Roman Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Mathew Hassan Kukah, has appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to reverse the price of fuel and reduce the suffering Nigerians are currently passing through saying “there is serious hunger in the land”.
The cleric, who spoke on Friday in Abuja during the formal unveiling of APC’s Progressive Institute, called on political leaders to quickly find a way to reduce hunger and suffering of Nigerians as a result of biting economic policies of Tinubu’s government which removed oil subsidy payment and the recent increment of fuel pump price from N617 to N895.
Kukah, who stated emphatically that he does not belong to any political parties but is political, said Nigerians do not care about the party in power but about leaders who can bring food to their tables. He admonished politicians from patronising spiritualists who he said had nothing to offer except what would benefit them only while charging them to embrace scientific approach to governance and administration.
“I have always said that I am not a politician but I am political. I am not a member of the APC. If Labour Party invites me, I will go, if it is the PDP that invites me, I will also go. One thing I will appeal to politicians is to write your biography so that the younger generation will appreciate the mistakes you have made. A girl was asked, which party are you? APC, LP, or PDP? She said ‘I am hungry’. So we Nigerians are hungry. You have to find a way of reducing the price of fuel.
“Unless democracy is anchored on sound foundation, we will be building on sand. I am concerned about the quality of democracy in Nigeria. We need to fix the problem with democracy in Nigeria.
“The Institute will help the political leaders to change the rules of engagement. Once they are elected, spiritualists, ritualists will dictate their activities. I want to urge Nigerian politicians to move from marabout to scientific approach to administering the country. As I commend the APC for this feat and I am happy that the political leaders are here and I want to say that Nigerians are hungry.”
Speaking at the event, APC national chairman, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, said The Progressive Institute (TPI), is a platform that will promote good governance and progressive ideology for the political space in the country.
Ganduje, who describes the formation of the Institute as a fulfillment of his promise to come up with a program that will further entrench the party at the grassroots, said it (TPI) will serve as the official think-tank where all elected members of the party’s platform can rub minds on important national issues.
He said TPI is part of the party’s contribution to enrich the policy with transparent leadership, good governance among others.
“Our leadership took a strategic decision on Sept 21, 2023, to establish an independent, self-sustaining, global standard Institute that could aim at being one of the best institutions in the world. It was also a decision taken in pursuance of our desire to professionalise the administration of the party. This was subsequent to the presentation by the Institute for Governance and Leadership Studies in Africa, (the 4 APC’s partners on the project) before a meeting of the National Working Committee.
“The Progressive Institute will play the following two major roles for our party. The Institute will serve as the official Policy Think Tank of the party. As the party’s Think Tank, it shall undertake research and advise the party on the performance of policies and programs of all APC governments and proffer advice. It shall provide the platform for robust discussion between the party, Nigeria’s academic community, civil society, and the media as part of a deliberate effort to promote inclusiveness and ownership. The essence is to enhance the policy capacity of the Party, especially to enable it to provide policy advice and suggestions for the consideration of Governments elected on its platform.
“To serve as the Intellectual Resource Centre of the APC which shall carry out research-driven empirical training programmes. The purpose is to make our party more competitive, especially in terms of the quality and policy knowledge of its candidates.
“I urge everyone, including Nigeria’s developing partners, the academic community, the non-state organizations and other relevant stakeholders to support this new initiative as our party’s contributions to enriching our polity through more transparent leadership recruitment, a more inclusive public policy process, as well as enhanced good governance system.”
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