Tobias Sylvester
Bishop of Kaduna Catholic Archdiocese, Most Reverend Mathew Ndagoso has warned Christians against voting for parties that field same-faith tickets in the 2023 elections.
Catholic Bishop Warns Christians Against APC
KanyiDaily recalls that the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu had picked his fellow Muslim, Kashim Shettima, a former Borno State Governor, as his running mate for the 2023 election.
Speaking at an event in Kaduna on Monday, Bishop Ndagoso urged Nigerians to vote for a candidate who values Nigeria’s religious and cultural differences.
He insisted that religion is an important factor to be considered for in the nation’s socio-political charter, which any political party or presidential candidate must take into consideration when making their choices for elections.
The cleric said that the nation’s religious, social and cultural diversities are a blessing that can and should be harnessed by those in leadership positions.
Bishop Ndagoso also noted that Nigerians have suffered unimaginable socio-economic hardship in the last seven years, wondering who could fix the system in the next dispensation.
He said, “If any candidate or political party dismiss other peoples sensitivity, I think they are sending a message to them. Any candidate who does not care about our religious sensitivity, why should we vote the person into power?
“It is a waste of votes. Anybody who aspire to lead this country must give every Nigerian a sense of belonging and what is happening now is not giving every Nigerian a sense of belonging.
“Nigeria is a very diverse country, we all come from different cultural and religious backgrounds and our diversity are not a curse but a blessing from God.
“All we need are leaders who will be able to manage and harness these diversities as to enrich our country. Therefore, the kind of leader Nigeria needs is somebody who has the ability to manage our differences and bring everybody together and give everyone a sense of belonging.”
Ndagoso reiterated that Nigeria need leaders who can manage both religious and cultural differences very well in order to give everybody a sense of belonging.
He said, “We have leaders who don’t value our cultural and religious differences and that is why there is agitation for self determination. Our leaders are so nepotistic”.
“What we have gone through for the past 7 years in this country is unimaginable. We have never suffered in this country the way we are suffering in the last 7 years, we have leaders who are not able to manage our diversity very well, they are so nepotistic. The damage they have done to this country, I don’t know how many years it will take to fix it”.
He emphasized on the economic hardship in the country, saying that many Nigerians barely eat two square meal a day.
Bishop Ndagoso also called on the government to tackle the insecurity bedeviling the country, saying that some of his priests are still in kidnappers’ den after many months of being abducted by bandits.
KanyiDaily recalls that Bishop Matthew Kukah had also condemned the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket and faulted the APC for creating an artificial divide between Christians and Muslims and mismanaging the country’s identities.
