At 82, nobody can embarrass, intimidate me – Onaiyekan

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🇳🇬 Here's What Happened

Onaiyekan said he appeared on television after the meeting to present the concerns raised by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria and not to please the government or any individual.

The 82-year-old cleric stated this in a video shared by SYMFONI TV on Wednesday, while responding to a question on the reaction from the Presidency to his account of the bishops’ meeting with Tinubu.

“I didn’t go to Arise to please the government, or to just please people, but to tell the truth. That’s all I stand for,” Onaiyekan said.

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He added, “I cannot be embarrassed. I’m 82 years old; nobody can embarrass me. And I’m not afraid of anybody. Nobody, at this stage now, are they going to arrest me, carry me to where?”

The cleric also said Nigerians should not take for granted the freedom to publicly criticise those in government, noting that religious leaders in some African countries could not speak as openly.

“And we are still lucky in this Nigeria that we can still talk. We shouldn’t take that for granted. There are many countries in Africa where no bishop dares to talk like we do here,” he said.

Onaiyekan explained that his comments after the meeting with Tinubu reflected the collective position of the Catholic bishops who attended the engagement, rather than his personal views.

“No, mind you, I didn’t talk on my own now. I spoke on behalf of my fellow bishops. We drafted a statement which contained all that I said in the interview. So, all the bishops of Nigeria spoke that way. It was their voice I was echoing,” he said.

He added that the bishops remained free to express the same concerns in their respective dioceses and said other religious leaders had also spoken about the condition of the country.

📰 Source: Punch Nigeria

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