By Fr Pat Amobi Chukwuma
At creation the Almighty Designer endowed human beings with two most vital organs: the ear and the mouth. The ear is used for hearing, while the mouth is used for speaking. The ear has its external part known as earlobe. A drum is located in its internal part. The earlobe collects sound from external environment and transmits it into the eardrum. When the drum beats, the person hears and interprets the sound. On the other hand, the mouth is located between the nose and the jaw. It has two doors known as upper and lower lips.
They open and close as the mouth operates. Inside the mouth lies a reddish organ called the tongue. It is connected to the internal throat and moves in and out as the mouth speaks. The tongue is the actor while the mouth acts as horn-speaker. In fact the connection God made there is mysterious (imirimious).
The tongue also tastes and interprets whatever food or drink that enters the mouth before it goes into the stomach for digestion and assimilation. If there is any misunderstanding between the mouth and the tongue, then the bearer (person) is in real trouble. His or her speech will be impaired. In addition the stomach will suffer starvation and eventual death.
In essence, the ear is meant for hearing while the mouth is designed to speak. The ear brings in, while the mouth speaks out. A person who is unable to hear is said to be deaf. On the other hand, a person who cannot speak is said to be dumb. It is a double calamity to be deaf and dumb at the same time. Indeed, we owe much gratitude to the Almighty Designer for these wonderful gifts of hearing and speaking. Those who are impaired in one or both aspects suffer from disability. But by God’s grace, science and technology have produced hearing aids and developed speech by signs and symbols for the dumb.
A sound ear is punishable by human and by divine ordinances, if it intentionally refuses to hear. Likewise, woe is an unimpaired mouth, if it refuses to speak out. My Igbo people put it succinctly and proverbially thus: “Ekwughiekwu mere onu. Anughianu mere nti.” The Federal and State Governments mandate the citizens to see (hear) something and say something. The Holy Scripture on its on part says, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” ( Mtt.12:34, Lk.6:45 ). The heart empowers the eyes, the ears and the mouth in performing their distinct responsibilities.
According to my local proverb, an elder does not sit idle at home to watch a she-goat give birth tethered. Such an elder is regarded as good for nothing. It is in the news nationwide and internationally today that the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) on Tuesday 28 July 2026 paid a disturbing visit to the President of Nigeria and Commander of the Armed Forces as well as Evil Forces, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in his Aso Rock Villa Abuja. On their arrival, President Tinubu with smiles thought that they came to praise him for his harsh economic Policies and to endorse him for his 2027Second Political Ambition.
Contrarily, the representatives of the Catholic Bishops came to speak Truth to Power. Fearlessly, the CBCN President, His Grace Matthew Man-osoNdagoso, the Archbishop of Kaduna, read their address before the King Leader and his kitchen cabinet. Among other things, they warned the President against One-Party System and asked him to provide a genuine level playing ground for the Opposition Parties to thrive.
Without mincing words, they asserted, “As a man who risked so much in the struggle for the return of democratic rule in the dark days of military dictatorship, your greatest legacy would be the strengthening of our democratic institutions.” Furthermore, the Bishops demanded for credible elections and true independence of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in electoral processes. They pointed out to him, the worsening insecurity in the land, the collapse of the power sector, the sorry state of our roads, the agonizing economic hardship being experienced by the masses nationwide.
With deepest sorrow, they put it to him that the nation is bleeding profusely. Finally the Bishops requested for the return of Mission School,s to their original owners, so that the Church can inculcate morality into the minds of the leaders of tomorrow. They also asked the President to invite Pope Leo XIV to visit Nigeria in order to impart divine blessings on this nation in distress.
I was watching the sullen face of President Tinubu as the Bishops were speaking truth to Power. His emotional reaction to the CBCN address is nothing to write home about. He stated that he cannot run away from the challenges he inherited and that he is doing something to surmount them.He said that the economy is doing fine (for him and his cronies).
He denied that the country is bleeding. He also stated without evidence that INEC is neutral and has never intimidated anybody. He made a questionably remark about the Opposition Parties. In his own words, “If political opponents are crying wolves, maybe they are afraid of their own shadows and the uncertainties in the companies they keep; not me.” At last the President took a photograph with the CBCN Delegation and his kitchen cabinet.
Truth is bitter. Saint John the Baptist was martyred for speaking truth to power. He courageously confronted King Herod Antipas for his unlawful marriage to Herodias, his brother (Philip’s) wife. This bold rebuke led to the imprisonment of John the Baptist and his subsequent execution by heading during Herod’s royal birthday celebration. My people say, “Eziokwunbu du” (Truth is Life). Secondly, “Ikpemaraeziokwu, aka-azu di ya” (There is always bribery whenever the truth is condemned at the expense of falsehood).The Holy Writ states categorically, “The Truth will set you free” (John 8:32).
Any anonymous author says, “The best way to look for trouble is to speak the Truth and confront liars. They will gang up against you to find your faults.” Well, the Catholic Bishops have spoken the Truth to Power. They have performed their prophetic role. They didn’t speak from hearsay. They and the millions of flock they look after are experiencing the bitter pills they put before the President. You cannot take a cow to the river and force it to drink.
If the President has listening ears, let him hear and act. President Tinubu is enjoying 24-hour solar powered electricity at the Villa while the citizens live in darkness. He goes about with tight security while the masses are suffering from worsening insecurity from the hands of terrorists, bandits and kidnappers. Blood is flowing nationwide while Aso Rock Villa is bloodless because it is secured from within and without.
The Presidential Aids are not telling President Tinubu the truth about the ugly experiences the masses are undergoing daily. The presidential cronies are going about criticizing the Bishops for what they tabled before President Tinubu on that historic day. Well, they are speaking for their stomachs. Senator Ali Ndume representing Borno South Senatorial District has reiterated that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is surrounded by those who are not telling him the truth and are out of touch with ordinary Nigerians. They tell him only those things he would like to hear.
In 1998 during the second visit of Pope John Paul the second to Nigeria, he asked the Head of State by then, General SaniAbacha, to release political prisoners and make the country safe for living. When the Pope left, Abacha paid deaf ear to the Papal admonitions. He released some ordinary prisoners instead of political prisoners. His acts of dictatorship worsened.
He forced the then existing five political parties to adopt him as the sole Presidential candidate. What happened later? The Heavens reacted and Abacha died as a result of undisclosed circumstances on June 8, 1998. For peace and tranquility in Nigeria, President Tinubu should not throw away the Catholic Bishops words, because they carry weights and repercussions.
