SAN FRANCISCO, June 17, (THEWILL) – The Archbishop Emeritus of Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okojie has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to restart his leadership of the country by returning to his inaugural speech as well as the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC Manifesto.
Okojie, who spoke on Thursday during his 80th birthday celebration which took place at the Holy Cross Cathedral, Lagos, urged the President to do all that is necessary now to revamp the economy before things get out of hands.
Stressing that Nigeria of today is not the Nigeria of 20 years ago, he advised Buhari not to take the goodwill he is currently enjoying from Nigerians for granted, stressing that the country is in dire need of leaders who would unite and not divide it as well as a constitutional arrangement that would usher in a just and humane relations.
“If President Buhari wants to make a quick turn back, he should take his inaugural speech and the All Progressive Congress manifesto, study them and then start afresh. That is my advice,” he said.
Okojie maintained that Nigeria also needs self-sacrificing leaders who would pay attention to the needs of the people, not one that legitimises the exploitation of the resources of the land with little or no attention to the needs of the people who own the land.
“At this stage of my life, I can only advise and admonish our policy makers, especially in the education sector, that are now battling with the lives of innocent children, to allow education to flourish; for if education does not flourish, our country cannot flourish. You have already seen it in some parts of the country. We have seen it in some of our children’s behaviours,” he said.
The Archbishop Emeritus, while reacting to the raging Hijab controversy in Osun State, he asserted that it was wrong as “the people, were gradually sneaking in,” adding that “I am feeling something that is not yet manifest. IBB tried it during the OIC and he failed. He said he attended the meeting as an observer.
He continued, “How can you, because you are president, without your Senate and House of Reps, go there, and say you are an observer. Who sent you there? And the people he met over there did not ask him, ‘Who sent you there and where are your people?’ Now he failed.
“Now, they are again going gradually; this is just another move. That is the way they move in, just stealthily. Look at what El-Rufai is doing in Kaduna; you are journalists. Can’t you see it, that is the way they move in and then gradually, they sneak back again, just like a snake. ‘A snake is never dead until you see it dead.’ That is exactly what they are doing. They move from one place to another one, then they hide and then come out again,” Okojie stated.
