From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Bishop of Kaduna Dioceses, Bishop Matthew Kukah, has urged President Bola Tinubu and the leadership of the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) to reduce the price of fuel to ameliorate the suffering of Nigerians, warning that there is serious hunger in the land.
He spoke at the formal unveiling of the APC Progressive Institute in Abuja on Friday, urging the political leaders to urgently find a way of reducing hunger and suffering of the masses in the land.
Bishop Kukah equally charged Nigerian political leaders to reduce their overdependence on marabouts and voodooism in the discharge of their function, urging them to graduate from patronising marabouts to embracing scientific approach to administering the country.
In his goodwill message during the event, Bishop Kukah said: “People say I am a politician but I am not one, I am political.
We at the Kukah centre have decided to raise the bar. To urge politicians and political actors to see politics as a noble cause. Our interest is to see that politicians appreciate and value knowledge so that we can make governance a priority.
“We want our politics to be based on sound and resilience and transparency. If you want to help our country, change the rules of the game. For politicians and political actors to know that there is dignity in winning and dignity in losing.
“We want politics to deliver judgement and justice, peace, and harmony. This can not be done in a vacuum. This can be done by creating a level playing field. Nigerians and Nigeria have been consumed by mythism, voodooism, sorcery, occultism, necromancy, witchcraft, etc.
“There was a growing fear that no sooner, our elected leaders that maraboot, spiritualists, and all kinds of people hiding behind them, rather than being guided by science, major policy decisions in this country are taking through necromancy of illiterate people who are sitting somewhere and chewing kolanut.
“I am saying, therefore, this institution is geared towards its importance and we need to move from speculation to science.
We at the Kukah Centre are ready to work together with you and to chart the course towards national harmony.
“A path that focuses on Nigerians well beyond the narrow interest of political parties. We wish to strengthen political activities and to create better harmony among political parties and the institution,” he said.
On the precarious situation Nigerians are currently facing, Bishop Kukah said: “We need to move from these marabouts to scientific analysis in taking political decisions. I know one girl they asked during the election, are you in APC, or LP, or PDP.. but she replied that she is hungry.
“I am speaking to those in power here to know that Nigerians are hungry. Find a way of reducing the price of fuel and the suffering in the land,” he pleaded.
