The Catholic Bishop of the Sokoto Diocese, Hassan Kukah, on Wednesday, said Nigerians are bearing different levels of pain, following the policy decisions of the President Bola Tinubu administration.
The clergy, however, described the pains as unintended.
Rev. Kukah while addressing the State House correspondents after a meeting with the president at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, said, “Hopefully, with time, the policy decisions can be amended to serve the welfare of the people.”
Kukah has been a prominent critic of government policies, particularly during the tenure of former Presidents Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari.
When asked about his thoughts on Tinubu’s performance in the past year in office, the clergyman said, “I’m sure many people will tell you that one year is not enough to make a judgment. However, from where we all stand, we know that we are all in a very difficult situation.
“Nigerians are in various levels of pain and they are pains that are unintended. But they are the results of certain policy decisions that, hopefully with time, can be amended to serve the welfare of the people.
“Because I believe that the essence of government is to guarantee the welfare and security of ordinary citizens. I believe that the times that we are in now are very difficult times and nobody should be under any illusion. But they are also times for renewal.”
Kukah said he visited President Tinubu with the Director of the Kukah Centre to discuss “an invitation we had earlier extended, which we renewed, to have a conference in which we would like him to be in attendance, addressing the theme of national cohesion. So, that’s really what we came to discuss.”
He urged leaders to make peace with the fact that “building a good society takes a lot of time” and to communicate with Nigerians to help manage their expectations of how soon the economy will improve.
“It’s not something that is done in one lifetime. And for me, the most important thing is to continue on the building blocks of the things that we think are being done well.
“My argument has always been that the government needs to very quickly improve the quality of communication so that Nigerians can at least get a sense of how long it is going to be before food is ready,” he said.
