I am happy to be able to join you here in Port Harcourt for the SIGNIS Convention. Reflecting on your theme, which is “Communication in the Nigeria Church: Past, Present and Future” offers us opportunity to reflect on what those before us have achieved, what we are doing now and the agenda we would like to set for those coming after us. It is comes at the moment when history is no longer taught in our schools and we are faced with the situation where we remain neophytes without past in the Communications apostolate. Our African elders say, “A man who does not know where the rain began to beat him cannot say where he dried his body.” Let the participants rise from this Convention with integral information about Communications Apostolate in Nigeria, better equipped to deal with the present and prepare for the future.
            I salute various constituent bodies here: Directors of Communications in dioceses and Religious Congregations, CAMPAN, CAEAN, Catholic ICT Practitioners and, in a special way, Catholic Communications Lecturers. I know that our National Director, Padre Mike Nsikak Umoh, being an ex-alumnus, is very proud of CESSAC.
            Rev. Fr Prof. Walter Ihejirika is doing very well as the head of SIGNIS Africa. I cannot easily forget the well-coordinated Conference he organized in Ethiopia in 2019. I shall be delighted to read his keynote address to this Convention.
            I find it very interesting how the functions of some of us were creatively given. Special Guest of Honour, Chief Host, Special Guest, Host and LOC Chairman. We have many people in this hall, despite the insecurity threats.
Very Rev. Fr. Dr Patrick Alumuku and your team, I thank you for bringing us together . I have known you for several years as a very hard working person. Let me tell you: I enjoy watching the Catholic Television Abuja. You have managed to create and run a catholic television studio which many big countries have not succeeded in doing.
I thank in a special way the Directors in various dioceses of Nigeria and the Religious Institutes. I have watched with great interest the creativity exhibited by some of you. Many of us are able to receive some of the diocesan publications through WhatsApp: the Catholic Herald, Sunday Weekly Independent (Lady Leta you represent well the women in the Media), Fides Newspaper, etc.. Some of you help spread the message of your various dioceses: Sokoto, Nsukka. Enugu diocese came alive during the last Plenary. I am looking forward to more things from them
In this connection, I would like praise Sir Prince Soji Robert Olagunju. His Lumen Christi television is one of the greatest things that have happened to Nigeria. Keep it up. May God abundantly bless you and all the viewers of DSTV Channel 350.
             Dear friends, we have come a long way in our journey of mass communication. From oral communication person to person,, to era of transistor radio to black and white television to few hours 7.pm to 12 midnight television broadcast, to twenty four hour broadcast with breaking news from time to time. And now, the communication apostolate is no longer for professionals only. With internet, with mobile phone, and different apps, professionals and non-experts can push out information any time anywhere. The journey from the past to the present has been exciting. The future promises even more.
            I am amazed how the modern means of the social media have brought us closer to one another, for good and for bad. WhatsApp and Facebook, govern our way of life today. Both systems are controlled by the same developer. We are told when to come out and when to stay indoors. Our friends and enemies are created for us. Our decisions in the society are controlled.
            What has brought us together is the simple fact that we are Catholics who want to express and promote our faith through what we do for a living or for passion. According to your various competences, capacities, and goals, let me remind you that as Christians, and in particular Catholics, your mission is to announce the Good News of Christ. Let the values of the Gospel guide how you see and interpret events in the world.
            Through your channels of communication, I urge you to articulate the message of the Church to all who listen and watch your output. What does the Catholic Church in Nigeria want?

• Love for all.
• Respect for human life.
• Dignity of every human Being
• Justice and Peace: equity.
• Freedom of choice of one’s religion
• Freedom of worship
• Honesty in public service
• Security
• Good governance
• Peaceful coexistence
• Free and fair mechanism for the change of government.

 
            With reference to agitation for self-determination, it belongs to every human being to decide with whom to associate. The Church is universal. Inside the Church there is no Jew or Gentile. All are one. The doors of the church are open to all ethnic groups, nationalities. We do not sort the Church members according to their origins or status.
During the civil war in Nigeria, it may interest you to know that the Bishops of Nigeria and then Biafra met several times in Rome to explore ways to promote the Gospel. They celebrated with the Holy Father. They made common statements.
          Following the long practice of the Church, when it comes to the matter of geography, the Church does not take a stand for or against the choice of individuals or any group of persons. Carefully put, the Church does not make the geography of the world, she (the Church) follows it. The duty of the Church is to promote the Gospel values of love, peace, truth, honesty, and so on.
 
            When I met with the Diocesan Directors earlier this year, I talked about passion. If money is what made you to become a Media person, then you are in a wrong place. You must have the burning desire to share information with people and to guide their reflection on the events of life. Put simply, you must have the desire to inform and form. To be a journalist is to have a vocation always  inform and form. This is grossly missing in Nigeria.
            I want to thank all of you who are involved in disseminating information in our country. I follow with great concern the efforts by the CAMPAN and the CAEAN to respond to the many challenges that come their way. Inadequate funding, lack of modern/adequate equipment, poor salary - leading to the temptation to make quick money to keep food on the table… Let me add, greed to make big money immediately. These diminish the quality of our output.
 
            Let me end these remarks by thanking you again for your presence.