Priests Urged To Be Committed

William Avenya, the Auxiliary Bishop of  the Catholic Diocese of Makurdi, has said that the zoning of political offices in Nigeria  indicates that “we are yet to see ourselves as a nation.”

Avenya said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Makurdi yesterday, that Nigeria needed competent leaders to be able to make progress.

“On zoning, are we saying that in the whole of Nigeria we couldn’t find somebody who has what it takes to deliver the presidential promises for Nigeria unless the person comes from here or there?

“That means we don’t believe in what we are doing, we still see ourselves as units of tribes, we don’t see ourselves as a country.

“If we are to see ourselves as a country, we will not be talking about zoning, we will talk about talents and capacities of individuals and we will be harvesting the talents; we are still just operating as tribal chiefs,” he said.

According to him, the concept of zoning kills democracy and the idea shows that Nigeria has no will power to carry on the democratic process.

“Nigeria is not yet a democratic country, Nigeria wants to experiment democracy but it doesn’t have the will power to do it with commitment.

“Democracy means that we have seen in this person the characteristics, capacity, talents and the capability to be able to deliver the promises of the manifesto,” the bishop said.

He urged Nigerian to ensure that they voted the right persons with the capability to carry everyone along and develop the country.

He also urged politician to ensure that the youth were not used as political thugs and gunmen as the country moved toward another election period.

“Politicians should stop their distraction and form a government that respects the challenges of the nation and provide works.

“No government should be government of charity where people go and government dishes out some few tips and then goes.

“They should have the will power to ensure that our community is served because they are servants,” he said.