"A very genuine and productive piece of advice was given to President Bola Tinubu by the Catholic bishops, but someone became so myopic as to turn it into a denominational issue, which is very embarrassing. Those bishops were speaking the minds of Nigerians. People like Daniel Bwala should never be taken seriously; he is working for his stomach. These are the sycophants destroying the country's leadership. The current situation in Nigeria is terrible and deplorable—everything is collapsing."
— His Grace, Most Rev. Sosthenes Eze, Anglican Archbishop.
This is an appreciation post for Cardinal John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan
The youths will remember the role you continued to play in making Nigeria work, even at the age of 82.
Nigerian Catholic clerics tend to speak truth to power more boldly because the global Catholic system trains, protects, and funds them in ways that make them structurally independent from political and economic pressures - and this pattern exists not only in Nigeria but across the worldwide Catholic Church.
When you trace history, you'd realise the catholic church at some point was beyond just a religious institution. For instance, during the medieval period in history between 5th and 15th centuries, the catholic church became the most influential institution in Europe, the guardian of knowledge through monasteries and universities, a political force, often more powerful than kings, and also a cultural engine shaping art, music, architecture, and philosophy.
To answer your question:
- Catholic clergies are structurally protected.
- Their income, housing, and mission do not depend on politicians or wealthy members.
- They are intellectually trained for moral confrontation.
- Years of philosophy and theology shape their worldview.
- They belong to a global institution that encourages speaking truth to power.
- Catholic Social Teaching is universal.
- They have fewer personal economic vulnerabilities.
- Celibacy removes family-based pressure.
- They inherit a 2,000-year-old tradition of resisting unjust rulers.
- This culture is global, not Nigerian-specific.
It's not a coincidence that the institution has been standing firmly for more than 2000 years.
When he left high school in 1962, John Cardinal Onaiyekan was 18.
His grades were so outstanding, the Premier of the Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, asked to see him & offered him a free cheque to the best anywhere in the world.
The man said #ThankYou & headed off to priestly formation.
64 yrs later, an #OrganizedCrime ring - led by a man with no verifiable record of having gone to school - wants to do a #RoyalRumble with a man who gave up on worldly things as a teenager.
There can be only one winner & it will not be the criminals!
I am ready for an incredible new week.
Money, Success and Joy will flow effortlessly towards me this week.
I am ready to receive all of the miracles and magic coming my way this week.
I am always where I need to be and the timing of my life is perfect for me.
I Affirm ✅
I love this video. It helps with my appreciation of comparative cultural contexts. However, how does one differentiate between humility and humble bragging relative to the Chinese approach to compliment?
This life is funny. It is good to put privilege into context.
Some of you have never entered Danfo before because your parents' driver drive you around, while others have to jump buses with their parents and even lap their younger one so the fare would suffice.
Some of you don't know what it means for school fees to not be paid. You just find yourself going to school whenever school resumes and then vacation to London in summer. Others have to be embarrassed in the presence of their friends and watch their parents continually beg the principal for grace time.
Se of you know where your future is headed even in SS1. Your parents have told you that you're going to Covenant for your first degree, after which you get a Masters at the London School of Economics. Others have to first focus on the cheapest school and catchment area to increase their chances of admission and actually staying in school.
Some of you get up to N300k monthly as allowance while other get N20k and "remember the child of whom you are, remember the home you come from."
Some of you can afford to fail. There is financial might to back you up. If you fail, you try again. You can even try something else, and it would be funded. Others cannot afford to fail. They need to succeed at all cost to break the cycle of poverty. They also have siblings looking up to them because investment in you means taking over your parents' responsibility to help with your siblings' welfare.
Privileges blinds because it is the nature of privileges to blind.
- Chimamanda Adichie
You'll not understand poverty if you've never lived it.
Happy New Month! ❤️✨
May our hands touch money and it multiplies. May our names be mentioned in rooms we haven’t entered yet. May unexpected income, divine connections and supernatural breakthroughs locate us this month.
Everything we’ve been working for, praying for and waiting for, may it all come together in August.
We are blessed. We are covered. We are NEXT. 🙏🏾
Happy New Month! Welcome to the month of August. 💫
Water You turned into wine
Opened the eyes of the blind
There's no one like You
None like You
Into the darkness You shine
Out of the ashes we rise
There's no one like You
None like You
David.
Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
- Ps 51:9-12