Nigerian youth have the potentiality to excel in life despite the myriad of challenges they face in the West African nation, the Catholic Bishop of the country’s Oyo Diocese has said.
In his titled, “Believe and Take Responsibility: A Christmas Letter To The Youths” that he shared with ACI Africa on Tuesday, December 26, Bishop Emmanuel Adetoyese Badejo calls upon young people in Africa’s most populous nation to believe in their ability to progress in life, foster their relationship with God, prioritize discipline amid challenges, and that each becomes “a missionary of sorts”.
“I wish to express my vote of confidence in you and in your ability to do well in life and to carve something good out of our world despite economic and political woes, challenges in the education sector and moral deficiency in high and low places all around,” Bishop Badejo begins his Christmas letter.
He acknowledges with appreciation the “determination, resilience and creativity” of the Nigerian youth, and adds, “I refuse to join those who think that young people are the problems of our society or world. On the contrary I believe that, given the right motivation, you remain the greatest asset of any society.”
The Nigerian Catholic Bishop assures the youth of God’s confidence in them, and recognizes the various gifts that God has given to young people in Nigeria, including “life, good health, energy and intelligence”.
“Know that God has put you in this world out of love and has a purpose and a plan for you. Keep saying that to yourself,” he says.
The Local Ordinary of Oyo Diocese who doubles as the President of the Pan African Episcopal Committee for Social Communications (CEPACS), an entity of the Symposium of Episcopal Conference of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) urges the youth to look upon the child Jesus for inspiration.
“If you ever think you are too small, think about Jesus at Christmas. God sent him as a child to save the world which was at that time, probably more wicked and dangerous than ours now,” he says.
Jesus, Bishop Badejo continues, “was almost killed right at his infancy by a very powerful king Herod but he prevailed.”
He cautions the Nigerian youth against despair amid challenges and urges them to look upon Jesus in his youthful years for inspiration.
“As a youth Jesus defined his purpose and plan: ‘The spirit of the Lord has been given to me for he has anointed me to bring the good news to the afflicted,’” Bishop Badejo says referring to St. Luke’s Gospel, and adds, “Learn from that and do the same.”
“Whether poverty, hardship, lack of opportunity or resources, do not let your challenges define you. Believe that you can prevail. Rather, define your plans clearly in the face of those challenges and follow up with a firm, prayerful resolve,” he continues.
The Nigerian Catholic Bishop who was appointed member of the Vatican Dicastery for Communications in December 2021 goes on to challenge the youth believe in Jesus and his message that “those who believe in Him will perform even greater works than Himself.”
“That may sound incredible but Jesus cannot lie. Achieving this however requires that you develop confidence in yourself and your ability,” he says, and urges the Nigerian youth to “believe in the gifts that God has given to you not only to achieve personal greatness but also to transform your family, society, and country.”
“This does not rule out the fact that you will sometimes have questions, worries and challenges. Everybody has them. What matters more however is what you do with those challenges and worries, face them or let them face you down,” Bishop Badejo says.
He calls upon the youth to foster their relationship with God through prayer in the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who “must have been about 14 years old when the angel visited her”.
“God gave her the most important assignment of her generation, to be the mother of the Saviour,” Bishop Badejo says, and poses, “Can this God who believes so much in young people not use you in an extraordinary way also? Of course, he can.”
He also calls on the youth to seek counsel from those with experience, emulating Mary’s visit to Elizabeth.
“Rather than just seek the counsel of her colleagues or people of her own level,” Bishop Badejo notes, Mary sought the counsel of “her cousin, Elizabeth, an older woman with abundant practical and spiritual experience.”
Elizabeth’s experience of “tough challenges like barrenness, rejection, old age etc.” accorded her the opportunity to help the Blessed Virgin realize “who she had become”.
“I hope you can see here, God’s way of teaching you the importance of consulting those with greater experience than you at key life moments and in taking important decisions,” Bishop Badejo tell Nigerian youth, and adds, “As the adage goes: ‘To know the way ahead, ask from those who are coming back.’”The 61-year-old Nigerian Bishop who started his Episcopal Ministry in October 2007 as Coadjutor Bishop of Oyo Diocese underscores the need for the Nigerian youth to foster discipline and cautions against the spirit of “entitlement”.
“Disengage from the class of young people who today wallow in a ‘sense of entitlement’, quick to take all available privileges but slow to engage in sacrifice, hard work and discipline,” he says in his Christmas letter to Nigerian youth shared with ACI Africa on December 26.
Bishop Badejo asks Nigerian youth to put into practice the Synod on Synodality’s call in the Synthesis Report released on October 28 to “to become digital missionaries to others”.
To be digital missionaries “requires that you young people use your powerful social skills and digital platform to promote good things, good relations and the good news. For this to happen, you young people must gather information and knowledge about your faith from authentic sources,” he says.
“No generation ever had as much access to information as the current generation has through your cell phones and the internet. You must justify having these incredible tools,” Bishop Badejo says, and goes on to caution against questionable digital sources.
He says, “The quality of the sources of information available to your generation covers the good, the bad and the ugly. It will take a deliberate decision to access only authentic and wholesome sites and platforms, to get edifying information and knowledge and then disseminate the same to others.”
The Nigerian Catholic Bishop encourages young people to study the 28 May 2023 publication of the Vatican Dicastery for Communication, “Towards Full Presence: A Pastoral Reflection on Engagement with Social Media”, describing it as a short but “rich resource which proposes to young people the ideal mode and strategy for presence in the digital media.”
Believe that you have a right to be here and have a responsibility to mould a positive world for yourselves. Build that faith in a personal relationship with God and you will succeed. And yes, I believe you can in the New Year!” Bishop Badejo concludes his Christmas 2023 letter to Nigerian young people.