I’m not afraid of anybody, Onaiyekan rebuts presidency criticism

Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, has said he is not afraid of the Federal Government or embarrassed by criticism that followed his public comments on a meeting between Catholic bishops and President Bola Tinubu.

Onaiyekan said he appeared on television after the meeting to present the concerns raised by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria and not to please the government or any individual.

The 82-year-old cleric stated this in a video shared by SYMFONI TV on Wednesday, while responding to a question on the reaction from the Presidency to his account of the bishops’ meeting with Tinubu.

“I didn’t go to Arise to please government, or to just please people, but to tell the truth. That’s all I stand for,” Onaiyekan said.

He added, “I cannot be embarrassed. I’m 82 years old; nobody can embarrass me. And I’m not afraid of anybody. Nobody, at this stage now, are they going to arrest me, carry me to where?”

The cleric also said Nigerians should not take for granted the freedom to publicly criticise those in government, noting that religious leaders in some African countries could not speak as openly.

“And we are still lucky in this Nigeria that we can still talk. We shouldn’t take that for granted. There are many countries in Africa where no bishop dares to talk like we do here,” he said.

Onaiyekan explained that his comments after the meeting with Tinubu reflected the collective position of the Catholic bishops who attended the engagement, rather than his personal views.

“No, mind you, I didn’t talk on my own now. I spoke on behalf of my fellow bishops. We drafted a statement which contained all that I said in the interview. So, all the bishops of Nigeria spoke that way. It was their voice I was echoing,” he said.

He added that the bishops remained free to express the same concerns in their respective dioceses and said other religious leaders had also spoken about the condition of the country.

“I cannot speak on behalf of other religious leaders. Everybody has their own job to do, but many of the other religious leaders have supported us,” he said.

“When it comes to what is happening to Nigeria, the poverty, the suffering, we are all in the same boat now, abi?”

The comments followed a July 28 meeting between Tinubu and a delegation of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria at the State House, Abuja.

The delegation, led by the CBCN President, Archbishop Matthew Man-Oso Ndagoso of Kaduna, included Onaiyekan, Cardinal Peter Okpaleke, Bishop Matthew Kukah of Sokoto and other senior Catholic clerics.

The bishops raised concerns about economic hardship, insecurity, democracy and the 2027 elections, as well as issues concerning religious freedom and the return of mission schools.

Three days after the meeting, Onaiyekan appeared on Arise News, where he gave his account of the engagement and said the bishops had spoken frankly to the President about the condition of Nigerians.

The Presidency subsequently criticised his public account of the meeting, with the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, describing it as inappropriate to publicly disclose details of what he considered a private engagement.

However, in the latest video, Onaiyekan maintained that he had no reason to be embarrassed by the reaction to his comments, insisting that the bishops’ intervention was motivated by their concern for Nigerians.