Discontinue our ancestors idol worshiping – Bishop Onah

The Catholic Bishop of Nsukka diocese, Rt. Rev. Prof. Godfrey Onah has observed that part of the responsibility of the university is to correct cultural practices that are harmful to human dignity which were long observed by the forefathers to solve their problems.

Onah said this in Nsukka while delivering the 57th University of Nigeria Nsukka founders Day lecture with the theme, “To Restore the Dignity of Man. Why and How”.

He said the university is a cultural laboratory and workshop where man constantly interrogates his culture by critically examining it values.

“Many of the cultural practices to which we tenaciously cling today are outdated answers which our forefathers proposed to the problems of their times. Some of them are harmful to human dignity (ohu and osu caste system in Igboland, for instance).

“Our forefathers would definitely be angry with us for continuing with some of their practices as our times and challenges are different from theirs and in many areas we know better than they knew.

“It is part of the responsibility of universities to wean contemporary Nigerians from their childish attachment to those cultural practices that tarnish the image of God in man and diminish his dignity”, he said.

He advised unions in the ivory towers in the country to henceforth desist from using strike actions to press home their demands saying such stance only make them allies of government.

“If university workers have chosen to teach and manage students I wonder why they should close school because they have problems with government.

“Yes, a labourer deserves his wages but the students are not the means of livelihood for professors and lecturers. Otherwise the teacher may earn lots of money but still run the risk of experiencing the eternal vacuum.

“Human right cannot be said to be inalienable if the dignity from which they are drive could completely be lost.

“To use a person as a means to an end is to deny his dignity and dehumanize him”, he said.

Bishop Onah commended the founding fathers and their ideas to establish this university for the emancipation mankind.

“Zik the first president of the country has lofty dreams when he used his intellectual and strength to establish UNN with the mandated to restore the dignity of man”, he added.

He also commended the Vice-Chancellor for his achievements in academic excellence as well as in environmental cleanliness in the University.

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Benjamin Ozumba in a remark said his administration has kept to the ideas of the founding fathers in making the university one of the best on the continent.

“The founding fathers ideal is that UNN should be one of the best institutions for teaching, learning and research, which the institution under my watch has achieved.

“The University of Nigeria has achieved tremendous success both in administration, intellectual excellence, academic innovations and emerging international collaboration and linkages.

“It has continued to generate more honours to its image, any wonders it is ranked number one in Nigeria”, he said.

Mose Oyediran, Enugu