BEING a non-Catholic, I have not always followed nor even read papal encyclical until now. And was it an enormous surprise? The 184 page Pope Francis encyclical was a very powerful piece: extremely well written and with the authority of a great leader. It has great wisdom; it is sensitive, insightful, and lucid even when discussing very scientific and technical subjects.

If you love elevated language, good turn of phrase, dialectics and syntax, Pope Francis’ encyclical met all of those and more. Unsurprisingly, the power of the argument contained in the encyclical, not less the subject matter, elicited global response. Days before the publication of the  encyclical, the global media went into frenzied speculations on its content — in fact an Italian newspaper, L’ Espresso, leaked its content before the due day. Understandably, the reaction to the encyclical was mixed. Across the world except perhaps in Nigeria and Africa, the continent that incidentally is most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, there was scarcely any response! Elsewhere politicians, scientists, environmental activists, etc, weighed in forcefully with their opinion.

Without being derisive this is another failure by Africa to speak up and be counted. Endorsing Pope Francis’ powerful reflections on climate change was another opportunity we missed. By Africa’s  silence, the continent has further strengthened its reputation as a laggard that is animated only when issues of money arise. It appears on the matter of climate change, Africa’s agenda is money. Yet, as Pope Francis was eloquently formulating a position that underscores the plight of Africa’s dismal condition in the face of the ravages of climate change; the continent was missing in action. This is sad.

As Nigeria and Africa sleep, in the rest of the world, various peoples and interest groups were taking positions on climate change. Three perhaps absurd reactions came from two American politicians—actually the three men are Catholics and belong to the Republican Party and they are all gunning for the American presidency in 2016. Rick Santorum wanted the Pope to leave science of climate change to scientists, but was reminded that Pope Francis was not actually ignorant on the subject, that he has a Master’s degree in Chemistry.  The other political figure was Jeb Bush, who waffled something to the effect that the Pope should not get into political issues since he is not a political leader. No one fully understood what Jeb Bush’s comments meant and it was dismissed as not making much sense. Marco Rubio shadow boxed on this issue. The Republican Party is known for being very edgy on the issue of climate change.

This is not difficult to understand. American big business establishment have always been reluctant to embrace climate change, because doing so will mean accepting responsibility that man and their business model is the source of climate change. A point, the papal encyclical highlighted over and over.

Those who wanted to discredit the Pope labelled him anti-capitalist. Yet, any objective reading of the encyclical would show that the document was not by any means anti-capitalism. Rather Pope Francis expressed his thoughts with a profundity expected of a leader of a major institution like the Roman Catholic Church, who is concerned about the world and the direction the world is going.

For lovers of a better world and its future and those not blinded by material quest, Pope Francis clearly spoke their minds, when he said: “The Earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth. In many parts of the planet, the elderly lament that once beautiful landscapes are now covered with rubbish…Humanity is called to take note of the need for changes in lifestyle and changes in methods of production and consumption to combat this warming, or at least the human causes that produce and accentuate it. Numerous scientific studies indicate that the greater part of the global warming in recent decades is due to the great concentration of greenhouse gases…given off above all because of human activity.”

Pope Francis captured the total neglect of the environment, the poor human and health condition of a typical third world country like Nigeria, when he noted: “Some forms of pollution are part of people’s daily experience. Exposure to atmospheric pollutants produces a broad spectrum of health hazards, especially for the poor, and causes millions of premature deaths. People take sick, for example, from breathing high levels of smoke from fuels used in cooking or heating. There is also pollution that affects everyone, caused by transport, industrial fumes, substances which contribute to the acidification of soil and water, fertilizers, insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and agrotoxins in general. Technology, which, linked to business interests, is presented as the only way”.

Man’s failure to control his greed and selfishness is a major theme of this paper and Pope Francis returned to it a number of times: uncontrolled production, waste, excessive consummation and neglect of the earth.  Clearly, materialism has become the core value of man without a care for the earth’s resources and lacking proper judgement that ultimately we are mere inheritors of the earth, which we are obligated to bequeath in good condition to the next generation. “The attitudes that stand in the way of a solution, even among believers, range from negation of the problem, to indifference, to convenient resignation or blind faith in technical solutions. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she “groans in travail” (Rom 8:22). We have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the earth (cf. Gen 2:7); our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air and we receive life and refreshment from her waters.

Every effort to protect and improve our world entails profound changes in “lifestyles, models of production and consumption, and the estab­lished structures of power which today govern societies.Authentic human development has a moral character. It presumes full respect for the human person, but it must also be concerned for the world around us.”

Pope Francis laments our inability to deal with this problem adding: “Regrettably, many efforts to seek concrete solutions to the environmental cri­sis have proved ineffective, not only because of powerful opposition but also because of a more general lack of interest. The exploitation of the planet has already exceeded acceptable limits and we still have not solved the problem of poverty.”

In reading the encyclical, it is hard not to pause and reflect on the following with respect to Nigeria and how this country has conducted its affairs: “For poor countries, the priorities must be to eliminate extreme poverty and to promote the social development of their people. At the same time, they need to acknowledge the scandalous level of consumption in some privileged sectors of their population and to combat corruption more effectively”, Pope Francis notes. Does this sound familiar? Of course, it should about Nigeria. The question of poor governance and corruption are regular standard topics in the country. Even if Pope Francis did not mention Nigeria, his assessment speaksabout Nigeria.

While Pope Francis acknowledges the great stride science and technology have brought to the human society, he warns those who place their absolute trust in technology, explaining that: “Technology tends to absorb everything into its ironclad logic, and those who are surrounded with technology “know full well that it moves forward in the final analysis neither for profit nor for the well-being of the human race”, that “in the most radical sense of the term power is its motive – a lordship over all”. This bears repeating, technology’s ultimate objective is power.

Elaborating further Pope Francis expresses his deep mistrust of man’s capacity to control so much of the power technology confers on him. “There is a tendency to believe that every increase in power means “an increase of ‘pro­gress’ itself”, an advance in “security, usefulness, welfare and vigour; …an assimilation of new values into the stream of culture”, as if reality, goodness and truth automatically flow from tech­nological and economic power as such. The fact is that: “contemporary man has not been trained to use power well”, because our immense tech­nological development has not been accompa­nied by a development in human responsibility, values and conscience.

Our freedom fades when it is handed over to the blind forces of the un­conscious; of immediate needs, of self-interest, and of violence. In this sense, we stand naked and exposed in the face of our ever-increasing power, lacking the wherewithal to control it. We have certain superficial mechanisms, but we can­not claim to have a sound ethics, a culture and spirituality genuinely capable of setting limits and teaching clear-minded self-restraint.” This is a truly frightening insight, which no reflective man should ignore. Pope Francis’ powerful comments should set every human being thinking. I hope it does. I hope we can sit back and rethink the world for our sake and the future of unborn generations. This is by no means a call to abandon technological evolution—far from it. The point is that power without restraint even, technological power is troubling and there is need for caution.

As it is, it is not difficult to situate Nigeria. Nigeria is not showing leadership in the struggle to combat climate change. So far, there appears to be no indication that the country fully appreciates the issues and are ready to harness the opportunities inherent in combating climate change. Both from policy and program perspective, the average Nigerian views climate change as exoteric. Yet this can be the basis of a transition in our energy systems, farming methods, infrastructure and industrial strategy on a sustainable basis and from it reduce poverty, create employmentwhile being good caretakers of the earth as Pope Francis had urged.

Overall, I have not read a more inspiring interpretation of human civilization, morality, technology, science, power — its dimension and uses. Pope Francis’ encyclical is an awesome intervention — truly awesome, in every respect.

Mr Paul Odiliwas formerly Delta State Green Economy Project Lead