Pope Benedict XVI’s Resignation: The Blessing Of Courage

By Olumuyiwa Jimoh

“After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry”

With those words, the Roman Pontiff, formerly Ratzinger but known as Pope Benedict XVI announced yesterday his impending exit renouncing the ministry of bishop of Rome, successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to him by the cardinals on 19 April, 2005, from the exalted office of the Papacy which controls millions of Catholic faithful all over the world and still growing with the very wide overarching influence both political, economic and religious and its attendant perquisites and perks.

The Catholic Church, with headquarters in the Vatican which is a State unto its own with full diplomatic accoutrements, is spread all over the world. It became the very first global religious group and claims its roots from the ministry of the great apostle, Peter. That is why they call it the Petrine ministry.

It has outlived civilizations and is far older than many nations of the world thus its global influence and reach is extensive. One of the basic implications of this is that it has therefore become a bastion of world history; its intrigues and its politics; its origins and morality. There are actually few nations of the world that command the kind of influence and power it commands and there are hardly many that have an economy as buoyant as her economy.

The occupier of the exalted and holy position of the pope rules with theocratic authority and is not accountable to anyone. He does not have parliaments or judiciary to legislate and adjudicate in the affairs of the Holy See. His powers are absolute and his decisions and words are deemed to be infallible amongst the faithful. His powers almost approximate to the powers that can only be exercised by God himself being seen as God’s representative on earth in the Catholic faith.

There is no president or leader anywhere in the world that enjoys that kind of power and at the same time commands such obedient followers.

We have taken the pain to paint this cursory picture of the grandeur, myth and pageantry that surrounds the Papal throne so as to throw up the enormity of what Pope Benedict XVI is turning his back on. We must remember that he is also human, subject to like desires, feelings and expectations including fears and other emotions, yet he decided to voluntarily leave or abdicate.

It is important that we must stress the reason he gave for not continuing as the Pope which is that after subjecting his conscience to serious scrutiny before God, he has found out that his strength as a result of age can no longer allow him to perform his duties adequately. What readily comes to mind here on looking at this excerpt from his resignation speech are:

•That he has conscience that is alive and fears God

•That he is conscious of the failings of old age

•That he is also aware of the need for diverse strengths in leadership

•That he is deeply aware of the superiority of the State to his personal needs

•That he cares about the perfection of the State

•That he does not see himself as the only one that is capable of running the State

These are some of the basic features of his decision and are not only noble but also divine and contain lessons for not only  Nigerian politicians but also for others in positions of leadership at various levels of the society and institutions.

His resignation has therefore challenged every Nigerian politician or leader to understand the place of conscience that is driven by the fear of God in the way we behave, our attitudes and utterances in our effort to lead the nation. Chief Obafemi Awolowo also demonstrated this too when he resigned as Vice President and Federal Commissioner for Finance under General Yakubu Gowon, the former Head of State from Lur, a small village in present Kanke Local Government in Plateau state If we truly allow God’s will to prevail in the affairs of the nation and especially in our conduct as leaders, then we would be able to receive divine guidance and give creative and positive leadership to the nation.

It also challenges our people, especially those leaders who have become obsolete in terms of contributing meaningfully to the development of Sub-Sahara Africa. There are still deep failings associated with it. This can only happen when those who presently hold the nation’s politics in its jugular and are old decide to willingly hand over to the progressives so that fresh ideas and greater impetus will be given to the nation’s governance. That is why the formation of this progressive merger of All Progressives Congress is necessary. I if I were to be General Olusegun Obasanjo that has been in governance since 1960s, I would have voluntarily quit the stage, just like his contemporary Henry Kissinger who was United States Secretary of State under President Richard Nixon, although Kissinger is not at the same level with Olusegun Obasanjo when it comes to ethical issues of formulating policies and generating ideas.

To lead a people effectively and efficiently, we must have all our faculties intact and functioning. We need them all to stay focused and deliver service to the nation. If any of these fails us, we should not be afraid or ashamed of speaking up and taking the needed steps to ensure that the State does not suffer. This has become imperative given what the nation had to go through when the former president, Umaru Yar’Adua unfortunately took ill and died while in office. We had thought that we had all learnt from that experience but recent events have also served as pointers to the contrary. Governors of some states who are presently sick in hospitals do not see the wisdom of resigning their positions so that others can continue running the affairs State and this we consider very unfortunate and wish that they will immediately appropriate the lessons contained in the Pope’s example and do the needful.

We should all realize that the nation is greater than individuals, thus there is urgent need for Nigerians to de-emphasis personalities in the affairs of the nation. The needs of the nation and its imperatives must be pursued by all leaders above their personal interests and desires. What this also means is that the building of institutions must be above other considerations to ensure that  the nation marches forward into the future without any hang over. If we learn to place Nigeria above other primordial considerations, burying the self, our nation will rise from its present morass to become the envy of all nations of the globe.

It is important that all sit tight leaders and those who are nurturing the intention of doing so tomorrow should learn that our actions have deleterious effect on the nation and should therefore desist from them. Our actions must be guided by the sanguine desire to make the nation stronger and not by mundane considerations. If the Pope who wields far more immense and unquestionable authority could turn his back on all those splendour and power, focusing on the future of the Vatican, we do not therefore see why these same perquisites should be an excuse for any Nigerian leader to seek to destroy the nation by insisting on hanging on or obtaining power. The hunger for the perks, pomp and pageantry of public office should not be what we should allow to hold us captive and cause hiccups for national development.

We should not seek to be the only crooner in town. Wisdom and understanding to lead does not reside only in us as nobody can be a sole mine of knowledge. If we understand this as leaders, our attitude to contestation for political offices will be better moderated and ceases to be deeply acrimonious and divisive. This confirms the truism that no one or group is born to lead others while there is no group or individual that are condemned to servitude. We must therefore listen to ourselves and seek to form aggregate of opinions rather than seeking to foist our views on others.

We therefore commend Pope Benedict the XVI on his very wise and selfless decision to abdicate the Petrine position for the good of the Catholic Church and to place it in a better stead to serve humanity. It is our hope that Nigeria, especially its leadership of whatever kind and at whatever level should appropriate the lessons in this very noble action.

•Jimoh, member, Lagos State House of Assembly representing Apapa II Constituency, wrote from Lagos.