 I am very privileged and honored to be here with you at this first edition, I'm told, of the Agora conference. This gathering of Catholic politicians and business leaders to devise ways of influencing the cause of our society for good and affirming the imperative that the marketplace and the public square have to be seasoned with the salt of divine values. By reason of its ministry, the Catholic Church has always been a force for good. It is probably the largest non-governmental private stakeholder in our country's education and health sectors. Long before the state began to make social investments, the Church was already investing in our communities by establishing churches and hospitals. And millions of Nigerians of diverse faiths were nurtured in Catholic schools. At the clerical level, the Catholic Bishops Conference has a long and distinguished tradition of speaking truth to power. And through its measured interventions today, continues to bring moral clarity to bear upon our efforts to address the various national challenges that we face. We are living in times of unprecedented economic and social upheaval. And this is so, not just in our nation but the world over. Historically, in times like these, parochial prejudices are heightened. There is a retreat into ethnic, religious and other nativist camps. Those that do not speak our language or subscribe to our faith are under great suspicion and they soon become scapegoats for all of our challenges. Which is why I think that the theme of this summit, the advancement of the common good towards justice, unity, structure and development in Nigeria, end of quote, is both timely and relevant. It is clear that the pursuit of the common good, that is the good of all, must be the common ground for securing justice, unity and the development of our country. But by what means do we arrive there? By what means? How do we get there? For generations, millions of people all over the world have looked to Catholic social teachings as a profoundly powerful tool of social transformation. These teachings are a body of knowledge around the advancement of social justice, human development and peace. And they speak to issues of inequality, of human dignity, of civil liberties and economic rights. In various countries and communities, they have inspired good works and they have also encouraged courageous activism as well as those of mercy and compassion. So the idea of the common good, which is the foundation of the theme of this conference, is the cornerstone of Catholic social teachings. The notion of the common good is founded on divine commands. God commands us to seek the common good of everyone. In Jeremiah 29 verse 7, he says, seek the welfare or shalom of the city where I have sent you into exile. I pray to the Lord on his behalf, for in its welfare, you will have welfare also. In Matthew 7 verse 2, he says, in everything, therefore, treat people the same way as you would want them to treat you. For this is the law and the prophets. And in the New Testament, in 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 15, he says, always seek after what is good for one another and for all people. All of these are the foundations for what we describe as the common good, which, as I've said, is the cornerstone of the Catholic teachings, the Catholic teachings on social justice. The Catechism, following Pope John XXIII in Matta and Magistra and Vatican II, defines the common good as the sum total of social conditions which allows people, either as groups or individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily. And I add that these conditions of justice and peaceful coexistence, the conditions of justice and peaceful coexistence are key to what we describe as the common good. I think we must also note that the number of ideas in Catholic social teachings mirror the provisions of our own constitution. And if you look at our constitution for those who study the constitution, the directive principles and objectives of state policy, which is contained in the second chapter of the constitution, is actually the same or expresses the same words as all of what we describe as the common good in these Catholic teachings that I've spoken about. So our constitution will immediately recognize the shared emphasis on human dignity, the prominence that is given to social and economic rights, as well as civil and political rights, and the primacy of justice and the protection of vulnerable people, and also the primacy of human dignity, the impropriety of concentration of wealth in the hands of a few individuals and groups. All of these are contained in one shape or form in the directive principles of state policy, which is in our constitution. So when we talk about these social teachings, when we talk about these Catholic teachings, when we talk about the common good, we're also talking about matters that have already been addressed in our constitution, in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. And I'll go as far as to say that the second chapter of our constitution articulates what constitutes the common good as an imperative for public policy and governance. So seen in that light, the challenge of actualizing the common good is the same as the quest to actualize the directive principles and objectives of state policy. So when we speak of the common good, when we speak of achieving the common good, we're also talking about achieving the aims and purposes of our constitution. But achieving both requires transformational leadership across all levels and spheres of society. And this is where the rubber hits the road. Leadership that is not just a force for good, but is also a force for the common good. Indeed, it is the power of conscious individuals who are animated by a higher purpose that will alter the material circumstances of their communities. It is, and I'll repeat that, it is really, at the end of the day, the power of individuals, men and women like you and I, are emitted by a much higher purpose. People who are thinking of those values, people who are thinking of the common good that will alter the material circumstances of our communities. Further, we must acknowledge that the question that transformational leadership seeks to answer is a simple one. It is, what is the purpose of power? What is the purpose of power? And Comrade actually mentioned that. What is the purpose? Why are we in power? Why are people in power? Why do we seek power at any level? And it is in response to this question that we must define transformational leadership as a model of leadership that operates by serving and uplifting others. It is servant leadership and it is advanced by the gospel. It is contrary in the sense that it says that the purpose of power is service, not domination. It is to uplift and empower others rather than to control or oppress. And this is a model of leadership that is inseparable from our conception of the common good. So transformational leadership is the pursuit of the common good. But the pursuit of the common good itself is not as easy as it sounds. And this is especially so. And I'll just give a couple of instances. When we say we are seeking the common good, when we say that it is our objective as men and women of faith to seek the common good in our society, our objective as leaders to seek the common good of all in our society, the question is, is this an easy task? Is it as easy as it sounds? Of course not. This is especially so where, for example, the wounds and enmities of ethnic and religious conflicts are deep. The common type of leadership that we experience day in, day out will seek the path of relevance and popularity within their own ethnic or religious camps by seeking only the good of their own. But the servant leader will serve the people by emphasizing the letter and spirit of the gospel that even our worst enemies were still made in the image of God and that the pursuit of the common good is the pursuit of the good of those who hate us and those who hurt us even in the recent past. Transmissional leadership means that we do not mourn and condemn the killing of those who belong to our own tribe or faith alone or seek justice for ours alone because all men are equal before God and that is foundational for the common good, for the concept of the common good. That the pain and anguish of a mother's loss of a child is not different from one faith or tongue to the other. It is the same. The second point is how do we attain the common good without building credible institutions? We need to build credible institutions of justice, the rule of law and orderly society. These are crucial expressions of the pursuit of the common good. The most progressive expressions of faith are concerned with justice and justice is impossible without taking the institutions that govern public life into account. In this sense, the purpose of governance and public policy is to establish a paradigm of justice which is measured by how well a society treats its most vulnerable members, how it settles disputes fairly and speedily and how it makes out punishment to violators of law without bias or fear. Our courts of law must be courts of justice. It means that we must pay attention to the quality and calibre of men and women who are appointed judges. We must be concerned with their remuneration and welfare. We must be unrelenting on insisting on their integrity. The cancer of governments anywhere is corruption. When public officials, be they high or low in the executive, in the legislature or judiciary, are toll gates for the extortion of the populace seeking government dispensation. Whenever people are seeking government dispensation of any kind, whether as a passport or a license or a contract, if government officials have mounted a toll gate and that is their purpose, then it is impossible for there to be a happy and prosperous society. It is impossible for there to be what we describe as a common good. So the pursuit of the common good must involve a relentless pursuit of integrity and transparency of public officers. We must think through the systems that will reduce human discretion in public facing institutions. So we must as a collective condemn and call out corruption and corrupt practices. Today it is possible for a person to argue that because I belong to a particular faith or because I belong to a particular ethnic group, I am more or less immune from charges of corruption. And we find people defending people of their faith or defending people of their ethnic group who are accused of corruption or accused of misdeeds purely on the basis of those parochial considerations. People hide under all manner of parochial affiliations to be able to dodge justice in one shape or form of the other. But I think it is important for us as men aware of faith that justice must be balanced and must be equal. We must call out Catholics or Protestants or Pentecostals or whoever they are as well as we call out Muslims when they are corrupt or when they violate the laws of our land. When they act improperly, it is our duty to point out to anyone that they have acted improperly. And we must be watchful because otherwise our society cannot thrive on the pretense of a pursuit of the common good. We must be interested enough in the common good to be able to give up everything and say we will call you out if you do the wrong thing. This is why active political participation in the political and economic life of our country cannot be just accidental or tangential for people of faith. It is central. It's an obligation. It's a bounding duty. Men and women of faith must consider politics, must consider the economy of our country as their duty to participate. It must be considered. This is a duty. It is an obligation. It is not an accidental thing or tangential thing. We should not be persuaded to participate. Achieving the objectives of the common good is not a task for a few gifted individuals but something that all people of faith, the entirety of the lay faithful, should engage in as a civic duty. Pursuing the common good in a diverse society demands that those of us in the public square and in the marketplace translate our goals into universal language that can be understood by all including those that do not share our confessional allegiances. I'm in agreement with Father George Ehusani when he said in his work at the prophetic church that the Nigerian Christian elite must be ready to commit to pulling down the walls of hatred and building bridges across rivers of ethnic, religious, and social hostilities end of boat. Reverend Ehusani was making an important point. And that is that we cannot speak of ourselves as believing in the common good as Christians when we are not prepared to break down the walls of prejudice, when we are not prepared to break down the walls of hatred, so that we build platforms not just within Christianity but outside our faith. We build platforms with men and women of other faiths. We build platforms with Muslims and those who even say that there is no God because the question of the common good is relevant to us all and in any event God created us all in his image and he loves all men and women. This matters because our future will be shaped by how well we make common cause with other citizens of progressive persuasions to transform our communities. How do we forge the collaborative partnerships not only within ourselves but with other forces which are committed to the common good to positively impact our society. So fulfilling the immense promise of our nation requires men and women of good will from various communities and faiths to collaborate in advancing the common good. This is all more important where such coalitions are those that can heal a society of the wounds that have been inflicted by the crude identity politics of religion and ethnicity. The case for engagement I think is best encapsulated by the famous dictum put forward by Edmund Burke that all that is necessary for evil to triumph is that good men and good women do nothing. History teaches us that everywhere there has been national transformation it has been brought about by public spirited men and women of good will who inspired by their belief in a higher purpose than their own profit have entered the public square to champion the common good. Let me conclude by recalling the words of His Holiness Pope John Paul II on his visit to Nigeria in 1982 in an address which he gave at the State House in Lagos. On that occasion His Holiness said that yours is a land of promise, a land of hope. In its efforts to develop it is bound to suffer the pressures that so often arise from conflicting demands and from the sheer magnitude of the task. Only the spirited efforts of all citizens under the enlightened leadership can overcome difficulties such as this. Only the harnessing of all the forces for the common good in true respect of the supreme values of the spirit will make a nation great and will make a happy dwelling place for its people. The glory of government is the well-being, the peace and joy of the government. And if I may briefly dwell on the idea that our country is a land of promise and hope then I will submit that our greatest adversary in our task of national renewal is that feeling of hopelessness. And I think it was alluded to in the contribution of the father I know. It is that feeling of hopelessness, a sense of futility that sometimes almost overwhelms us. That feeling that all hope is lost, there is nothing more. Things have come to an end. That feeling of despondency, that despair is one that we cannot afford to wallow in. We cannot indulge ourselves in despondency and despair. There is hope and there is much work to be done. Contrary to the opinions in some quarters, this house will not fall. It has been built and needs yet many more people to commit to building the sort of nation that we want. The throes and palms of death, of birth, the throes and palms of birth must not be interpreted as the pains of impending death. We are, by the grace of God, more than able to overcome our present difficulties and we will overcome them. I know that Professor Patitoumi frequently invokes the imagery of Nehemiah, the biblical hero, and I've heard him refer to him so often, and who it was who led the effort to rebuild his country. And I think that this is an entirely appropriate metaphor for the necessity of constructing our nation. Our nation also needs construction. Our nation needs construction and can be constructed. Men and women of good will, just like Nehemiah, calling together people to say, let us build, let us arise and build our nation. And I call upon you also, let us arise and build our nation. A nation can be built. Why are we men and women of faith? If we give up so easily, if we despair, we are a nation, we are a nation of men and women of hope, and we must be able to say that this nation can be built and we will build it. But before I close, let me offer felicitations to a builder, his evidence cardinal John Onoeko, who I'm told is his birthday tomorrow. And I join you in celebrating a leader whose contributions to the growth and faith and all and to our national development is clearly indelible. I commend again the organizers, the Catholic Action Nigeria and Catholic politicians and business leaders for putting together this very important forum. It's my prayer that the mission to which you have been called will result in the infringement of the common good in every area of our national life. Thank you very much for listening.