Okogie scores Obasanjo govt low
From Tunji Omofeye Ibadan
PRESIDENT Olusegun Obasanjo's performance in the last five years was given the thumbs down at the weekend by the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie.
Rather than improving the lot of the citizenry, the cleric said the Federal Government in the last five years had inflicted hardship on the people.
Okogie feared that there was still a long way to go before the citizens could enjoy the dividends of democracy.
Hence, he urged the Federal Government to introduce political and economic reforms to reduce poverty, hunger and mass unemployment in the country.
He spoke with reporters shortly after the priestly ordination and 10th provincial anniversary of the Catholic Ecclesiastical Province, Ibadan.
According to him, those at the helm of affairs have betrayed the trust reposed in them by the people, as, in his view, five years of democracy had made the nation poorer while the ordinary people found it more difficult to feed themselves.
He said: "Five years of civil rule in the country have not brought the expected relief to the masses. In fact, I rate the performance of the Federal Government low. When you look at what is happening to the common people, they are becoming poorer and poorer and the prices of everything have gone up."
The cleric blamed the poor economic situation on the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which he accused of not helping Nigerians out of poverty.
He said: "The reality of the existing problem is that the vast majority of the people are losing confidence in the leadership because democracy, instead of bringing succour has brought pain, social injustice and poverty".
Okogie also criticised the Federal Government for withholding local government allocations to Lagos State, adding that the refusal of Obasanjo to heed the pleas of Nigerians on the council fund was wicked and uncalled for because the citizens in the state had been further pauperised.
"It seems the Federal Government makes laws that will suit them and use it to oppress the common people," he stated. He alleged that President Obasanjo and his deputy Abubakar Atiku were planning to establish private universities while other Nigerians who applied for the same purpose were denied the opportunity.
He noted that the withholding of council funds in Lagos State by the Federal Government had led to the imposition of all sorts of levies and taxes by Governor Bola Tinubu.
He stressed that the governor had been left with no other choice than to look for alternative ways of running the state.
On the move by the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON) to ban religious groups from showing "miracles" on the nation's television stations, the cleric said the decision was proper, noting that it was necessary to protect Nigerians from exploitation.
He deplored the proliferation of churches, insisting that "some churches are not real churches but mere business houses".
He also condemned the call for legalisation that would make abortion legal, saying that the situation would run contrary to the will of God and enthrone immoral behaviour among Nigerians.
Speaking earlier during the ordination service, Okogie said priests should not expect to be treated specially by the people, but rather, should devote their service to preaching and evangelism.
