By Arnold Neliba
AKURE, MAY 23, 2023 (CISA)– “Our constitution is under a great trial because for so long, people have treated it as worthless, not even worth the paper on which it is written. I don’t know how you can have a free and fair election under a constitution that is not free and fair,” said BishopJude Ayodeji Arogundade.
According to the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Ondo, the Nigerian 1999 Constitution was built on a faulty foundation and poses the biggest challenge to the government in waiting.
“When you think about this country very well, you think about it deeply, it is not INEC that is on trial, it is not APC or any political party that is on trial. What is on trial is Nigeria’s constitution. You want to talk about a rigged election? First, deal with a rigged constitution. You want to talk about Nigeria, please, talk about the amalgamation,” he says.
“Somebody once said that Nigeria wasn’t founded, it was amalgamated. It is time for us to see that we’ve gotten it wrong from the begging and anyone who is coming to power at the moment must begin to think that how can we have a nation. A country that everybody belongs to, a country that we can all be proud of. Not a country where people will invade and begin to kill citizens like chickens all around and the government will ask you to give up your land for these invaders,” he added.
In his homily during the 57th edition of World Communication Day with the theme: “Speaking with the Heart, the Truth in Love”, Bishop Arogundade challenged media practitioners to champion truthful reportage that promotes society, love, tolerance and that brings about development, and to address shortfalls in the country.
“You media practitioners in this country need to bring everybody together under shared values and shared platforms. A platform where we can discuss and live together and respect one another and grow together as a people,” he implored.
Bishop Arogundade believes that world communication day is “a great time for us to truly express those things that matter to the unity, love and greatness of our country and as a people.”
