Catholic Archbishop of Ibadan Archdiocese, Most Rev. Dr. Gabriel Abegunrin has chided Nigerians who put all the blame for the nation’s challenges on the leaders, urging them, to, in their own little spaces, do what is good.
Speaking against the backdrop of the recent appreciation of the naira against the dollar, the Catholic Archbishop decried that several traders still sold their commodities at high prices.
Abegunrin who made this call on Thursday during the Chrism mass held at St Mary’s Cathedral, Oke Padre, Ibadan, tasked Nigerians to be honest.
Calling on both leaders and followers to take responsibility, Abegunrin lampooned those Nigerians who continue to cheat their fellow citizens under the guise of the bad economy.
Though he noted that the government had its role to the lives of citizens better, Abegunrin said people had a duty to organize their homes from where criminals, kidnappers, and murderers emanate.
He added that Nigerians also had a sole duty to organize their small societies in schools, workspaces, and religious houses for the good of the larger society.
Abegunrin said: “When we are saying Nigeria should be good, who will make it good? It is you and I that will make it good.
“If you mention Tinubu, will he come to your house? Will he sell rice? It is ourselves.
“Now that the naira is beginning to appreciate, some are selling at low prices but some are raising it high.
They hold that the dollar is still strong. Even when the dollar is no longer strong, some people will continue to cheat. That is the problem. We are the problems of our own country.
“Look at kidnappers, we ask the government to attack, chase, arrest them, yet they continue to kill and kidnap. When we ask God to help us, we are the instruments in his hands that he will use.
“He won’t come down but is calling us to do good in our homes, and families. Be honest, pray and guide your children to do well.
“Do not think President Bola Tinubu will come and organize your house, your family, our schools. We have duties to the society. Let us do it well, that is the only way to get out of this.”
