The Catholic Bishop of Osogbo Diocese, the Rt Rev. Leke Abegunrin spoke on current issues in the nation and in Osun State. Taiwo Olanrewaju reportsHOW do you think the Boko Haram menace in the country can be brought to an end'Nigeria does not want an end to the Boko Haram menace yet. At least, it has a beginning and as such should have an end. Security personnel disclosed that they know those behind the menace but they are not able to pick them up. That is very bad.I don't know if the people behind the crises are conscious of what they are doing' I don't know if they pray' And if they do, what God do they pray to' I know the President is a complete gentleman, but don't say because of relationship you will not do what you are supposed to do. The President once said that he was ready to die for this country, but he is not acting as such. If I promise as such, I will act as such.The President should move his security to act. Unless the dust rises, the dust cannot settle. Let them raise the dust and let's see what happens. We have no other nation to claim, this is our country. We can't continue to live like foreigners in our own country. If I have to travel to any part of the country, I'll travel like this (in my cassock), I don't know when I will come across these violent people, that means as soon as they see me, they will destroy me.When we cannot move freely in our country, I think the government should do something. Currently, the citizens of Nigeria are not being protected and it is sad. PDP has failed. It has only the interest of its members at heart and not the interest of every Nigerian. The President, governors and local government chairmen should be the leaders of everybody.But in Nigeria, there's a lot of partitioning. If you don't have a party card, you can't get a job. It is not only party people who voted, there are common people who voted for who they think can perform. Why do we need party card to enjoy the dividends of democracy'Medical careI don't know how patriotic our leaders are. When they said they should not go outside the country for medical treatment, I laughed. One of our Rev. Sisters was involved in an accident. She was on crutches for six months. When her superior visited her from Glasgow, she was crying. The superior has a friend who works in a hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. She contacted the friend and the injured Sister went to Nairobi. Within two weeks, she dropped the crutches; while she was there, the president of Kenya was sick and he was admitted in the same hospital as the Rev. Sister.Our former vice president Atiku sprained his leg while playing golf and off he went to France; General IBB also travelled to Germany for his swollen toe; what nonsense is that' Why can't we have six specialist hospitals in the six geo-political zones in the country'The national hospital in Abuja started well, now it is a shadow of itself. I don't know the refurbishment it had during OBJ's regime, but if you go to the University College Hospital, Ibadan and you don't know anybody, you will die there waiting for attention. A patient was referred to UCH from the Catholic Hospital Eleta and he was there for four hours before he received attention. They were phoning the doctor who had gone for private practice.EducationDoctors and nurses are not the only liable people. Why are private schools gaining ground' It's because we recruit our staff and supervise them. If you don't do your work, you go. It is not that there are better teachers in the private schools; actually we recruit the left-over of the government; but we make sure they work hard and they bring out the best in our children.The government even pays their own teachers better than we pay ours. We don't have money but we have means of making these teachers happy at their work place. The government has everything but doesn't know how to make use of them.Speak outPeople should not allow things to be done as usual. This is a democratic setting and people have the right to raise their voices. I tell people, groups, to have the courage to raise their voices, not to damage any government but to tell them that this is what we want. There is massive illiteracy in the country. People don't have education and those who have are half-baked, they don't know their rights. People are hungry, it is what they'll eat they are looking for, so they don't want to challenge any government.What I know is that we have to suffer a little bit before we get what we want; but let people speak out. If they arrest all of us, they can't kill all of us because if they do, I wonder who they will govern.The Media The media has a role to play. The media is the voice of the voiceless; the media is the only channel through which we can reach the government for the people. Let the media be bent on publishing the truth. Let them publish what is true and let them keep a copy, so that in case of anything, they will know that what they published is very true. And you will have a lot of people supplying you with the facts you need and they will sign their name. I think the media will help a lot in sanitising this society.Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN)This is an area where people are suffering terribly. The PHCN introduced pre-paid meters but people don't get them to buy; because the PHCN staffs members prefer the old style of not reading the meter but bringing fabricated amount as bills. Even before you see the bills, your light is already cut. This is injustice.Osun State government proposes to introduce new uniforms in state schools. How do you see this'Last Wednesday precisely (April 18) the Christian leaders were going to meet but since the Governor (Alagba Rauf Aregbesola) said he wanted to meet with us; he converted the meeting to his house where he received us in the banquet hall. He met with a number of Christian leaders and not the whole of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), we would have been too many.There, the Deputy Governor, Mrs Titi Tomori-Laoye, showed the type of uniform to us. They are of three levels the Elementary School, Primary 1-4; Junior School, Primary 5-Junior Secondary School 3 and High School, Senior Secondary School 1-3. For the Elementary and Junior Schools, the uniform is taped on the arm and neck with locally made adire; the uniform itself is locally made, very deep chocolate brown colour. Shorts for the boys and gown for the girls. The high school boys have long trousers. The symbol of the state is printed on it.According to the Deputy Governor, the uniform is meant for public schools in the state; private schools can wear what they like.Is the uniform acceptable to the generality of the Christian leaders'There was the comment by CAN leaders that uniforms are the identities of schools and they have been worn for so long; some schools for almost 100 years and that it is not fair for the government to just cut off the use of the regular uniforms like that. But the deputy governor's response was that all schools are government schools; and the free uniform is a means of enjoying government's largesse.Will the uniforms be given free'Yes. Maybe government will give one pair free and parents will buy one.It is said that there are seven cowry shells on the uniform. Is it true'No. There are no cowry shells on the uniform.It is said that the government will rename any school it refurbishes, is it true'We asked the governor the question and he said he has no intention of changing any school's name. We also asked about merger; this idea of merging schools in the same area together and we were told that the original owners of the school will be asked if they have any member of their church they wish to honour by naming the school after such people.Is it true that some school owners were asked to form vigilance groups to safeguard their schools'When the news came out that the government wanted to demolish schools without consultation with owners, churches were asked to look after the schools and what the deputy governor said was that government was dialoguing with owners of schools but maybe the government is not interested in any Catholic school because nobody has dialogued with me.Is it true that the uniform is sewn in a style to conform to the Islamic religion'We asked that question. There is no hijab in the uniform that was shown to us. You said Osogbo has been peaceful all this while, can't the issue of uniform lead to religious crisis in the nearest future'Yes, it could if not well handled. There was this problem of hijab a few months ago. There was the issue of these students wearing hijab to Christian schools. The governor did not impose the use of hijab in schools; he said Muslims who want to wear hijab should go to schools where such was used.What is the level of the Catholic Church's involvement in Christian Association of Nigeria/Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria activities in the state'The Catholic Church is involved in CAN but not PFN activities. There are five blocsi Catholic is a bloc on its own, the Christian Council of Nigeria (CCN) which comprises of the old churches like the Methodist, Anglican, Baptist, etc., the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and one other bloc. I was a onetime chairman of the Association which was founded by the immediate past Catholic Bishop. The Anglican bishop had also been the chairman at a time, now CAN is headed by the Cherubim and Seraphim leadership.
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