Rivers cleric backs Mbaka, says Buhari has failed Nigeria

•’Don’t Take Your Critics As Enemies, Make Amendments Before It’s Too Late’
•Catholic Bishop Urges FG To Save Nigeria From Distress

Christian cleric in Rivers State, Ezuo Simeon Okenna, said the Spiritual Director of Adoration Ministry, Enugu Nigeria, Fr. Ejike Mbaka was right to call on President Buhari to resign or be impeached by the National Assembly.

Okenna, who is the General Overseer of Christ the Life Bible International Church (CTLBIC), said Nigerians are suffering and people are passing through hard times occasioned by poverty and insecurity in the country.

In related news, the president has been admonished to be receptive to criticisms from Nigerians over the challenges bedeviling the nation and ensure that attention is given to the concerns raised. Lecturer at the Osun State Polytechnic, Iree and the Chief Imam of the institution, Alhaji Musbaudeen Orimadegun gave this charge yesterday in Osogbo at the 2021 edition of Ramadan lecture organised by the Osun State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).

Catholic Bishop of Bauchi Diocese, Dr. Hilary Nanman Dachelem, has said that Nigeria is sick and something must be done urgently to save her from becoming moribund. Dachelem who stated this in an interview with journalists at the Catholic Cathedral Bauchi yesterday, lamented that the country has degenerated into a failed state while the leaders refuse to tackle the issues.

Speaking on the general insecurity across the country, particularly killings and kidnappings, he said Nigeria has developed a culture of death by becoming used to death. 

Okenna cautioned the Federal Government and Nigerians against attacking men of God for speaking the truth on critical issues in the country. He said Nigerians should appreciate Mbaka for speaking out on the security challenges in the country when so many pastors are silent.

Speaking on the theme of the lecture, “Journalism, Fake News and Hate Speech,” Orimadegun described journalists as agenda setters who also put governments on their toes when they appear to be anti-masses. He says once leaders fail to do the needful, there is bound to be criticism, adding that those who criticise governments constructively should not be seen as enemies but as patriots. He called on President Buhari to listen to the cries of Nigerians and restore peace, orderliness and security.

“This is certainly not the Nigeria we used to know, we are facing a different Nigeria. The Nigeria we used to know was a free country and it was not as if there was no crime then but it was minimal and not at the alarming rate that it is now. There were pockets of issues but they were not too overwhelming.

Those who were into crime and criminality were very insignificant compared to the entire number but now, it seems most of us are criminals. 

Dachelem, while commenting on the kidnapping and releasing of the Greenfield University students said Nigeria is collapsing. Blaming both the leaders and the followers as being responsible for the problems in Nigeria, he however said most of the blame lies on the leadership because of their “incompetence, neglect and levity.”

He called on the President to immediately engage the youth by addressing the high unemployment rate, advising that agitations by various groups across the country should not be swept under the carpet but must be solved through dialogue.