Caritas

THE LAST BUT NOT THE LEAST!

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Beloved Friends and Colleagues!
 
1. Please,  I send you warm greetings from the cold city of Berlin- the capital of Germany.  I guess some of you would remember the city of Berlin with some mixed feelings.  It was in Berlin,  in 1885, that the African countries including Nigeria were balkanized- portioned by the imperial European governments.
In other words,  it was in Berlin that European government shared among themselves African countries to oppress and dominate as they would deem fit. By that single action,  most African countries lost their sovereignty and the liberty to exist and operate as free and sovereign nations. We became slaves to foreign powers. 
 
2. Although the period of the partition has come and gone, but the effect of that atrocity is still rife around us today. Unfortunately, a typical African man or woman, consciously or unconsciously feels somehow inferior to a white man or woman as if inferiority complex was ingrained in one’ s system,  even when the so-called white man or woman has nothing absolutely to show for it. We must watch out against this dangerous form of modern slavery in our interactions with them. 
 
3. We thank God,  a new time had dawned.  Most of the African countries and nations have been emancipated. The narratives have long been changed. Most African countries including Nigeria are independent today and can determine their own course of action and history. But how i wish these were true, in word and deed. Be that as it may, the price of liberty, remains,  eternal vigilance. We would like to elaborate on this in due course. 
 
4. I was invited in Berlin by the European Migration Policy Institute via German Institute for International Cooperation [GIZ], to participate in the Round table conversation of the European Community of Practice on Voluntary Return and Sustainable Reintegration. I found the invitation an auspicious opportunity,  not only to detail on what Caritas Nigeria was doing in that regard,  but also to contribute to the conversation on the legitimacy of human mobility, and the bottle necks of protocols that tend to diminish the avowed sovereignty of some of the developing nations.
 
5. I would be requesting your solidarity and support to find the appropriate disposition for an impactful engagement with the organisers and the 47 participants chosen and invited from across 13 nations of the world. 
 
Other matters arising:
 
a. I would like to thank the central organising committee of the just concluded Caritas Nigeria Day celebrations under the able leadership of Ms Ijeoma Effanga and her wonderful team for a job well done. It was simply wonderful.  As a reward for the good job done, we are asking the team to do us the same services for the next celebrations coming up on Friday the 22nd of September 2023, God keeping us alive and together. 
 
b. Meanwhile,  every state including the HQ would be required to articulate a report on the celebrations,  delineating gaps experienced, including what went well and what could be improved upon, and send same to the committee,  putting the Executive management in copy, on or before 30th of September 2022. A comprehensive report would then be sent to the Executive Secretary. 
 
c. Today is the last Sunday Digest in the current life cycle of the 4GATES program. There is still a pain lingering in my heart, about the plight of Staff from across the States,  who would not be absorbed in the upcoming Access programme of 1st October2022. We have continued to explore opportunities,  but it has become largely evident that we cannot effectively absorb our current HR capacity into the Access programme. It is most regrettable. 
 
d. In case, you would not be working with us from the 1st of October 2022, I wish you all the best in the pursuit of your career, and ask God to bless and prosper your ways, that you would find a place, he has already prepared for you. 
 
Kindly do not leave us with any form of bitterness in order to find the place God has reserved for you. Remember also to hand in all your work tools without any form of coercion in order not to block the free flow of God’s abounding solicitude on your behalf. 
 
Shalom 
Sincerely yours in the Service of Caritas!
 
Uchechukwu Fr Obodo

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