The outspoken Catholic priest of the Abuja Arch-Diocese, Reverend Father Jude Ogar Oniah has said that the problem with Nigeria is that the country lacks a Shepherd.
Fr. Oniah is the parish priest of Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church, Utako and in his homily on Sunday to mark the ‘Good Shepherd Sunday’ said Nigeria has not been lucky to have a leader who can be called a Shepherd especially at the recent time.
He noted that all we have seen or are seeing now in Nigeria are ‘hired men’ who do not care about the sheep they are leading because they are not their own, adding that a Good Shepherd when he sees his sheep being attack by a prey he will defend them but a hireling is one who sees an attack on his sheep and looks the other side.
According to him, “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I will lay down my life for the sheep (Jn 10:11-15).”
However, Fr Oniah insisted that Nigerian leaders are known only during elections where they use to deceive the hungry electorates to get their votes with bags of rice and after that, they are left to their fate until the next electioneering campaign.
He noted that the current security challenges Nigeria’s facing is a pointer to the fact that we do not have a shepherd rather hired men.
Ho wondered why insecurity should be ravaging the entire country and some persons who call themselves leaders are still sleeping and resting in their abode.
