Innocent Okonkwo
31 October 2008
Lagos — CATHOLIC Archbishop of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Okogie, has tasked President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua to declare his stand on ruling the nation, saying that the President was slow in his approach to the nations development.
Okogie in a statement urged the President not to play to the gallery but to tackle the problems confronting the nation with the required urgency.
"He has been dragging his feet, trivializing all issues, but he doesn't know that he is playing to the gallery.
"Nigeria is too big for one man or a group of people to play with it; all tantamounts to playing with the soul of the nation," he said. He wondered why the list of new ministers was not out by now for all to see.
"Is he telling us that as father of the nation he cannot get good people to help him salvage this nation from the verge of collapse? If that is what he is saying, then we want to know what he is still doing at Aso Rock? If not he should act fast, take a long leap and lead this country onto the path of restoration. Yar'Adua is slow, too sluggish about everything Nigeria!"
He asked the President to look beyond party affiliation in appointing new ministers, adding that as a father to the nation that he should give young and experienced Nigerians the opportunity to serve.
He charged Yar'Adua to ignore the former governors who may be lobbying for ministerial appointment, saying that they had had their chance and should give others a chance.
On corruption Okogie regretted that those who supposed to be fighting the monster were those who were fanning the ember of corruption in the country.
While praying for the nation he said that God should also grant the President the wisdom of Solomon to rule the nation with the fear of God.
In his nationwide broadcast on October 1, President Yar'Adua, gave reasons for the perceived slow pace of his government, saying that from inception the administration resolved not to resort to quick-fix methods and short-cuts in approaching fundamental problems which require methodical and sustainable solutions.
"We are resolved as an administration, not to resort to quick-fix methods and short-cuts in approaching fundamental problems which require methodical and sustainable solutions. The review of key sectors of our national economy, which we have embarked upon so far, points to the wisdom of this approach".
He said that while his government's belief in transparency and accountability has yielded over N400 billion as unspent capital releases from ministries, departments and agencies (MDA) in the last one year, the government remains unwavering in the war against corruption as "we are determine to institutionalise zero tolerance for corruption".
"Our commitment to the entrenchment of transparency and accountability in the conduct of government business remains unwavering. In practical demonstration of our efforts to sanitize the financial and budgetary processes, we have realized over N400 billion from unspent capital releases to ministries, departments, and agencies".
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Nigeria is really too big for Yar'Adua.It has been the same story for almost two years he's been in power.The whole senario is an indication of the man's unpreparedness for the job.Assuming elections in Nigeria are decided by the electorates, what will he tell Nigerians at the end of this term that will qualify him for a re-election or a re-selection. Nigerians who ply the Lagos-Benin- Onitsha road will be wondering if there is still an existing government in this country.It is really sad that Nigeria, a land flowing with milk and honey is being run by individuals like Yar'Adua and Obasanjo. Nigerians need leaders who are willing to change the country drastically for a better tommorrow for our children and not for people who are for business as usual. In other parts of the world pipe borne water,good road,electricity,security of lives and property, and other social amenities form the basic rights of citizens and never when it is the wish of the politicians. If he is so weak to give Nigerians hope for a better future he should resign and allow selfless Nigerian to come and fix the ailing giant of Africa.
Thank You, Archbishop. Both the Bible & the Quran enjoined leaders to make haste while the day is still young to provide for the poor and the sick which the overwhelming majority of Nigerians are. Perhaps Malam Tarry-A-Doer would care to listen to the clergy for a change.
For instance, in Ecclesiastes 9:10 wherein Christians were admonished to: "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going." Even the Holy Quran quoted this ayah in Surat An-Nam* l, ayah 84, asks: ( : Did you reject my Ayahs, and did not acquire knowledge of it, or what were you doing? * on earth). Allah, The Exalted, commanded us to acquire the mandatory knowledge, we simply have no reason to delay or abandon it.
Ameer Al-Mumineen Ali bin Abi Taleb, karramaallahu wajhahu, said once: "Knowledge is better than money because knowledge protects you whereas you protect money." Knowledge rules over things, whereas money is ruled over. Money diminishes as you spend it, whereas spending the knowledge by teaching it to others increases your reward. The gate of the city of knowledge, Al-imam Ali also said: "Whenever I debated a scholar, I succeeded, and whenever I was debated by an ignorant, I lost"!!!
Even the October 2008 edition of the Economist.com magazine wrote under a caption PLEASE HURRY UP that “....Many Nigerians are complaining that their soft-spoken president has failed to fulfill his inaugural promises, for instance to improve the energy sector and to end violence in the oil-rich Delta region, which is losing the country billions of dollars of oil revenue. And worries about his own health are creating a mood of uncertainty…..Under Mr. Yar’Adua, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), an anti-corruption body, has lost its bite. Civil strife in the Delta has worsened. Nationwide electricity cuts are as frequent as ever. Worries about his kidney ailment have exacerbated things; northern power-brokers seem more concerned to retain power in the event of the president’s demise than to get Nigeria back on its feet.”
Now, that is a British-owned magazine, pleading for this pin-prick to stand up and be a man instead of all this “no-quick-fix methods and short-cuts” platitudes. We know that you are overwhelmed with your own 7-point agenda – we will leave that alone but in lieu, we demand a “quick-fix” to our deplorable electricity supply, we demand a “short-cut” solution to the Niger Delta crisis, and if you cannot handle these two (2) little tasks then resign and let somebody else that is more healthy and visionary to replace you and move the nation forward, even if she/he has to come from the same northern extraction as you, as long as she/he is healthy, wise and loyal to the average Nigerian. Is that too much to ask?