The recent increase in petrol pump price and electricity tariff has received knocks from two Catholic clerics with a demand that the Federal Government should have a rethink and make life more comfortable for Nigerians.
The condemnation came from the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Diocese, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama, and his predecessor and Archbishop Emeritus, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, on Friday at the maiden General Assembly of the archdiocese with the theme, ‘Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja: Together in Evangelisation.’
Kaigama appealed to the Federal Government to have mercy on the poor who are in the majority in the country.
He said the government was capable of finding a better solution that would not exert more hardship on the citizenry.
He said, “I can only beg on behalf of the poor and the needy that government should have mercy on us. We are at the grassroots and I meet people who are really poor and in need and with all these increases, it makes life more intolerable.
“As a priest, I can only pray that God will do something for the poor and the needy but God doesn’t operate in a vacuum; He uses our leaders, the President, the governors and local government chairmen. I know they can do something.
“Let them just look at the poor and the needy with the eyes of mercy and strategise. There is a way out, they can be help. As a witness, people are in agony and are suffering. The government is their father. Government is their leader. Let them do something.”
Onaiyekan, who berated the present regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), for failing to live up to its promises, said Nigerians deserved to live better lives.
He said, “Mr President, in the same breath, was telling us he was going to do all he can to make life easier for Nigerians and one of the things he can do is those increases.
“Fuel price increase and electricity tariff increase should be put in a wider context. We wouldn’t be complaining about fuel price increase if the salaries were also increased.
“The problem comes when you leave the people with nothing to eat. I don’t think the government is supposed to be doing that. They should find a way to make life liveable for Nigerians.”
