Alfred Adewale Martins, the archbishop of the Catholic archdiocese of Lagos, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to speak directly to Nigerians as a way of allaying their fears over the increasing insecurity across the country.
“Let our president speak to us and tell us what is being done to ensure that everything goes well. It is not enough to look forward to retirement, it is important to see and ensure that things are in place before then,” Martins said during the priestly ordination of nine (9) new priests and 10th installation anniversary of the archbishop of Lagos, held on Thursday 4 August at the Holy Cross Cathedral, Lagos.
According to Martins, some Nigerians are currently of the view that the elections will not take place considering the incessant attacks by insurgents across the country. “And that is why we must call on our government to please ensure that they allay the fears of our people that the elections will not take place; please allay our fears,” Martins said.
The Catholic archbishop of Lagos equally urged Nigerians to take the forthcoming 2023 general election seriously. “Please let us take seriously the preparations about the elections that are forthcoming because sometimes we can relax under the impression that our votes will not count and then we don’t pay attention. The votes will count.
“Let us take these elections seriously. I ask that we listen to what the politicians have to say; let us listen to the details of what they have to say because that will help us in determining what we do with our votes,” Martins said.
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The clergyman also called on all Catholic faithful not to relent in praying for Nigeria and those in authority. “I would like that all of us would please storm the heavens with our prayers for Nigeria. We all know the circumstance in which we have found ourselves and we can count all the challenges from one end of the street to the other because they are so many, and that is why we need to ask the Lord to take perfect control.
“The rosary is the weapon of war that our Mother Mary gave to us and it is the weapon of war that was successful in the years past; certainly it will be successful in our time because God is the same on the throne – our Mother is the same, let us pray the rosary,” he said.
On his 10th installation anniversary, Martins said that the labour of the archdiocese’s heroes of faith who laboured before him is responsible for the feat achieved so far in the archdiocese. “If I stand tall today it is because I have had the good fortune of standing on the shoulders of giants who came before me. As the song says; am stronger for their courage, and I am wiser for their wealth. Their wealth of wisdom and vision has made an impact in ensuring that we have an archdiocese, and we have the lay,” Martins said.
