The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Hassan Mathew Kukah, on Wednesday, met with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, saying afterwards that nearly one year into his administration, Nigerians are writhing in different levels of pain.
Emerging from the meeting with the president, correspondents had asked him to assess the first year of the Tinubu government to which he said that even though it was too soon to judge the administration, citizens have found themselves in a difficult situation.
Describing the pains as unintended, he blamed it on government policies which he hoped would be amended for the sake of the welfare of the people.
According to him, reviewing such policies is necessary because the essence of government is to guarantee the welfare and security of the people.
However, he highlighted the need for national renewal as he stressed that the government should continue to build on the things that it believes it is doing well, urging citizens to commit themselves to nation-building.
The clergyman said: “I’m sure many people will tell you that one year is not enough to make a judgment. However, from where we all stand, we know that we are all in a very difficult situation.
“Nigerians are in various levels of pain and they are pains that are unintended. But they are the results of certain policy decisions that hopefully, with time, can be amended in order to serve the welfare of the people.
“Because I believe that the essence of government is to guarantee the welfare and security of ordinary citizens. I believe that the times that we are in now are very difficult times and nobody should be under any illusion. But there are also times for renewal.
“We just need to commit ourselves to the fact that building a good society takes a lot of time. It’s not something that is done in one lifetime. And for me, the most important thing is to continue on the building blocks of the things that we think are being done well.
“My argument has always been that the government needs to very quickly improve the quality of communication so that Nigerians can at least get a sense of how long it is going to be before food is ready.”
On the political crisis in Rivers, Bishop Kukah admonished Nigerians not to worry themselves over the rivalry among politicians, saying that they know how to resolve their problems.
He hoped that the issues would be resolved sooner rather than later as he noted that the state is very dear to his heart.
Pressed to comment on the crisis, he said: “Well, I don’t live in Rivers. Look, this is politics and very often, we ordinary people cry more than the bereaved. The important thing is politicians will fix their problems.
“Rivers State is a place that is very dear to me because I have been associated with them for a very long period of time.
“But look, when politicians fight, don’t get carried away because they have the capacity to fix their quarrel. And I hope and pray that Rivers State will sooner rather than later reposition because it is not an insignificant part of Nigeria.”
On his mission in the president’s office, he said it was in connection with the planned conference on national cohesion being organized by the Kukah Center.
“I came to see the President with the Director of the Kukah Centre. We came to discuss with the President an invitation we had earlier extended, which we renewed, to have a conference in which we would like him to be in attendance, addressing the theme of national cohesion. So, that’s really what we came to discuss,” he disclosed.
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