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In one certain Parish, the late Bishop Michael Eneja of Nsukka Catholic Diocese was on a Pastoral visit. That faithful late afternoon, the weather was very hot, such that staying inside the Church or Hall was not an option at all. The Saintly Bishop decided to have his teaching outside, under the avocado pea tree at the center of Church premises.
This impromptu change of arrangement caused a stir, occasioning a lot of running around for the Parish PRIEST and other key officers of the Parish council.
The major drama happened when the Parish PRIEST returned with a conference table and discovered that the Bishop had already picked up a broom at the front of the Church and started sweeping.
On sighting the Bishop bending down with a broom in his hand sweeping, the Parish PRIEST shouted “My Lord, please don’t do that to me! Give me the broom, let me do the sweeping myself!”
Despite the Priest’s insistence, the Bishop refused to allow him. On the contrary, he said to the priest, “Go and get your own broom.”
In obedience, the Parish PRIEST went and picked up his own broom and started sweeping. It did not take long before the catechist arrived at the scene and saw both His Lordship and the Parish PRIEST sweeping, and he nearly fainted!
The catechist rushed the Parish priest to collect the broom from him but the PRIEST told him, “Go and get your own broom.”
The same continued until everyone who came for the conference got their own broom. Just within minutes the whole compound was clean and the Bishop continued with his catechetical instruction.
I think Nigeria’s problem can be solved with all of us g”our own brooms” and joining in the sweeping of the mess we found ourselves.
If everybody is to sweep their corner, the whole nation would be sparkling clean within minutes. It is all about starting small and starting it by yourself now. We can still do it. Let’s do it!. Together, we can!
Criticism without working out solutions to our problems will not get us anywhere!
‘Building a Greater Nation Start with me”
Written by Lovendah Otache
