Nigeria will face more trouble until we change 1999 constitution, system of governance, says Archbishop Alaba Job

The Emeritus Archbishop of Ibadan Archdiocese, Felix Alaba Job, on Tuesday, said that Nigeria as a nation will face more trouble until we change the 1999 constitution and system of governance.

He also said that the challenge of insecurity, plaguing the country would continue to persist due to the insincerity of the nation’s leadership to tackle it because they are involved in the problem.

Alaba Job, who spoke at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ibadan (UI), Ibadan, on the sideline of a lecture titled “Challenges for Christian Missions in Nigeria” organised by the Nigeria Academy of Church History and Missiology (NACHAM) bemoaned what he termed insincerity of the country leadership.

According to him, “who proffered solutions to insecurity problems in Nigeria? Those who are not sincere. If you proffer solutions to problems and you are not sincere with them, what do you expect? It means you have given no room for the solution to solve your problems.

“Those who govern Nigeria are the cause of the problems plaguing this nation in different ways in the church and the street. The Lord himself told us not to say do what we do not do to put burdens on our neighbours. The fact is that burdens are being put on Nigerians by those who govern us.

“We say that people should transport themselves from one location to the other. Before, the government had public transport, but those in politics killed public transport.

“Until we change our system of government and constitution, we are doomed. Let us not deceive ourselves, until we change our 1999 constitution, we are doomed. I am telling you as a Nigerian that I am a church person. I am more than 51 years as a bishop. From the beginning, our government said we are a secular state.

“Check the present constitution, how many times was Islam mentioned and how many times were Islamic teachers mentioned? How many times was Sharia mentioned? Is Christianity mentioned just once? The present constitution is supposed to govern all of us. I am not against Muslims because I have them as my own family members. I also have Christians of different sorts in my family.

“At 84, I cannot talk for Nigeria. Let’s be frank, I have said that the major problem of Nigeria is the constitution we are adopting and if we don’t change it, we are only deceiving ourselves. We are mocking the reality of life, “Alaba Job remarked.

Commenting on the 2023 general elections, the clergy stated: “All over the world, when I see the truth, I speak the truth and I do not hide it. I told General Sanni Abacha in Aso Rock, I have told General Ibrahim Babangida and I have told Buhari himself in Aso Rock. We are fooling ourselves. A government is meant for the good of the people, but those in government are running the government for their own good.

“You are talking about elections. Why is it that the Federal Government has taken itself the unitary rule of the nation? Why is it that the government has not done anything about those carrying out attacks on the people? We shall find out, that is what we hear. Has anybody killing, maiming and defrauding people of millions of naira been caught and prosecuted?

“How long has it been happening? I was the president of the Bishops’ Conference when the Boko Haram issue exploded. I went to Maiduguri and I saw dead people at every junction. I called on the leaders of the DSS there and I was told that the Federal Government had been given an intelligence report about five years before the attacks.

“Was a governor not accused in this nation that he was responsible for the Boko Haram issue? Is he not still going around free? Are the leaders not going around now campaigning? Are we not deceiving ourselves by pretending to be blind to all these?

“We are not sincere with ourselves, except to give hope to the people. Go and push out all insincere politicians and those who are not ready to work for the populace. Look at what this our central government is doing. Thanks to God that they are giving up themselves.

“Why I say that is because the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced recently that it wants to redesign the currency and the Minister for Finance said we in our ministry are not consulted. Later, President Muhammadu Buhari said the Governor of CBN informed and explained everything about it to me and I agreed because it is for the good of the people.

“The president has told us that out of over N3 trillion in circulation, only over N1 trillion is domiciled in the bank. Is that not the truth? I said that Nigerians should wake up and liberate themselves.

“Regarding the Muslim-Muslim ticket, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference has spoken on that and I have equally shared my view on it. From the mouth of Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, he said that he wanted votes and that was what informed his Muslim-Muslim ticket. He said he could not find anybody to make him win in the Northern part of the country except a Muslim.

“Let the northerners determine if they will vote for him or not. That is not for me to tell anybody. Vote for fact and do what your good sense tells you.”

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