Catholic Bishops in Nigeria have told President Muhammadu Buhari about the existence of certain unproductive elements who are impeding the progress of his administration.
The clerics under the aegis of Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria said this when they met the President in the State House on Monday night.
According to the president of the Catholic Bishops, Ignatius Kaigama who spoke to State House correspondents after the meeting, the President agreed with the group that some of his lieutenants are actually cogs in the wheel of progress who are not living up to exoectation.
The cleric added that his group will continue to pray for those ‘unpatriotic’ elements in order for them to understand that Nigeria is bigger than everyone.
“He agrees that not everyone is working as he expects. There are some who are cogs in the wheel of progress. We are praying and hoping that such people will see that Nigeria is greater than all of us, that we should develop patriotic disposition and our aspiration should be to put this country first,” he said.
The leader of the group who doubles as Archbishop of Jos Diocese, did not however clarify if these ‘cogs in the wheel of progress’ are in the President’s cabinet, lawmakers, heads of parastatals or ruling party chieftains.
Archbishop Kaigama told journalists that they found a sincere man in President Buhari, calling on Nigerians to be patient and support the administration to deliver on its mandate.
“The Catholic Bishops in Nigeria have come to the Villa to greet the President. We had a warm and cordial meeting. We heard the President talk with passion about how to make this county better and to mobilise all Nigerians to selflessly put in their best.
We assured the President of our prayers, moral support and our desire to cooperate. In Catholic Church, whether it is education, healthcare or social services, we have done quite a lot over the years.
With the willing disposition of the President and his attitude of embracing everyone, we felt we should spell out some areas of closer collaboration.
We found him a sincere man with great sense of dedication. He wants the best of this nation. We also want the best for this nation.
With that, criminalities and other things that are anti-social will give way. We have every hope. We only need to be a little more patient.
The President has explained to us the difficulties, challenges, bottlenecks that are there and we understood him fully.
We equally call on Nigerians to give the President a chance. He is sincere, he is dedicated, he is committed and together, we shall make on wonderful progress,” the cleric said.
The Catholic Bishops also declared support for the President’s battle against corruption, saying the cancer of corruption must be killed before the country can get it right.
“Since 1960, the Catholic Bishops have been talking against corruption, telling people to avoid it.
It is a cancer, it is dangerous, it is a sickness and it is a social disease.
We have assured the President that we are 100% with him in his fight against corruption.
With corruption, we can’t progress. With corruption, everything goes wrong, immorality takes over, retrogression takes place.
So corruption is a huge obstacle that has to be dismantled,” he added.
