Palliative: Kaigama makes case for poor, vulnerable Nigerians

The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, Ignatius Kaigama, has asked that only the poor and vulnerable should benefit from the Federal Government’s N5 billion palliative grants to states.

He said this would mitigate the impact of fuel subsidy removal on them.

Speaking at the 4th Abuja Archdiocesan General Assembly, with the theme “Marriage and Family in Contemporary Society,” on Friday, Kaigama stated that families needed government empowerment and assistance to engage in viable entrepreneurial endeavours rather than just receiving grants and palliative care.

He also urged families to make sure that their members uphold the law and be patriotic, noting that it is worrisome that young people commit the majority of crimes in society.

He said, “We hope that the N5 billion palliative allocated by our President to each state and the FCT to cushion the effects of the fuel subsidy removal, and the N25,000 monthly grant, allocated to 15 million struggling Nigerian families from October – December 2023, will truly get into the hands of these poor and vulnerable people.

“We hope too that the fundamental causes of family breakdown, divorce, cases of domestic violence, lack of care for the sick and the elderly, etc., will be investigated and remedied by our government.

“On their part, families must see to it that its members are patriotic and law-abiding. It is disturbing to observe that the perpetrators of violence, cybercrime, kidnapping, etc., are sometimes young people indoctrinated by criminals and enemies of the state. One is left to wonder if these young people belong to families ”

According to him, an entire community is only as strong, stable, vibrant, and morally pure as its families, and families are the primary and most important unit of society.

Kaigama added that moral degeneration and the breakdown of families are signs of a collapsing nation and that healthy families are necessary for society to function.

He said that modern ideas like relativism, hedonism, and minimalism are primarily responsible for the state of contemporary society and that these beliefs have brought about a host of diseases that have endangered some institutions’ basic foundations.

“Two of such institutions are under some form of attack, and they are marriage and family life. The most potent threat is the one that is like a double-edged sword. It is the abuse of Information and Communication Technology with specific regard to social media.

“While this can be a plus for couples and families, who spend a lot of time apart because of work, business, or studies and it could help the children explore their creativity; the dangers can also be alarmingly profound if not wisely utilised,” he said.

Continuing, he further stated that it is important to keep in mind that the family, which is the outcome of marriage, is seen by sociologists as the primary socialisation agent, the fundamental social unit around which society is constructed, and a connection to other institutions such as politics, the economy, education, religion, and security.

“This means that without marriage and the family, there will be no society of persons and human beings to practice any form of religion: no persons to engage in education, politics, economy and security etc.”