FORMER national chairman of the Youth Wing of the Christian
Association of Nigeria (YOWICAN), Dr. Dele Oluwatade, has appealed to
the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria to review the decision of the
Catholic Church to pull out of CAN, saying that such a decision would
provide a leeway for the enemies to destroy the Body of Christ upon
which the Church was founded.Reacting to the reasons given by the Catholic Church for pulling out CAN, Oluwatade said "the allegation that the CAN President was too close to the government should be well looked into and analyzed so as to understand exactly what is happening because the Bible says we should pray for our leaders, presidents, governors, Obas and all those in government".
He added: "So, the Catholic Church has to clarify the issue for the sake of national interest where the CAN President is compromising with government. He, however, noted that there were several avenues within the hierarchy of CAN where disputes would be resolved without going public.
The erstwhile CAN leader He insisted that it was the lack of mutual respect and understanding among Church leaders that had been responsible for the attacks on churches in the North by the Islamic sect, Boko-Haram.
According to him, "That is the major problem that we are facing and that is the divine reason Boko-Haram will continue to scourge the Church and until all our leaders purge themselves of their pride and wickedness. My advice to the Catholic Bishops Conference is that they should know that as far as the office of the CAN President is concerned, he is the Chief Priest of Nigeria now, so, it is not abnormal for a Chief Priest to be in agreement with the President and if there is any area of disagreement, they should point it to him. There are processes, meetings of CAN within the hierarchy where you can state your grievances instead of coming out in the open and talk about things like this. They are taking for granted the flock of Christ and that is what they are doing when they are comfortable".