COVID-19 Lockdown and the Needs of Catholic Christians—Perspective from one Diocese

The ravaging fears, force of infection, and death arising from COVID-19 pandemic led to the lockdown of virtually every aspect of society. In readiness for the possible unknown arising from the lockdown policy, many people resorted to stocking-up on the things they considered essential such as, food, toiletries, and medications. These things are material and quantifiable things. Although the church is a community of people, it is also, considered a spiritual society. Since the church was not treated as an essential institution to be left open at the height of the lockdown, and considering its spiritual connection, this study aimed at finding out what the people stocked-up on as essential in order to be sustained in their faith. The result from 39 returned survey-questionnaires conducted in the diocese of Pueblo, Colorado USA showed that people only substituted, on their own, for what they considered essential (i.e. the sacraments). This, holds policy implications for the Catholic Church leadership to articulate, now and for the future, such as the need for church libraries, adequate technological adaptation, in-depth catechesis, and solemn celebration of the liturgies in order to help adherents cope better in times of uncertainty. Keywords: Lockdown, Stock-up, Essential, Eucharist, Catechesis, Spiritual Resources, COVID-19 DOI: 10.7176/PPAR/10-11-09 Publication date: November 30th 202

An analysis of the effectiveness of secondary school civic education on the attainment of national objectives in Nigeria

Noting that colonial policies worked against the integral development of Nigeria, post-colonial administrations employed different policy initiatives to redress the situation. This case study aimed to measure the effectiveness of secondary school civic education in this regard. The Federal Capital Territory Abuja was chosen as the place of study due to its rich demographic variables. Fifty-four participants, covering six different segments of stakeholders were interviewed for analysis and results. The examination results in civic education at the end of the nine years of "Universal Basic Education" (UBE) program and the crime data of secondary school age students were also examined for enhanced credibility. The latter served as indicators of students' understanding of the content of civic education and the demand for effective citizenship respectively. Since civic education was introduced into the UBE program to shore-up dwindling national objectives through education, the study used Human Capital Theory as the theoretical framework. This study was conducted between April and September, 2013. The findings showed that ingrained ethnic consciousness in the community, bad leadership, distorted value outlook, and get-rich-quick syndrome diminished the effectiveness of secondary school civic education in the quest for the actualization of national objectives. Key Terms: National Objectives, Civic Education, Universal Basic Education, Human Capita