Archbishop Emeritus of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, Anthony
Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie, yesterday released a statement criticizing
the Buhari-led government. In the statement which was signed by the
Director of Social Communications of the Diocese, Monsignor Gabriel
Osu, Cardinal Okogie criticized Buhari for failing to heed court
injunctions that granted both Dasuki and Pro-Biafra group leader, Nnamdi
Kanu, bail. The respected religious leader asked what sort of "Change"
is the President talking about when such acts of judicial disobedience
is now the order of the day.
According to Okogie, the belief of many Nigerians is that the government is turning the nation into a police state comprising of the President, the EFCC and the DSS. He alleged that governors, who arm-twisted Okonjo-Iweala into signing reserves held by Central Bank, are today ministers in the All Progressives Congress (APC) government. Read part of the statement below
According to Okogie, the belief of many Nigerians is that the government is turning the nation into a police state comprising of the President, the EFCC and the DSS. He alleged that governors, who arm-twisted Okonjo-Iweala into signing reserves held by Central Bank, are today ministers in the All Progressives Congress (APC) government. Read part of the statement below
“He (Buhari) must retool, refocus and aggressively face the social,
economic (fiscal and monetary) problems we have head-on, without letting
the anti-corruption drive look like a political distraction.
A
snail-paced and disordered methodology in governance, his apparent
disdain for judicial authorities and decisions, a lost today and found
tomorrow 2016 Budget debacle, and a rather rudderless and confused
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) with an unclear monetary policy strategy
(inevitably increasing the economic uncertainties being faced by
Nigerians), have set alarm bells ringing in my mind and in the minds of
many discerning Nigerians.
Indeed, his perceived discordant
relationship with the leadership of the Legislature has many naysayers
chuckling and remarking that President Buhari’s government is heading
into his comfort zone, a one man show. A lot of Nigerians are beginning
to feel that Buhari is fast transforming this nation into a police
state where the president, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) and the Department of State Security (DSS) rule the day.
What
they say is given lurid headlines in the media, and it seems to all
that some of the defendants cum accused persons are being tried in the
press with information conveniently slipping into the hands of the
press, presumably from the security agencies, even before such people
have been charged to court.
The pro-Biafran activist, Nnamdi Kanu and
the erstwhile NSA, Sambo Dasuki, were granted bail by the courts but
such bails were disregarded by the security agents under Buhari’s watch.
Unfortunately, democracy is difficult and this government must realise
that democracy pervasively coloured with impunity, arbitrariness and
highhandedness, cannot be used to fight and correct the financial
impunity and reckless abandon of the previous administration, even if it
is more difficult to do so; the rule of law must be obeyed and be the
order of the day.
If Buhari wants to leave a creditable legacy come
2019, he should retool the bureaucracy. For instance, the roof of the
Central Bank is leaking water. Governors, who arm-twisted Okonjo-Iweala
into signing out our reserves held by Central Bank, are today ministers
in the All Progressives Congress (APC) government.
We are still
talking about change and corruption when old things refuse to pass away!
These political gimmicks can only carry away gullible or naive
Nigerians. President Buhari should beam his flashlight on policies and
programmes that will lift up the masses. Existing industries are almost
dead and they call for urgent revitalisation.
The budget ought to aid
solutions to the mass unemployment, rural-urban migration, skewedness
in the distribution of income, abject rural poverty and
industrialisation of rural economy. The 774 local government capitals
should be linked to their state capitals. Even the mindboggling
infrastructure deficits can take the entire tenure to address. The
weakness in the bureaucracy has not been addressed.
The problem the APC
government is trying to solve is bound to re-occur because it is
treatment of effect rather than the cause,” he said, adding that
causative factors are being totally ignored or glossed-over while
institutional weakness pervades the Ministries Departments and Agencies
(MDAs), offices of the Accountant-General, Auditor-General and the
Central Bank. Our Change must change something.
How could we continue to
talk of change in a static system? How could we be talking of change
when the same crew are governors, ministers, senators, and members of
the House of Representatives? This is a cyclical devolution of power to
the same people who are never out of power! What sort of change is the
President talking about? When will the youth take over when even a
governor does not take a bow and go?
When shall we plan for the
replacement of delinquent leadership? This is what constitutes change.
Change is not changing from Jonathan to Buhari. Change is behavioural
and pervades all levels of society including the family, the church, the
mosque, schools, market women and business men. When we talk of change,
we talk of positive-salutary, healthy growth and development oriented
change that cuts across the entire gamut of the society.
What sort of
change is this that ignores the glaring unequal distribution of
national income? It is absurd that the same government that is unable
to pay N18,000 per month to the lowest grade of labour can afford to pay
N1.8 million per month to anyone in the economy. Why must tax payers’
money be used to feed Mr. President and his family?
Why must the tax
payers’ money be used to buy brand new exotic vehicles for the
legislature, judges, ministers and governors when they are heavily paid?
Why don’t they use loan finance or mortgage finance to buy their cars
and houses? This is also a form of looting and it is the cause of
grounding the economy and calling in an IMF spin-doctor all the time.
Precisely two years ago this same President Buhari rejected off-hand
this use of a spin doctor to heal the ailing economy. He preferred the
use of counter-trade and inward looking policies like cutting down costs
and flamboyant exotic life styles. Today, I am not so sure we have the
same Buhari. I do hope he has not changed all the colours of the
rainbow. The ruling elites are living a luxurious lifestyle while the
masses are in abject poverty and yet we are all Nigerians. Enough of
this change-conundrum”.
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