SAMOA Agreement: Seek amendment or withdraw assent – Catholic Bishops to FG

The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria has called on the Federal Government to immediately seek amendments to the Samoa Agreement or withdraw its assent.

The CBCN’s appeal is contained in a statement titled ‘Threats to the sovereignty and values of Nigeria in the Samoa Agreement’ jointly signed by President of the Conference and Archbishop of Owerri, Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji and the Secretary and Bishop of Uromi, Donatus A. Ogun, respectively, on Thursday.

The Catholic bishops believed that Nigeria’s civil authorities may not be fully aware of the implications of the nuanced language in the document that threatened the nation’s sovereignty and values.

They noted that as watchmen and guides, deeply committed to the sound moral, religious, and cultural growth of the country, they are calling on the government to, as a matter of urgency, propose an amendment of the Agreement or withdraw from it.

The clerics stated that though the agreement looks innocuous and attractive on the surface, underneath it, is carefully blended with post-modern secularistic ideologies that significantly undermine the moral, cultural, and religious beliefs of Nigerian citizens.

According to the Bishops, “Given that Nigeria has signed the Samoa Document, we call on the government to propose an insertion of a substantive article in the general Agreement and the African Regional Protocol thus:

“Nothing in this binding Agreement can be interpreted to include any obligations regarding sexual orientation, gender identity, comprehensive sexuality education, abortion, contraception, legalisation of prostitution, same-sex marriage, or sexual ‘rights’ for children.

“If Nigeria takes the lead in calling for amendments to the SAMOA Agreement and its protocols, other states in the African Caribbean and Pacific regions may more likely follow suit.”

According to them, “We are concerned that our civil authorities may not be fully aware of the implications of the nuanced language in the document, which threaten our national sovereignty and values.”

The Bishops further stated that “The agreement looks innocuous and attractive on the surface but underneath it is carefully blended with post-modern secularistic ideologies that significantly undermine the moral, cultural, and religious beliefs of Nigerian citizens.

“We are concerned that our civil authorities may not be fully aware of the implications of the nuanced language in the document, which threaten our national sovereignty and values.

“We, the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria, as watchmen and guides (cf Ezekiel 3: 17), deeply committed to the sound moral, religious, and cultural growth of our dear country, hereby clearly highlight what the Samoa Document portends for the future of Nigeria and Nigerians and call on our government to, as a matter of urgency, propose an amendment of the Agreement or withdraw from it”.

The statement noted that under article 98.3 of the Samoa Agreement, by signing it, Nigeria bound itself to recognise the validity of any measure taken to implement the Agreement after the date of its entry into force.

It pointed out that most of Africa has always counted on the leadership of Nigeria to contest anti-life, anti-family, anti-culture and anti-African values at the United Nations (UN).