ABSTRACT
The church never considers herself
not concerned with human reality. Though she is
divine she has human elements. She is
therefore involved in human communal affairs. She cannot keep aloof from
the question of development of the
community. In the words of the fathers of Vatican
II, “the joy and hope, the grief and anguish of the men of our time, especially of those
who are poor or afflicted in any
way, are the joy and hope, the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ
as well” (GS :1). From the
research it is safe to conclude that the Church’s involvement in development of the community is necessitated by her solidarity with the
human conditions. The primary source of data
also enables the researcher to conclude
that the Church is significantly
involved in development of the
community. It shows that there is no area
of development of the community
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The multi-dimensional aspects of
development in the various facets of the Nigerian Society have received the
attention of the Church and still beckon on the Church for dialogue, critical
and constructive dynamism if the church must continue to be relevant today and
into the future. Indeed the history of the Church in Nigeria does not make full
appreciative sense without a decisive entry for the better into the economic,
cultural and socio-political development of the nation (Onwuanibe, 1995). Only
with such vigorous engagement for the authentic progress and development of the
nation can the Church’s message be welcome in the seeking of solutions to
emergent development problems facing the country. Ultimately, human development
is about the realization of potential. It is about what people can do and what
they can become--their capabilities and about the freedom they have to exercise
real choices in their lives.
The Holy Ghost Fathers had been in
Eastern Nigerian for about eighty-five years. Not until after the
Nigeria-Biafra war has their influence been somewhat minimized. Arriving
originally from France in 1885, the Roman RCCG Missionaries exerted a
considerable influence on the lives of the people of the region far out of
proportion to their number. They became a factor to reckon with in the history
of the development of the region.
The former Eastern Nigeria has been
carved out into nine separate States
of Abia, Anambra, Abuja, Ebonyi, Imo, Akwa-Ibom, Cross-River, Rivers and
Bayelsa. The missionary efforts of the Holy Ghost Congregation covered the
above-mentioned areas with their take-off point at Onitsha, Anambra State.
There were only four missionaries who arrived at Onitsha in 1885. By 1918,
there were a total of thirty-two Roman
RCCG missionaries—Priests, Brothers and Sisters. The beginning of the Church in Nigeria was slow and arduous, but persistent as those great
missionaries such as Fr. Leon Alexander Lejeune, Monsignor Pierre Le Berre, Fr.
Joseph Lutz, Fr. Horne, Brothers Hermas and Jean-Gotto, Mr. Charles Townsend
and Bishop Shanahan courageously made their way into the hinterland to bring
the light of Christian faith in Nigeria especially in Eastern Nigeria in the early 1900s (Onwuanibe, 1995, 66). The missionary
activities continued to spread to
reach the remote part of Igboland, Efikland and other parts of Eastern Nigeria.
The impact of the Church can be felt in the dismantling of inhuman practices and institutions such
as slavery, human sacrifice, killing of twins, and in the establishment of Christian villages which eventually gave
way to schools for formal education.
Translation of the Gospel into the vernacular languages and the production of catechisms in vernacular languages showed the good sense of recognizing the
native culture, for language or tongue is a
main vehicle of culture and development. Many local customs were banned as
“pagan” and there is need today for
inculturation in terms of appraising
and recognizing good traditional values (Onwuanibe, 1995).
By building schools which range from
the primary to secondary levels the
Church recognized the importance of education in
development. The Church has also had a programme of medical, social and
personality development. She lays great emphasis especially through the voices
of recent ecclesiastical hierarchy on the determining role of a just and
widespread development for all the corners of
the globe. She sees this condition as a prerequisite for world
peace via international solidarity.
She even gives development a new name: peace (Paul VI, 1967). The Church
therefore stresses on the true condition of integral development, one that does
not disfigure the human person by a neglect of any of the important
constituents of his personality.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Communities in Nigeria have been
bedeviled by numerous development challenges which include: severe economic,
political and social crises, decline in the standard of education, moral and
infrastructural decay, cultural crisis predicated on the fact that traditional
values in the people’s cultures have been heavily impacted by materialism,
science and technology and ideologies. Health facilities are in total decay.
All these problems call to question The
role and contribution of the Church in still contributing to the provision of
needed succor in these problem areas. In view of these problems and issues, the
big question is the relevance of the Church in the present situation. Since
relevance is an important feature of any meaningful phenomenon, event or
institution, especially in the sphere of human life, the Church’s role in the
solution of problems in the 21st century Nigerian society may be
definitive in the justification of its existence among the Nigerian people.
Moving from the great signs of
vitality and great contributions of the
Church to development of the community
since the advent of the early missionaries to Eastern Nigerian, this work will
look at The role and contribution of the Church in Nigeria today and set how it
can help address itself to several problems of poverty and other social problems facing the people and see how
it can further join the government
and other stakeholders in bringing
sustainable development among the people for which it was a source of hope in the past.
The specific objectives of the study include:
1.
To
identify to what extent the Church can
contribute to development of the community.
2.
To
determine to what extent the Church
has been vital and relevant in development
of the community of Nigeria.
3.
To
determine the problems of development
still facing the Church and how it can
still contribute in developing the
communities in Nigeria.
-
Has
the Church played any role in development
of the community in FCT?
-
To
what extent has the Church been relevant in
development of the community of FCT?
-
How
can the Church help provide sustainable development in FCT in the 21st
century?
HYPOTHESES
Ho The Church has played a significant role in the development of the community of FCT.
H1 The Church has not played
a significant role in the development
of the community of FCT.
This study is significant in various ways:
1.
It
will provide valuable insights into existing relationship between the
government and the church in providing
development in our rural
communities.
2.
It
will bring to the fore the prominent roles the Church have been playing in development since she made her advent
and the situation today.
3.
It
could also motivate the various
stakeholders in development of the
community to partner well with the Church in
bringing development to the grassroots.
4.
It
will add to existing knowledge and
equally serve as a benchmark for further studies.
5.
It
will serve as a model to other NGOs in their
contributions to development of the community.
6.
It
could also bring to the knowledge of
other religions that religion is not
just “otherworldly,” that they work
for the material and psychological well being of men and women when they are
being well practised.
To determine and study the various
roles the redeemed Christian church of God (RCCG) has been playing in the field
of development in Nigeria. It is restricted to the socio-economic, cultural and
political roles of the Church especially in FCT. The choice of FCT is based on
the centrality of the state, the capital of Nigeria.
Among the limitations include, time, resources, human factor,
limited data and information.
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Item Type: Project Material | Attribute: 115 pages | Chapters: 1-5
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