Catholic Bishop of Owerri Archdiocese, Archbishop Antony Amarachi Obinna, has spoken about the current state of Nigeria.
The Archbishop stated that the crisis in the Niger Delta is an indication that “Nigeria is a sick nation.”
He stated this in a recent interview with Daily Sun.
He said: “As far as I am concerned all these unrests in the Niger Delta or in the South-east and so on are an indication that Nigeria is a sick nation. And the sense of patriotism is not there. I’ll say that is the reason for Biafra or the uprising for Biafra or the uprising for the Niger Delta. That is the reason.
“If we get Nigeria right and there is a noble sense of patriotism; noble sense of belonging in which every person, every segment of Nigeria counts and feels that it counts, then there won’t be all these agitations.
“That is why our leaders must go back to the drawing board and ask themselves this question; “Do we really want to be one Nigeria?” Is it the one Nigeria where we’re killing each other; afraid of war all the time and across the board. The leaders need to sit down and make up their minds if they don’t want one Nigeria, then let us separate peacefully. We can be good neighbours.
“In a recent interview I had, I must have spoken in this wise too. It is wonderful to have one loving, peaceful, patriotic Nigeria. If it’s not going to work out, for goodness sake, let us be honest with ourselves and say we cannot live together because we have too many religious, ethnic interests.
“I know we can go beyond this if the leaders become patriotic and being less self-centered, using resources to build up industries and factories to absorb the young people who are agitating. That has always been my position and I will continue to say that.”