Fiery critic and Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, has warned that if Nigeria does not settle the issue of “bread and butter mentality”, her democracy could actually look like a lottery.
The cleric also expressed pity on Nigerians who, because of many troubles, hardly travel out of their immediate environments.
Kukah stated these on Friday in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, in his keynote address with the theme, “The Nigerian Question: Survival of the Federation in The Throes of Increasing Economic Challenges”, at the 3rd Annual National Public Lecture of the FirstNews Online Newspaper.
He however said even those who masterminded Nigeria’s woes were also unsafe as suffering masses, adding that although every country of the world have their own problems, it takes the citizens and purposeful leaders to address such challenges.
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He said, “It is not as if we cannot use democracy to develop Nigeria; but there are certain fundamental things that must be on ground before people can appreciate democracy. Unless Nigeria settles the issue of ‘bread and butter mentality’, democracy can actually look like a lottery.
“The good thing about Nigeria is that everybody knows what the problems are and the people who are responsible for the problems are not also safe, they too do not know peace.
“Nigerians talk about other countries, I feel sorry for many Nigerians who, because of many troubles, hardly travel out of their immediate environments, not to talk about traveling to other parts of Africa or other parts of the world.
“Though every country has its own problems, the challenge before us in Nigeria is: what do we want, obviously, can we democratize and develop our nation? It is a very difficult question to answer, because what we call the civilized world today is the last 200 years of exploitation of Africa that helped to build these nations.
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“So we are imagining it ourselves, why are we not like other people, we are not like others because every nation has to find its own navigational truth for development.
Earlier, Publisher of the FirstNews Newspaper and former Commissioner for Information in Bayelsa State, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, explained that the essence of the lecture was to brainstorm on Nigeria’s challenging economy and proffer possible solutions.
Iworiso-Markson said that Nigeria’s situation has defied known solutions, saying that was why the public lecture was organized to proffer solutions to the economic challenges.
Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr Gideon Ekeuwei, urged Bayelsa people to take steps to develop themselves so as to surmount the current economic crunch.