Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, said yesterday Nigerians were in pain due to policies introduced by President Bola Tinubu.
Kukah, however, expressed the hope that with time, such policies should be amended to serve the welfare of the people.
Speaking to State House correspondents after a closed-door meeting with the President at the presidential Villa, Abuja, he advised the President to open a channel of communication with the people on when his policies would begin to yield results.
Asked to assess Tinubu’s administration as it prepares to celebrate the first year in office, Kukah said: “I ’m sure many people will tell you that one year is not enough to make a judgment. 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 the results of certain policy decisions that hopefully, with time, can be amended to serve the welfare of the people.
“Because I know that the essence of government is to guarantee the welfare and security of ordinary citizens, I believe the times we are in now are 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 to continue on the building blocks of the things 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.”
Fielding questions on the political crisis in Rivers State, the cleric, who was reluctant to comment on that, however, said: “We ordinary people cry more than the bereaved. The important thing is politicians will fix their problems.
“Rivers State is a place that is very dear to me because I have been associated with them for a very long period.
“But look, when politicians fight, don’t get carried away because they can fix their quarrel. And I hope and pray that Rivers State will sooner, rather than later, reposition because it is not an insignificant part of Nigeria.”
On his mission to the state house, Kukah said: “I came to see the President with the director of the Kukah Centre. We came to discuss with the President an invitation we had earlier extended, which we renewed, to have a conference in which we would like him to be in attendance, to address the theme of national cohesion. So, that’s really what we came to discuss.”
