Abuja, 29 December, 2022 / 8:55 pm (ACI Africa).
Consecrated persons in Nigeria have been challenged to exercise their prophetic role amid ongoing political campaigns ahead of February 2023 general elections, speaking out against “moral decadence in politics”.
In a reflection the Nigeria Catholic Network (NCN) published Wednesday, October 26, Fr. Lawrence Olumide Ogundipe cautions against silence on the part of women and men Religious amid social ills, adding that such a stance would attract harsh judgement.
“The Consecrated Persons need to speak out in the face of societal moral decadence in politics especially in Nigeria where abnormalities appear to be the norm,” Fr. Ogundipe says in his reflection published under the title, “‘The place of Consecrated persons in the present-day politics in Nigeria”.
The Delegate Superior of the Society of Divine Vocations (SDV – Vocationist Fathers) in Nigeria warns that if Consecrated persons do not act, “posterity will question our reaction when governance was commercialized which led to corruption, socio-economic disorder, hunger and untimely death of many citizens.”
“What was the stand of the Consecrated persons when the people could no longer choose their leaders because their votes never counted, especially as witnessed in the 2019 elections?” he poses in his reflection published October 26.