All Eyes On Judiciary: Moderate Your Expectations, The Justices Are Nigerians–Bishop Godfrey Onah’s Message To Nigerians

Barely a day to the September 6th, 2023 set aside for the ruling of the Presidential petitions leveled against the All Progressives Congress and its candidate, President Bola Tinubu, who was declared winner of the February 25th, 2023 general election, as well as the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, a lot of people including the clergy have aired their views predicting the outcome of the Tribunal.

Speaking on the topic; What Does It Profit a Nation if it has all the wealth but has lost its citizens”, the Catholic Bishop of Nsukka Diocese, Most Reverend Prof Godfrey Igwebuike Onah has called on Nigerians to moderate their expectations from the judiciary over the pending ruling on the Presidential petitions at the Tribunal.

Bishop Onah stated that the Honorable Justices are Nigerians and not from Singapore while maintaining that they are the product of the same corrupt country, he charged them not to cloth judgments in equivocations, legal quibbles, and technicalities, but must be clear for common Nigerians to understand that justice has been done.

He, however, called on Nigerians to moderate their expectations while they await the outcome of the petitions on Wednesday, 6th of September, 2023.

His words: What does it profit a nation, a people if it has all the wealth but has lost its citizens? Nigeria is one of the wealthiest nations on earth but because of bad leadership, we have lost our citizens. Many of our youth are leaving a country they have lost confidence in. For example, Igbo land (the South-East). Individual Igbo people may have a lot of wealth, driving expensive cars and building marvelous and humongous mansions but we have lost our youth, we have lost our values.

“The time has come for us to ask ourselves about what is essential in our lives and gradually rebuild our broken nation. About our country Nigeria, many people are now saying ‘all eyes on the judiciary ‘. That may be true but I want to remind all of us that the honourable justices are Nigerians and not recruited from Singapore. They are the product of the same corrupt society in which all of us live. Therefore, we should moderate our expectations because great expectations herald great disappointments. But whether you are in Judiciary, Legislature, or executive, we must have clear signs and indications about the right way to choose and change our leaders. Military coups are wrong. They don’t solve problems. They only make them worse. But dissatisfied citizens must know how they can choose and change their leaders if the rich and the powerful manipulate the constitution, the electoral process, and the judiciary, and kill protesters when they protest unarmed, what alternatives are left for them?

“Yes, the judiciary, is the last hope of the oppressed. Whatever judgment the tribunal will give, some will rejoice, and some will protest. So, that judgment must not be clothed in equivocations, legal quibbles, and technicalities. That judgment must be so clear that all of us the common Nigerians must understand that justice has been done. Otherwise, we blame ourselves for the consequences.

What does it profit a nation if it has all the wealth but has lost its citizens? Catholic Bishop of Nsukka Diocese, Most Rev. Prof. Godfrey I. Onah.