“The Rome Matters” ….by Rev.Father Omokugbo Ojeifo

“NIGERIANS AND MAJORING IN THE MINOR”

1.There has been such a fuss on social media following President Tinubu’s meeting with a senior Vatican official erroneously claimed to be the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

2.The photo that accompanied the post by Tinubu’s media handlers was that of Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church. Perhaps the president’s media team could have properly verified the identity of the person before making the post.

3.It is an error. And there should be no fuss about it. It doesn’t in any way show that the President could not have met the Vatican Secretary of State. He probably did and even took pictures, but the wrong pictures were posted.

4.Did the Holy See invite the Nigerian Head of State to the Inauguration of Pope Leo XIV? Yes. That’s standard Vatican diplomatic practice. All Heads of State and Government around the world are usually invited.

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5.The official invitation letter to President Tinubu was sent by the Vatican Secretary of State who even made reference to the time he worked as Secretary of the Apostolic Nunciature in Lagos in the late 1980s. So the invitation was well tailored to President Tinubu.

6.At least, now that we can confirm from the video below that President Tinubu met the Pope, I hope we can all rest. Often we just take solace in discrediting everything Nigerian because of our disdain for the President.

7.If we were to even take a moment and focus on Tinubu’s photo with Cardinal Farrell, we can learn a thing or two. While all appointive curial offices, including that of the Secretary of State, become vacant at the death of a Pope, the Camerlengo is the only office that remains intact. So the Cardinal that President Tinubu had a photo with is not just anybody. He was the prelate that administered the Holy See following Pope Francis’s death leading up to the election of Pope Leo XIV.

8.Mistakes are what they are; and should be regretted. You correct the mistake and move on. Not all this foul air of negativity and disdain. At the end of the day, it’s about our country, not just about who sits in Aso Rock. They come and go.”