WORLD COMMUNICATION DAY 2017

This year’s World Communication Day was marked alongside a pastoral visit to St. Gabriel’s Catholic Chaplaincy, Airforce Base, Jos on May 28 2017.

At the Mass, 202 young people received the sacrament of confirmation.

Excerpts from the homily:

In this mass we not only celebrate the confirmation of 202 soldiers for Christ but we join the Holy Father and the universal church in celebrating communication Sunday.
To those to be confirmed today we are reminded in 1 Peter 4 :16 that if we suffer as Christians, let it be because we are doing what is right. By your confirmation today you have been promoted in faith.

Communication Sunday reminds us of the role the media plays in our world today even in our faith as Christians. Pope Francis calls on journalists today to be instruments of hope, instruments of peace and instruments of healing. The Holy Father calls them to focus on goodnews. People say goodnews don’t sell.

Today I encourage our journalists and mass media to promote these two things:

Firstly, the wellbeing of our children. We marked children’s day yesterday. How is their social life? How is their physical wellbeing? How is their spiritual life? We should invest in our children but most times this is not the case. Look at the streets and the slums, the young ones are in large number there. The young ones are the true treasures of our nation.

Our country is sitting on a time bomb if we don’t protect the interest of our children.

During my trip to Italy on the invitation of the government of Italy, I saw a lot of young Nigerians going through hell in the name of greener pasture. In fact there is a community of people in a certain part of Italy called the Nigerian Mafias.

In Rafat, Morocco, I also encountered a similar situation. About 500 Nigerians in prison. No one to cater for them, not even the embassy except for the Catholic Church (bishop of that diocese). Over there some of them take into prostitution especially the ladies. If they can’t cope with this, they are forced to flee through the Sahara desert and then the Mediterranean Sea into Italy. Some die on the way due to the harsh journey and if they get into Italy they are again forced into prostitution.

The questions here are thus, what is the media doing to aid their plight? Why do this people take to such risks? These and many more are the questions the media should pose to the government and society at large.

Secondly, I urge on the media and those in charge of communication to look into the plight of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP). It has been three years now. It is only the church and other non governmental organizations that have been of help to them. Myself been there several times. Even those who are strong enough to farm have to pay for lands. Where will they get such money from? We can only imagine what will happen if they are forced to do ‘anything’ to survive. Yet we have individuals with plenty of money in their homes and bank account that can not be accounted for. We have individuals and families spending extravagantly for trips and shopping yet some people in this nation have nowhere to stay.

Lastly, do what is right, that is what will save the world, our nation and our state.
Please spread this message so as to arouse the interest of those concerned.