Alfred Adewale Martins, the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, has urged Nigerians to collaboratively work towards strengthening the country’s civic space in deepening democratic process as active citizens and not to surrender their voting power to politicians ahead of the 2027 general election.
Martins made this call during the recent priestly and diaconate ordination of the Archdiocese held at the Catholic Church of the Ascension, Ikeja, Lagos, where the Archbishop ordained six deacons to the priesthood and 14 seminarians to the diaconate.
‘We have people saying that they will not waste their time going to vote. Dear friends, in spite of the disappointments of the past, we must not become despondent. We must not become so cynical that, as citizens, we surrender our power and ability to choose the leader that we desire,’ Martins said.
He warned Nigerians against political apathy and vote-buying. According to him, politicians have started making ridiculous promises and that INEC was struggling to convince Nigerians of its impartiality.
According to him, citizens lose the moral right to hold leaders accountable if they fail to vote. ‘If people choose not to vote, they lose their right to call whoever gets into power to account.’
The Archbishop called on the Justice, Development and Peace Commission of the Archdiocese to help grow democracy by ensuring free, fair and credible elections. ‘We must ask them difficult questions.
‘And choose according to our well-informed consciences, not according to the rice, the bread, the food, that politicians are willing to offer in order to buy votes,’ he said, urging Nigerians to be ready to defend their votes from corrupt and criminal politicians, by voting when the time comes.
The Archbishop painted a grim picture of poverty and insecurity – recounting seeing people sleeping under a bridge on his way to the cathedral, and noted that many were likely victims of eviction and demolition.
Martins reminded the ordinands that priesthood and diaconate were not rewards for academic brilliance but gifts of divine mercy. Quoting Isaiah 6 and John 15:15, he urged the newly ordained to remain friends of Jesus through prayer and fidelity.
‘Your priesthood and your diaconate are not rites that you have earned; you are simply beneficiaries of the message of God – freely given to you. Authentic joy in the ministry is born not from popularity or public applause, but from fidelity to Christ and a robust prayer life,’ Martins said.
To the 14 new deacons, he said their role was to serve like Christ, ‘who came not to be served but to serve,’ and to be close to the gospel in hospitals, markets, prisons and parishes. The Archbishop described the 20 men as ‘labourers sent into the harvest’ at a time when the world and Nigeria are in dire need of hope.
‘Our local church is located in Lagos State, a state that has a population of over 20 million people, out of which only about three million are Catholics. Indeed, dear friends, the harvest is rich, but as rich as the harvest is, the labourers are few.’
He also appreciated the families of the ordinands for their sacrifice. ‘You have allowed your sons to go where many fear to walk. Do not stop praying for them. Do not ask them to choose between their priesthood and your approval,’ Martins pleaded, and entrusted the new clergy to the Blessed Virgin Mary, ‘Queen of the clergy,’ praying that Christ would remain ‘the joy of your priesthood and the strength of your diaconate.’
Martins in his homily said that the ordination was taking place at a time of global instability; citing ongoing wars between Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Palestine, and tensions between the US and Iran, and the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
‘With instabilities in many parts of the world, natural disasters such as unusually heavy rainfalls that bring about floods, mudslides and even refuse dump collapses, the world needs peace and a message of hope,’ he stated.