…as CSN Church and Society department holds 2023 AGM
By CSN Media
The Episcopal Chairman of Church and Society, Catholic Bishop Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), Most Rev. Alfred Adewale Martins, has disclosed that the persistent poverty, inequality, corruption, poor learning environments, poor education, insecurity, banditry, kidnappings, and terrorism at all levels, have left the average family in Nigeria, battered, wounded, injured, with moral values destroyed, leading to a nation of hungry and angry families.
Archbishop Martins who was represented by the CBCN Episcopal Chairman of Family and Human Life, Most Rev. Sylvester Luka Gopep, disclosed this in his keynote address at the Opening Ceremony of the 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Department of Church and Society of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, CSN.
With the theme: ‘Economic Empowerment and Capacity Strengthening for Self-Reliance and Community Resilience in Nigeria,’ Archbishop Martins explained that to do away with hunger and anger in families, holistic empowerment and self-reliance is urgently needed.
“When you empower someone, you help them feel more in control of their life, you literally give them power. Holistic economic empowerment and self reliance includes: Individual empowerment, all gender empowerment (male and female), social empowerment, educational empowerment, economic empowerment, political empowerment, psychological empowerment,physical empowerment, community empowerment, organizational empowerment, cultural empowerment, religious empowerment.
“Unless you give a society the above empowerment, the society is bound to suffer from injustice, selfishness, greed, individualism, criminality, nepotism, consumerism, poverty, hunger, anger and killing.”
The Prelate stated that the Catholic church is known for its humanitarian activities in the whole world, thus, the 2023 AGM will bring together scholars, practitioners and pastoral workers to ventilate the ramifications and craft practice-informed framework for the way forward, because the subdued poor in the society, now look up to the Church to address poverty on multiple fronts.
“Fortunately, the Church possesses robust operational experience and the organizational structures to spearhead countercurrent transformations needed in this regard.
Thus, in addition to its widely-acclaimed successes in education, healthcare and social justice development, the subdued poor now looks up to the Church to leverage its penetrative community networks and sundry resources to address poverty on multiple fronts.
“By intervening at the intersection of economic empowerment, self-reliance, and community resilience, the Church would be actuating the mandate of Jesus Christ, ‘Give them something to eat…’ Sustainable development would be fostered while its missionary mandate thrives.”
The Keynote Speaker further lamented that the poorest people and families in Nigeria can be counted amongst the poorest in Africa, whilst the wealthiest control much of the money and resources within the country, insisted that economic empowerment is what every nation should do to ensure a working and confident society. He also noted that Nigeria remains a deeply divided country in terms of wealth and quality of life, and advised that the family-centered empowerment model will be effective in reducing the burden of parents in raising their children and becomes key to good family foundations and ethical living.
The Deputy Executive Secretary of the Catholic Caritas Foundation of Nigeria (CCFN), Rev. Fr. Peter Babangida in his welcome address on behalf of the Executive Secretary, Rev. Fr. Uche Obodoechina, stated that this year’s AGM, is another opportunity for the church to wake up to its call to serve the needs of the poor, by increasing the scope of its entrepreneurial initiatives.
Noting that the youths represent the heartbeat of any society, the CCFN Executive Secretary, charged all to recognize the the role of technology in shaping the landscape of youth entrepreneurship because, the young people are well positioned to leverage on technology to create and scale their ventures.
“In the digital age, technology serves as a great equalizer, providing access to information and resources that were once limited. The youth, often referred to as digital natives, are well positioned to leverage technology to create and scale their ventures. Embracing digital literacy and encouraging the adoption of technological tools are essential steps in empowering the youths to thrive in the entrepreneurial realm.”
The 4day AGM which started with the arrival of delegates on Monday, November 20, will witness paper presentations and brainstorming on the theme of the AGM and will close with the strategy formulation, meeting evaluation and the reading of the communique on Thursday, November 23, 2023.
