@emeka.don: A DOCTORATE IN ETHICS, A LESSON IN INTOLERANCE📌 Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia presents an intriguing study in education, priesthood, politics—and the limits of all three. 1. He reportedly spent about 13 years in seminary formation. 2. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1990, 36 years ago. 3. He studied Religious Education, Psychology and Counselling at Fordham University, followed by Biomedical Ethics at Duquesne University, where he eventually earned a doctorate. 4. That is an impressive level of academic and religious formation for one individual. 5. Theology is meant to teach morality. 6. Psychology seeks to explain human behaviour. 7. Counselling is rooted in empathy and understanding. 8. Biomedical ethics emphasizes human dignity, autonomy and responsibility. 9. And the priesthood gave him more than three decades to preach humility, tolerance, compassion and love of neighbour. 10. Then politics arrived—and with it, perhaps, the final examination. 11. In 2022, Alia purchased the APC's ₦50 million governorship nomination form despite reported admonitions from his bishop. 12. The Catholic Diocese of Gboko subsequently suspended him from public ministry because Catholic canon law generally restricts priests from exercising partisan political power. 13. Alia went ahead with his political ambition, contested the election and eventually became governor of Benue State. 14. There is an irony in that journey. 15. Benue had previously produced another priest-governor, Rev. Fr. Moses Adasu, who became governor in 1992. 16. Adasu famously said he entered politics to “baptise politics.” His administration established Benue State University before the military coup of 1993 brought his government to an end. He later returned to priestly ministry. 17. So, returning to the cassock after political office is not without precedent. 18. Yet today, Peter Obi enters Benue and his convoy is reportedly blocked by suspected thugs. 19. Obi has alleged political sponsorship, while Governor Alia's government has denied involvement. That allegation remains disputed. 20. But the incident itself raises an uncomfortable question: What exactly did all those years of education, priestly formation and study of ethics produce if political opposition can still descend into this kind of hostility? 21. Education can sharpen the mind. 22. Ordination can confer a sacred responsibility. 23. A doctorate can demonstrate extraordinary academic achievement. 24. But none of these, by themselves, can manufacture character. 25. And perhaps that is the most painful lesson in Alia's political journey: You can spend decades studying ethics, morality, psychology and human dignity, only to arrive at the doors of political power and discover that tolerance—the very lesson you were expected to embody—was the examination you never prepared for. #viral #hyacinthalia #peterobi #benuestate #nigeria

Emeka Don

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Tuesday 08 September 2026 21:28:01 GMT