THE Bishop of the Sokoto Catholic Diocese and Founder of the Kukah Centre, Right Reverend Matthew Kukah, has stated that he believes one year is insufficient to pass judgement on President Bola Tinubu’s government.
He did, however, say that the administration should engage with Nigerians about when it plans to address the country’s current socioeconomic difficulties.
Bishop Kukah made this statement in an interview with State House Correspondents immediately after meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa Abuja to discuss an upcoming event hosted by the Kukah Centre on the issue of national cohesion.
He stated that while the administration is offering solutions to the variety of difficulties, Nigerians need to know when they may expect to breathe a sigh of relief.
According to him, Nigerians are experiencing varying degrees of anguish.
“I’m sure that 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 as a result of certain policy decisions that hopefully, with time, can be amended in order to serve the welfare of ordinary people,” Bishop Kukah explained.
He noted that it is the responsibility of the government to ensure better living conditions and security of the citizens.
“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 are very very difficult times, and nobody should be under any illusion.
“But, there 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 lifetime. And for me, the most important thing is for us 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.”
Regarding the current turmoil in Rivers State, Bishop Kukah believes Fubara and Wike would resolve their issues.
According to him, regular people are concerned about what is occurring in Rivers State, but politicians have a way of settling themselves.
“This is politics. I’m very hopeful, we ordinary people cry more than the bereaved. The important thing is that politicians will fix their problems.
“Rivers State is a place that is very dear to me because I have been associating with them for a very long time. But, look, when politicians fight, don’t get carried away because they have their capacity to fix their quarrels. I hope and pray that Rivers State will sooner than later reposition itself because it is not an insignificant part of Nigeria,” he said.
