The Catholic Archbishop of Sokoto Diocese, Mathew Kukah, has said that Nigeria is in a very difficult situation while the people are in various levels of pain.
The cleric stated this after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the presidential villa in Abuja yesterday.
He told journalists in an interview that Nigerians were going through hardship as a result of the unintended consequences of some policy decisions by the Tinubu administration and called on the government to communicate better with Nigerians amid the current unfavourable economic situation.
The bishop said although one year is not enough to assess the president, he however, stated that the government should improve the quality of communication to Nigerians so that they can get a sense of how long the hardship will last.
“I’m sure many people will tell you that one year is not enough to make a judgement. 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 they 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 life time. 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 is it going to be before food is ready,” he said.
On the political crisis in Rivers State, Kukah advised Nigerians not to get carried away when politicians fight stressing that “they have their 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,” he added.
He explained that the purpose of his visit to the president was to remind him of the invitation to a conference on national cohesion organised by the Kukah Centre.
“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 will like him to be in attendance, addressing the theme of national cohesion. So, that’s really what we came to discuss,” he said.
