T
he Holy Father and Vicar of the Church of Rome (the humble title he much prefers) Pope Francis I left Davos on the eve of the World Economic Forum in order to attend to urgent matters at the Vatican. However, he is determined to redress matters by attending the World Economic Forum on Africa in Abuja (Nigeria) which is scheduled to hold from 7th to 9th May 2014.
The theme: “Forging Inclusive Growth, Creating Jobs” is a subject which is very close to the Pontiff’s heart. The Holy Father is endowed with a big heart and gracious soul. What further proof do we require after watching Pope Francis I plant a big kiss on a child, Gondreau’s 8-year old, Dominic with cerebral palsy and a grown up man, Vinicio Riva whose face had been brutally ravaged by neurofibromatosis.
The number one real reason the Holy Father is coming to Nigeria is to demonstrate solidarity with Nigerian Christians who have been savagely traumatized by the relentless upsurge of Boko Haram insurgents. The Islamic fundamentalists have been slaughtering human beings, kidnapping children, burning churches, and bombing police stations as well as military zones. The carnage and mayhem are unprecedented.
Secondly, the Pontiff will address the World Economic Forum on Africa on a topic of his own choice:
“HALF TRUTH IS A FULL LIE”
The advance text of the Holy Father’s doctrine which enjoins all catholics to embrace whole-heartedly is absolutely riveting.
The third leg of the Pope’s mission to Nigeria is the over-domination of the accountancy profession by four international firms (“The Big Four”) while the rest have to scavenge for whatever is left over.
To this end, following the protest by the “Seventy Elder Senior Citizens” (some of whom are yet to be paid their gratuity, pension and other retirement benefits by the “Big Four”) the Vatican has availed itself of the Freedom Of Information Act. The list of who audits whom (and what) and the fees being charged is explosive stuff – especially the section on consultancy fees being charged with reckless abandon without caring about conflict of interest even when the companies and organizations are also audit clients.
What is really dynamite stuff is the section that lists clients which were previously served by non – “Big Four” accountancy firms but have been hijacked – mostly on account of the small firms’ insistence on doing a thorough audit. The price they have had to pay is horrendous. Those victims sometimes end up driving taxi cabs or doing menial jobs such as plumbing, carpentry, bricklaying, selling “pure water” or hawking recharge cards on the streets.
Then of course there is a long list of audit failures:
• Enron
• Worldcom
• Global Crossing
• Freddie Mac
• Halliburton
• Merrill Lynch
• Olympus Corporation
• Lehman Brothers
• Guinness Affair
• Halliburton
• Xerox
They are all there in the Red Book. So also is a long list of clients who are sufficiently enraged by the outcome of consultancy assignments awarded to the “Big Four”.
Pope Francis I is not ready to be hoodwinked. He wants all the facts and figures. The Holy Father is adamant on two critical issues:
(i) Proper verification / and audit
(ii) and Due Process.
In order to ensure that Due Process is followed, the Pontiff will hold three closed door sessions with Chartered Accountants. The first session is with the “Seventy Senior Elder Citizens”. The second session is with the “Big Four” accounting firms and the third session is with the President of Nigeria; The Governor of the Central Bank; Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation; Minister of Finance; the Auditor-General of the Federation; the Accountant-General of the Federation; and the Director-General Securities and Exchange Commission strictly on condition that there is a commitment by all concerned to the new doctrine:
“HALF TRUTH IS A FULL LIE”
Following the departure of the Holy Father from Davos, he delegated full powers to John Cardinal Onaiyekan of Nigeria who was also celebrating his 70th birthday (like the Seventy Senior Elder Citizens) to speak on the theme:
HALF TRUTH IS A FULL LIE
The Cardinal rose to the occasion with a scholarly and brilliant exposition:
“I agree with Mr Klaus Schwab the Founder of the World Economic Forum that history teaches us that capitalism cannot survive if income and wealth become concentrated in too few hands.
Regardless, I insist that the world’s business and financial leaders must give religion, faith, and ethics a chance to make their own important contribution, especially in helping the managers of the global economy to shape the contours of the moral framework which is imperative for a just distribution of wealth.
Whatever decisions and discussions may be going on at the level of world economy, and politics, there should be room for religions and the issues of values and morality. Even though they may not know how to handle it – maybe that is why you have invited me, and I am very happy to come, and to chip in my own little advice on how you could best integrate the religious – moral discourse into the kind of discussion that is happening here in Davos. There are many world religions, but when it comes to the basic norms, the basic ideas that should make the world a better place, there is a wide margin of common grounds among us and that is the discovery we make with joy every day. That is why I, a Catholic Cardinal am here in Davos.
More importantly, I am here to deliver a straight forward message from the Holy Father, Pope Francis I. God truly loves the poor and enjoins you all to care for the wretched and downtrodden so that on the day of judgement, our Father in Heaven will deliver judgement in your favour. Brethren, remember:
“Half Truth Is A Full Lie”.
He was rewarded with a standing ovation – not necessarily for the Cardinal himself but for transmission to the Holy Father who sent him on the pilgrimage to the citadel of power and capitalism armed only with his Bible and his faith in the abundant blessings and limitless mercies of the Almighty.
A fourth item has been added to the agenda of Pope Francis I regarding his visit to Nigeria – Oil Theft in the Niger-Delta Area. The Vatican is dumbfounded by the figures being quoted by the IOC’s (International Oil Companies). Nigeria may be losing as much as 30 percent of its oil revenues to gangsters, wayfarers and international crooks. According to a report by a London based Think Tank [Chatam House], Nigeria lost at least 100,000 barrels of oil per day (about 5 per cent of total output) in the first quarter of 2013 to theft from onshore and swamp operations alone. The real tragedy is that the warlords – Boko Haram in the North and oil thieves in the South want to carve up the country into two as booty to be shared. Just watch the body language.
Ironically, a fifth dimension has crept into the equation – the Vatican is mulling over pleading for mercy for Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi who has been suspended as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria an opportunity to demonstrate in practical terms what the Holy Father firmly believes:
The Lord forgives all sinners who humbly confess all their sins.
J.K Randle
