actually in Nigeria. This case however did not just
crop up over the night. It is as a result of abandoned and neglected situations
that have always mined our national integrity over the years.
There are therefore certain reasons that
brought us to where we are today. What the world maybe has not known before is
that Boko Haram has been causing much other serious havoc in Nigeria over the
years. The only problem is that for many reasons we have been dying in silence.
Only this year, for example, these men have sent more than one thousand
Nigerians to their early graves. And the
worst is that due to lack of national unity, we have always failed to address
this matter appropriately.
Politicians for example, always put
their political interest before our national unity and security. Increase in
religious fanaticism in Nigeria has not also helped the matter. There is
practically division among us all: division between Christians and Muslims,
between Catholics and Protestants etc. There is also this serious failure in
the national security that has made lawlessness and impunity the order of the
day in Nigeria.
The worst is that our religious leaders
have no grief on the social situation of our nation. A practical example is
their silence in the midst of this actual boiling situation. No important
religious leader has unfortunately made a public declaration till now. Neither
the Sultan, nor the Catholic Bishop Conference of Nigeria has deemed it right
taking stand on the matter. Not even the CAN that has tried to be sometimes
unnecessarily outspoken in the past.
Brief, the plight of the Chibok girls is
the true reflect of the cancerous heart of our nation.
Fr.
Ali Nnaemeka Cornelius, OMI
Saint Martin’s Parish Ihiteowerre,
Imo State, Nigeria.
doloroso
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