- For Over Sixty Years, Our Leaders Have Looked Like Men In A Drunken Stupor, Staggering, Stumbling And Fumbling-Kukah
- Says Our Leaders Must Come Up With Robust Template To Reverse, Put Us On Path Of National Healing
- No Matter What Forces Of Evil Can Do, When We Are United In Good Conduct, We Shall Prevail-Atiku
As Christians in Nigeria joined their counterparts all over the world to celebrate Easter which marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, a call has gone out for national healing as Nigerians continue to face biting hardship
leading the call during the auspicious occasion are the Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Hassan Kukah and former Vice President and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last presidential election, Atiku Abubakar who both said it is a time for Nigerians to come together to pray for the peace of the nation and urged the federal governments to come up with some urgent steps to put the nation on path of healing.
According to Atiku, in a message posted on his X handle on Sunday, he stated that the shared experiences of Nigerians are bringing us to the conclusion that no matter what the forces of evil can do, when we are united in good conduct, we shall prevail.
“This Easter, we join our Christian brothers and sisters in Nigeria and across the world to celebrate the essence of the festivities.
It is also a time for all of us — regardless of faith, or ethnicity — to come together to pray for the peace of our nation. We must all remain constant in our efforts to promote unity.
Our shared experiences are bringing us to the conclusion that no matter what the forces of evil can do, when we are united in good conduct, we shall prevail.
Our leaders at all levels should follow the virtues that define this season – sacrifice, love, and charity – and come together to help all Nigerians resolve the differences that divide us.
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We must not allow those who seek to divide us to pretend as if our problems are as a result of another ethnic or religious group” he wrote.
On his part, Kukah challenged the federal governments to come up with some urgent steps to put the nation on the path of healing.
Kukah in his Easter message made available to newsmen on Sunday called on the federal government “To come up with a robust template for how it wishes to reverse and put us on a path of national healing. This must include a deliberate policy of inclusion that will drastically end the immoral culture of nepotism.
“The government must design a more comprehensive and wide-ranging method of recruitment that is transparent as a means of generating patriotism and reversing the ugly face of feudalism and prebendalism.
“There is a need for a clear communications strategy that will serve to inspire and create time-lines of expectations of results from policies. There is need for clarity over questions of the Who, What, When, and How national set goals are to be attained and who can be held accountable”.
He said “such actions will take us away from the current Communications-by-announcement-of-appointments policies as if this is all that the government is doing.
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“Second, the notion of rejigging the security architecture is a hackneyed cliché that is now at best, an oxymoron. It is difficult to fathom our current situation regarding the ubiquity of the military in our national life. It is impossible to explain how we can say we are in a civilian Democracy with the military literally looking like an army of occupation with an octopussean spread across all the 36 states and Abuja.
“This has very serious consequences both for its professionalism, its integrity and perceived role in protecting society. No other person than the immediate past Chief of Defense Staff, General Lucky Irabor who recently referred to the military as facing the dilemma of what he called, see finish. It is now difficult to say whether the persistence of insecurity is a cause or a consequence of military ubiquity.
“Trillions of Naira continue to go into bottomless pits with little measurable benefits. Our military’s professionalism cannot be diluted by the recruitment of hunters, vigilante groups and other unprofessional and untrained groups.
“This is not sustainable because it leaves the military open to ridicule and perceptions of surrender. Fighting insecurity is now an enterprise. I believe our security men and women can defeat these criminals in a matter of months. All we hear and see are fingers pointing to the top. No, this must end”
“Thirdly, it is cheering to hear that the President has announced that kidnapping and banditry are now to be treated as acts of terrorism. If so, we need to see a relentless and implacable plan to end this menace with a definite date line for bringing these terrorists to their knees, no matter what it will take. Without a timeline for eliminating these evil, despicable, malevolent and execrable demons from among us.
“Fourth, I encourage the President to continue on the path of probity, to take further steps to cut down the overbearing costs of governance and to put in place more comprehensive plans towards achieving both food and physical security across our nation.
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“Merely distributing money through already corruption riddled structures is not enough and diminishes the dignity of our citizens. No one needs to line up to receive aid when we are not in a war. Give our people back their farms and develop a comprehensive agricultural plan to put our country back on the path of honour and human dignity.”
He further likened Nigeria leaders to drunken stupors who staggering and fumbling in their speech, which he attributed to the low space of development in the country.
“Our leaders chose the feast rather than the fast. We are today reaping what we sowed yesterday. For over sixty years, our leaders have looked like men in a drunken stupor, staggering, stumbling and fumbling, slurring in speech, with blurred visions searching for the way home.
“The corruption of the years of a life of immoral and sordid debauchery have spread like a cancer destroying all our vital organs. The result is a state of a hangover that has left our nation comatose. Notwithstanding, Easter is a time to further reflect on the road not taken. It is a time to see if this Golgotha of pain can lead us to the new dawn of the Resurrection. Nigeria can and Nigeria will be great again. Let us ride this tide together in hope.
“Many Nigerians are wondering and asking questions such as, what time of day is it? Where are we? How did we get here? Where is here? Where are we going? How long do we still have to travel and are there any map readers to tell us if we are on the right path” he asked.
