If you walked into the den called ‘Religion in Nigeria’, you may be surprised to realise that spirituality is more a facade than a reality in that space. And, one thing that was quite obvious at the beginning of the #EndSARS protest was the deafening silence of religious bodies.
It is an amazing development considering that a large percentage of active members of most churches in large cities are youth. And, as expected, many people within the first few days of the protests immediately called out spiritual leaders for keeping quiet knowing that their most active members were largely affected by police brutality.
Many instances were cited for the silence of the religious houses but Twitter user @onesoundabel made a salient point which was quite interesting. In his tweet he wrote;
“I was talking to my mom about the silence of religious leaders and she said, “they cannot speak on this because they are also responsible for the social profiling that is part of the problem”.
“Imagine a church like Depr L*fe where their entire doctrine is centred on appearance (1)”.
I was talking to my mom abt the silence of religious leaders and she said “they cannot speak on this because they are also responsible for the social profiling that is part of the problem” imagine a church like D*ep*r L*fe wher their entire doctrine is centered on appearance (1)
— ????? & ??????. ✞ #SARSMUSTEND (@onesoundabel) October 13, 2020
This tweet definitely rings true to a lot of Nigerians who grew up in the 80s and 90s where tattoos, nose piercings and other forms of unconventional ways of life was considered irresponsible and indicative of hooliganism. Nigerian men and women still get frowned upon by religious bodies for having tinted hair in the year 2020 when we boldly accept foreigners with different hair colour.
With all these been said many of the protesters are still ardent members of one faith or the other. So, it is quite pertinent for religious bodies to come out and speak up on the menace because as said earlier the lifeblood of most religious bodies is its young demography.
Some religious leaders were quick to respond while others have remained silent.
Pastor Sam Adeyemi, a Christian pastor was one of the first religious leaders to come forward to support the protest while the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos released a statement supporting the movement on Saturday, October 11, 2020.
The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Enoch Adeboye, has also come out in support for an end to Police brutality.
But, we still wonder where the other religious bodies and personalities are. Do they care much to join this fight? Or they will only keep praying instead?
ESTER MBATHERA, OKERI NGUTJINAZO and CLEMANS MIYANICWE
WHEN Emma and Moses !Aebeb got married 27 years ago, they vowed that only death would separate them.
Emma contracted Covid-19 and died on 17 September this year in Windhoek.
Due to travel restrictions at the time, !Aebeb and Emma’s family had two choices: to let her be buried by the state in Windhoek in their absence, or to have her cremated and to bury the ashes at a burial site of their choice.
They had 48 hours to decide and finally chose cremation.
“It was a difficult time, but we had to do it. I loved my wife very much and I wanted her to be buried close to me. It was the first time in our family we had someone cremated,” !Aebeb, who is a police inspector, said.
It was not the send-off he had planned for anyone in his family as in the Damara culture, the mourning period is two weeks to allow everyone to come from all over the country.
Emma’s remains were brought to Swakopmund by the undertaker. She was buried at Swakopmund cemetery amongst the people that she loved.
CREMATION AND TRADITION
The novel coronavirus has led to cremation in Namibia gaining momentum in recent months.
This has, however, been met with reservation in many cultures.
Namibia’s only crematorium is situated in the Gammams Cemetery in Pionierspark, Windhoek, which was built in 1975.
Some 17 Covid-19-related cremations have been conducted at Gammams since 14 September.
Alfeus Benjamin, chief executive office of Swakopmund’s muncipality, says there are several reasons why Namibia has only one crematorium.
“There was no demand for such services. Cremation is largely a European concept, which Africans are not amenable to due to their religious and traditional beliefs on how the dead should be sent off to their next life, although burning people dead or alive used to be a practice in many African traditions – even in Namibia,” he says.
Benjamin says town planners may never have regarded crematoriums as a priority.
“Of course, with the development and growth of towns and cities, space for and the cost of burials have become a challenge. The next alternative is cremation. Africans in general regard the use of ‘fire’ as total destruction with no possibility of an afterlife,” he says.
CREMATION PROCESS
Cremation is more affordable than burials and would save burial space.
Wacca Kazombiaze, manager of parks, cemeteries, sports and recreation at the City of Windhoek, says the Gammams crematorium usually runs for three to four days every two weeks.
At present, 20 to 30 cremations take place each month.
He says the code of cremation practice ensures the identity of the cremated person is retained throughout the cremation process.
Kazombiaze says families can pay their respects to their deceased with a grave site or tombstone.
“Ashes can be interred in a niche in the columbarium at the Gardens of Remembrance and sealed with an engraved marble plaque, and can be scattered there as well,” he says.
Ashes may also be collected by the next of kin and kept at home or scattered at a favourite site, he says.
The crematorium uses diesel to cremate bodies with. The proces takes roughly four hours, and the packed ashes are made available on the day after the cremation, accompanied by a cremation certificate.
The deceased is cremated in a coffin, which must be provided by the family and is burnt completely.
Kazombiaze says items like pacemakers and implants are removed from the body before cremation.
Although Namibia is a secular country, 95% of its population are Christian, who mainly bury the remains of their loved ones.
Reverend Lukas Katenda, a religious and moral education lecturer at the Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary (Nets) and International University of Management (IUM), says: “Cremation was adopted by the modern church, yet in the case of infectious diseases, bodies were cremated, but now, cremation is accepted among Christians.”
He believes cremation is not a sin in the Christian faith.
TRADITION
Most tribes in Namibia bury their dead. Burning of people is heard of in Oshikwanyama legend about girls who became pregnant before initiation and were burnt at the stakes.
Although not historically verified, the burning of these girls was believed to be a form of capital punishment.
“Dead people were either hidden or buried [in the Aawambo culture]. Hiding the corpse was a result of superstitious practice in honouring the dead person’s wish that he or she may have given instruction before dying. Another reason was that there were no tools to be used to dig graves, so people carried the corpse to a distant place and hid it there,” Katenda says.
In the Herero culture, the deceased is buried alongside their parents unless they requested otherwise before their death.
A traditional funeral can cost between N$20 000 and N$100 000 or more.
According to the Herero Ombara Otjitambi adviser on traditional affairs, Kavezembi Katjomuise, people of the same family, birth hierarchy and same surname are buried at the same cemetery.
He says this is done so that they do not lose their self-worth, and so that their children will know where their parents are.
Katjomuise says according to Christian beliefs, there is life after death, so when they die, their souls will know where to reunite and stay together.
“For us to cremate is to burn until there is nothing, but we still want the bones to remain. That’s why we bury,” he says.
He says it is important for the deceased’s bones and souls to be together as this gives them the power to watch over their family.
King, Justus of the Damaras, says Damara culture does not allow cremation, but there is no other option during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Even in olden times our elders wrapped a body in a blanket or animal skin and buried it,” //Garoëb says.
Among some Okavango tribes, mourning for days did not exist.
According to Shampapi Siremo, a historian, these tribes wanted to be buried because of the fear of their flesh being devoured by hyenas.
“As for cremation, that has never been considered. Burials for the Okavango people is a sign that you were loved. People are buried at a chosen site, and some in cattle kraals. Traditional leaders are buried in mushy ground so that the floodwaters can wash their graves away to signify their return to the river where they are believed to have come from,” Siremo says.
October 16, 1978, 42 years ago, was a Monday. It was already dark when, at 6.18 p.m., white smoke billowed out from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, after black smoke had risen seven times before.
After a little less than half an hour, at 6:45 p.m., Cardinal proto-deacon Pericles Felici announced the election of Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, under the name of John Paul II, as the 264th Pope of the Catholic Church, the Bishop of Rome and successor of Peter.
It seemed at first that the 58th Archbishop of Krakow wanted to call himself Stanislaus I in honor of the patron saint of Poland. When it was pointed out to him that it was a name that did not fit into the Roman tradition, Wojtyła chose John Paul in memory of his predecessor, Albino Luciani, who passed away after only 33 days of his Pontificate.
Many images of that October evening 42 years ago remain in our collective memory, thanks also to the splendid photos taken by the L’Osservatore Romano photo shoot (you can request the photos here).
A few minutes before 7 pm, looking out from the Loggia of the Blessings of St. Peter’s Basilica, the new Pope presented himself to the crowd gathered in the Square. He recalled everyone’s pain “following the death of our beloved Pope John Paul I” and emphasized that the cardinals had elected the new bishop of Rome, after so many Italians in previous centuries, “from a country far… far away, but always so close for communion in faith and the Christian tradition.” He recounted his fear in receiving the nomination, which he accepted out of obedience to Jesus and “in total trust in his Mother, Our Lady Most Holy.”
“I do not know if I can well explain myself in your… Italian language. Correct me if I make mistakes. And so I present myself to all of you, to confess our common faith, our hope, our trust in the Mother of Christ and the Church, and also to begin again on this road of history and the Church, with the help of God and with the help of men.”
Celebrations and initiatives for the centenary of his birth
Even today everyone around 50 years old and over remember the emotion of listening to the first words of a non-Italian Pope following many centuries. This is an emotion that the centenary year of the birth of St. John Paul II further echoes thanks to the many celebrations planned by the ecclesial communities in the world.
Naturally, there was a celebration in Karol Wojtyla’s native land, which on October 11 last year, spent the 20th Papal Day under the motto Totus Tuus.
The memories of 16 October, 42 years ago, are intertwined with the very long trajectory of an historic pontificate and refers to that strong and free personality who was able to establish a direct and engaging relationship with the Christian people, and even beyond, with the whole world.
The Polish Pope would later say that the then-primate of his country, Cardinal Wyszynski, had told him in those days that, as Pontiff, he would be called to introduce the Church into the third millennium. And so it came to pass.
Despite the assasination attempt and illnesses, St. John Paul II led a Church not closed in on itself, but open to face the challenges of the time with courage: from “Do not be afraid” in the first days of his pontificate to “Duc in altum! – Guide the boat offshore!” of later years, Pope Wojtyla gave us the passion of the proclamation of Christ, without fear, for a vast and troubled world, but always loved by God, even in the third millennium.
By Express News Service
VIJAYAWADA: Educationalists, parents and students have welcomed the Andhra Pradesh government’s decision to avoid mention of the caste and religion of students in the school attendance register henceforth. School Education Commissioner V China Veerabhadrudu issued a circular in this regard recently.
“It is brought to the notice of the Director of School Education, AP, that in some schools the details of students’ caste and religion are being mentioned and girl students’ names are being written in red ink in attendance registers,” read the circular.
“In this context, all the officers are hereby requested to issue instructions to the field level functionaries that, not to mention the caste and religion of the students in the attendance register and maintain the attendance register in a uniform manner in the matter,” it added.
Speaking to The New Indian Express regarding his decision, the Commissioner said, “I experienced and observed this from my school days. But at that time, I was helpless. Off late, during our inspection of schools, several parents and grandparents informed us that their children are facing discrimination due to mentioning of their caste in the attendance register. As I am in a position to do something in this regard now, I decided to issue a circular. It is the time to end such discrimination and social inequalities, which are still in vogue at some places.”
Welcoming the decision, Prof Narava Prakasa Rao, State convener of Right to Education Forum, said, “One has to start somewhere. And the people in power are the best ones to take that first step. This decision may not end the caste discrimination in the society immediately. But it will teach the coming generations that one’s ability and intelligence are everything. It will also teach that an individual should be judged on the basis of his/her intelligence and not their caste and religion are the criteria. It helps promote the concept of ‘what’s in a name’. It will also rein in the teachers who encourage caste/religion discrimination. It is good that finally someone has taken the long-pending request seriously to end discrimination on the basis of caste and religion.”
Parents and students echoed similar views. “More than at home, children spend more time in school. What they see and learn there influence them more than what they see and learn at home. Most of the times teachers are more influential than parents. I hope its effective implementation will help end social discrimination to a great extend,” said K Mrudula, a parent.
“Trafficking in persons and other contemporary forms of enslavement are a worldwide problem that needs to be taken seriously by humanity as a whole.”
These were the words of the Holy See’s Permanent Representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Monsignor Janusz Urbańczyk, during ameeting of the body’s Permanent Council.
He pointed out that there are “more than 40 million victims of trafficking or exploitation in the world.” Of that disturbing number, 10 million are younger than 18 years old, and 1 out of 20 are children under eight years old who are victims of sexual exploitation.
Msgr. Urbańczyk commended the OSCE’s efforts in this regard so far, and expressed appreciation in particular for its 4P approach: Prosecution, Protection, Prevention and Partnerships.
The OSCE meeting, which was held on Thursday, focused on the fight against trafficking in human beings.
One failure Msgr. Urbańczyk noted with concern is the poor prosecution rate of human traffickers.
He added that the decline in the number of prosecutions “adds insult to injury” as only a few of the victims see their traffickers prosecuted by criminal justice.
Organ trafficking
Another area of concern, said Msgr. Urbańczyk, is the trafficking of human beings for the organ trade. This crime, he noted, apart from being underestimated, is widespread – even in the OSCE area.
To combat this, there is a “need for an agreed, concrete procedures for alerting professionals, appropriate authorities and agencies to organ trafficking,” he said.
“Health professionals and authorities can no longer turn a blind eye to the need to regulate travel for transplantation and to prevent and combat transplant-related crimes,” he added.
Appeal
Msgr. Urbańczyk remarked that through policies, educational campaigns and programs, significant progress has been made in identifying and addressing factors that make people susceptible to trafficking. He, therefore, encouraged joint efforts in the fight against trafficking, “starting by addressing what drives it.”
However, he noted, armed conflicts and forced migration have worsened some of the social, economic, cultural and political factors that make people vulnerable to trafficking. Further compounding the situation is the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic which, due to its restrictions, has transformed human trafficking into an “ever-growing internet business.”
In light of all of this, Msgr. Urbańczyk proposes that priority be given to ensuring “access to social protection, to education, to jobs, to health care and to the justice system” because the lack of these is often exploited by traffickers to recruit new victims.
Likewise, for survivors’ rehabilitation and reintegration, he said “they need access to physical and mental health services, education, training programs and employment opportunities so that they can have “a new start and legal protection from those who would compel them back into slavery.”
Trafficking victims: human beings with faces and stories
In all the efforts against trafficking in persons, Msgr. Urbańczyk stressed the importance of keeping in mind that “victims and survivors are human beings” and they should “always feel that they are being treated with dignity and respect.”
“It is easy in discussions to present numbers,” he noted. “However, we must keep in mind that every number has a face, a name and a story to tell.”
Reiterating Pope Francis’s words in the Encyclical letter Fratelli tutti, Msgr. Urbańczyk said that trafficking in persons represents a “shame for humanity” which international politics “must no longer tolerate.”
The European Union’s current Budget negotiation has been one of the longest and most contentious to date.
What started out as a seemingly normal Commission proposal back in May 2018, turned into a battle between two of the EU’s three institutions, after the pandemic swept through the continent and rewrote the rules of nearly everything it touched.
Despite long-term concerns always being there over the respect for rule of law in countries like Hungary and Poland, the issue has now become key to MEPs demands in moving forwards with the EU’s long-term budget for 2021-2027.
This has meant that the future of the continent’s economic health is being held hostage to negotiations, which are at loggerheads, between the European Parliament and European Council.
All of this can at times be difficult to understand, so what is actually going on with it?
Well, in July, after four days of wrangling, European leaders finally reached an historic agreement on how much the EU can spend over the next seven years.
This total was set at €1.8 trillion, of which, €750 billion is for the coronavirus recovery fund, otherwise known as Next Generation EU.
The rest of the money, €1.074 trillion, makes up the EU’s long-term budget – the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).
The European Parliament, however, fears that the current proposal is draining resources from the bloc’s other initiatives, such as education, innovation, and the flagship Erasmus program for students.
MEPs have instead presented an increase to the Budget’s ceiling by €39 billion, which Spanish MEP, Jonas Fernandez, believes is a fair compromise.
“I believe that European citizens support the position of the European Parliament. I think it is possible to have an agreement by the end of the year, but we need to know to what extent the Council intends to stick to the proposal that was agreed in July, instead of opting for a more ‘Europeanist’ stance that Parliament is aiming for,” Fernandez explained.
But many EU governments are reluctant to put more money on the table, especially since the Budget agreement in July was made after intense negotiations.
That leaves the thorny issue of the rule of law.
MEPs are asking that money from the recovery fund is linked to the respect by governments to the rule of law and Europe‘s democratic values.
But Hungary and Poland, are threatening to block the whole package if this conditionality is attached to any EU funds, as they believe they are respecting the rule of law.
This is where the deadlock lies, so how can this problem be solved?
Marta Pilati, a policy analyst at the European Policy centre explained to Euronews how it might be overcome.
“Usually the way the EU works is that there are tweaks and changes to the language of this mechanism, so that everyone can claim victory, let’s say. But it’s true that this time around the European Parliament is very proactive in sending its position, so I can see that these negotiations will be complicated for a little while,” Pilati said.
The budget and recovery fund won’t officially be on the table during October’s EU leaders’ summit, but the longer an agreement is stalled, the longer European citizens will be without the vital money they need to help them through this pandemic.
WHO’s Regional Director for Europe, Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, and the Greek Minister of Health, Dr Vasileios Kikilias, spoke about a number of health matters, including quality of care and patient safety, during the Minister’s first visit to WHO/Europe in Copenhagen.
Greece has undertaken a range of important developments in recent years related to the issues of quality of care and patient safety. Combined with the high quality of Greek health institutions and its top-class researchers in the field of health and well-being, the country is showing strong leadership in the context of the WHO European Region and beyond.
In a joint statement, WHO/Europe and the Ministry of Health of the Hellenic Republic expressed a shared ambition to achieve the highest level of health, well-being and health protection in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.
Discussions included initial exchanges regarding the possibility of opening a new WHO Centre of Excellence for Quality of Care and Patient Safety in Athens which, if confirmed, would focus on the provision of technical assistance, support and leadership for quality of care and patient safety.
Linked to the European Programme of Work (EPW), which was recently adopted by Member States at WHO/Europe’s 70th Regional Committee, there is an opportunity to consider the coherence of policies, structures and resources for quality health care. This includes highlighting the importance of quality care and taking a life-course approach, leaving no one behind in health.
Ongoing cooperation
The visit of Dr Kikilias offered the opportunity to speak about broader areas of collaboration between Greece and WHO, including non-communicable diseases (NCDs). This includes Greece’s recent proactive efforts in the areas of tobacco control, such as banning smoking in public places, and the launch of the National Action Plan Against Smoking. This is in addition to improvements in the quality of health care, primary health care reform and health system strengthening.
WHO and Greece have also collaborated on other priority areas in recent months, including the COVID-19 response and migrant health. A recent fire at the Moria refugee camp in Lesvos left thousands without shelter. Representatives from WHO’s country office in Greece undertook a rapid assessment to map resources and work with national authorities. At the request of the Greek Government, emergency teams from Norway and Belgium were deployed through WHO’s Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) to provide access to health services.
WHO established a country office in Athens in 2018 to facilitate cooperation and continuous technical support in relevant areas. A biennial workplan has been agreed between WHO and the Greek Ministry of Health and is currently being implemented.
