Be patient with Buhari, Okojie tells Nigerians

The Archbishop Emeritus, Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Okogie on Wednesday urged Nigerians to be patient with President Muhammadu Buhari to enable his administration to succeed.

Okogie, who said this at an interactive session with newsmen in Lagos, explained that the President would need to be meticulous in his planning and execution of actions.

According to the cleric, meticulous planning and execution need adequate time.

“You know when you are entering a new job, you don’t rush; you got to take your time, because if you do not take your time you make a lot of mistakes.

“And right at his inauguration, he even mentioned it that the ground is rough; so he has to take his time to correct these things; I think that is what he is trying to do.

“Don’t you see what he is doing now with the Boko Haram, he is meeting all the Head of States and that thing cannot just take one second or one day or one week, he is going to win them over.

“He is not a stupid man, he is not a fool and one thing I know he has in his head is that, he is no more a soldier so he has to take his time to make sure that things go the way they should go.’’

Okogie said that the nation’s economy had been “destroyed completely“ by those, who are supposed to be patriotic Nigerians.

“Some people are criticising this economy, one thing you have to know about the economy of Nigeria is completely destroyed by those who are supposed to be patriotic Nigerians.

“And what are they going to do with the money that they have syphoned, even those who are busy scooping patrol what is happening to them, what are they going to do with the money.

“If we can only remember that one day we are going to leave all these things behind, we are not going to carry them, then the nation will move, but we are not allowing things to move.

“Thank God they say two of the refineries are back, it’s a good step, these are the signs of progress that I can see; but it’s going to take time; how long (it is going to take), am not God, (so) I can’t say.“