A former President of the Christian
Association of Nigeria, Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi-Okogie, has said
Nigerians are angry over poverty and insecurity in the country.
The former Lagos Archbishop of the
Catholic Church urged the Presidency to take note of the criticisms by
former President Olusegun Obasanjo; former military dictator, Gen.
Ibrahim Babangida; the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria and
others, saying that they should not be dismissed as “wailers.”
He said, “The truth is: Nigerians are
not happy; Nigerians are hungry and angry. They are not happy because
their lives and their belongings are not safe. They work so hard while
the value of the money they earn cannot make them enjoy basic things of
life.
“Nigerians are unhappy because the
economy has been so mismanaged that some cannot pay the school fees of
their children. Nigerians are unhappy because they have not got jobs.
Nigerians are unhappy because, instead of hope, they are offered
propaganda and insults by the President’s men. Nigerians are angry
because their loved ones are butchered by herdsmen while the response of
government is woeful.
“The issue at hand is more serious than
getting re-elected. It cannot be resolved by way of a facile
intra-party reconciliation. Before it can succeed, this government must
admit it has failed. Before it can retrace its steps, this government
must admit that it has strayed from the path of keeping the promises it
made, promises that made Nigerians to vote as they did in 2015.
“Apart from seeking intra-party
reconciliation, this government must first reconcile with Nigerians by
treating them with respect,” Okogie said in a piece he sent to The PUNCH
on Sunday night, titled, ‘There is Anger in the Land.’
According to him, despite “the insolence
of some of its officials,” Nigerians still pray for the President
Muhammadu Buhari government.
“May this government not suffer the fate
of the proverbial hunter’s dog that got lost in the forest because it
obstinately refused to heed the hunter’s whistle,” he said.
Starting on a historical note, the vocal
cleric recalled that the late football commentator, Ernest Okonkwo, was
fond of using an Igbo proverb while giving a minute by minute
description of football matches on the radio.
He said, “Anytime there was an
infringement that escaped the attention of the referee, he would ask his
colleagues, Sebastian Ofurum or Tolu Fatoyinbo, if they too saw the
infringement. If they confirmed what he saw, he would say in Igbo,
‘What two persons have seen and confirmed to be a boa must not be
mistaken for a piece of diamond.’
“One may apply that maxim to the
situation in our country right now. There is anger in the land. Many
voices are echoing it. These voices of anger are so deafening that it
can no longer be denied. The level of discontent in Nigeria at this
point in time is like the proverbial boa sighted by even more than two
persons. It would be unwise to mistake it for a piece of diamond.
“It has been sighted by retired Generals
Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida, who have spoken of the anger
in the land in clear and unmistaken terms. It has been sighted by
traditional rulers, who have called the attention of government to it.
It has been sighted by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria when
the bishops went to the corridors of power to speak to power in the way
Biblical prophets directly confronted kings in Israel.
“This can no longer be treated as the
cry of wailers. Even leading members of the party ruling at the centre
have demonstrated commendable candor by openly acknowledging that the
hopes of 2015 have been shattered by the disappointment of 2019.”
Quoting the late Raggae legend, Bob
Marley, as saying ‘your worst enemy could be your best friend, and your
best friend your worst enemy,’ Okogie said, “But presidential aides in
our country do not seem to grasp the wisdom in those words.”
The retired Archbishop added, “By their
own reckoning, anyone who raises doubts as to the rightness of
government policies, actions and statements is an enemy of government.
He or she is ridiculed as speaking because there is no more access to
ill-gotten wealth.
“A police officer, appointed to his
office, demonstrated unspeakable insolence on television, calling an
elected state governor a ‘drowning man.’ In other climes, he would lose
his job. In Nigeria, he keeps it.”
The former CAN president stated that
Catholic bishops had never failed to offer their advice to successive
governments in the country. “Every line, every word of every
intervention emanating from the Conference was chosen to offer frank and
friendly advice,” he said.
He, however, called the Governor of Kogi
State, Yahaya Bello, insolent for attacking Catholic bishops after they
met with Buhari and told the President that his goodwill was draining.
Okogie said, “The Bishops did the same
thing a few days ago, calling the attention of the President to the
anger and disappointment in the land. At the end of their friendly
exchange with the President, some of his aides and friends resorted to
name calling and gratuitous accusations.
“Anyone who has a faint idea of how the
Catholic Church is run would know that the Catholic Church does not run
on tithes. It has never taught that God’s blessings depend on tithes. No
Catholic bishop in this country has a private jet. Not even the Pope
has one.
“But an uninformed state governor,
notorious for being insolent, described the bishop’s intervention as the
wailing of religious leaders who no longer have access to tithes
because of this government’s anti-corruption fight.
“True friends tell each other the
truth. There cannot be sincere friendship where there is no truth.
Those who are telling our President the truth are his true friends.
Those who are shielding him from the truth, while insulting those who
tell him the truth, are his real enemies.
“By insulting well-meaning Nigerians who
happen to disagree with policies of government, they are not winning
friends for the President. They are in fact helping to grow the rank
and file of the angry. Whoever loves this President would want him to
succeed. Whoever wants him to succeed must tell him the truth. For if
he fails, Nigeria fails.”
Okogie recalled that the Catholic
Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria stood with and for democratic forces in
the country during the dark days of military rule.
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