A former Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Okogie, has said that the Federal Government led by President Goodluck Jonathan is clueless and that the country needed an urgent rescue from what he described as “imminent brink of irredeemable destruction.”
The cleric therefore called on all Nigerians to wake up from their slumber and face the reality by electing into the position of leadership only persons “who know what to do.”
He added that efforts must be made to educate the average Nigerian to choose their leader based on capability and not on the basis of ethnic or religious affiliations.
Okogie spoke in Lagos at the 11th edition of the Gani Fawehinmi Annual Lecture/Symposium, where he was the chairman of the occasion.
He condemned the present administration for the prevalent insecurity in the country and the nation’s economic woes.
Okogie said, “There is extra urgency to rescue Nigeria. This is the time when every right thinking Nigerian must pray to hate the present situation strong enough so as to desire the fortitude to act right.
“This time does not allow for indifference. All must rise to save Nigeria from the brink of irredeemable destruction. This is the time we must play politics of the best, for the best position, in order to guarantee the best for our nation.
“Let only those with the fear of God and love of their neighbours rule Nigeria; only those who know what to do should sit at the helm of affairs. Enough of mediocrity, enough of failures, enough of nepotism, and enough of ethnicity.”
Okogie, while describing the late Fawehinmi, a human rights lawyer, as courageous, principled, and selfless and a detribalised statesman, said he was sure that Fawehinmi was now restless in his grave given the present state of the nation.
He said, “It is said that Gani Fawehinmi died a sad man. For a man who was fearless in speaking his mind without caring whose ox is gored, he was jailed many times and detained many more times for no personal crime but for his struggle to ensure justice, fairness and good governance in the country, dying without seeing signs that the new dispensation he struggled for will be achieved is a devastating blow.
“Now in death, the knowledge that Nigeria has deteriorated so badly since his passing away must be giving Gani sleeplessness.”
Okogie said were Fawehinmi to be alive, he would have been worried over the general decay in the political and economic spheres of the nation “which is riddled with lies, deception, incompetence, mediocrity, hopelessness, lawlessness and lack of vision.”
The cleric said he was certain that Fawehinmi in his characteristic manner would have dragged the Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba, to court for “his disgraceful conduct, arrogant and flagrant slap on our democracy by his unconstitutional role in the National Assembly saga recently.”
According to Okogie, Fawehinmi would have also been at the forefront of the struggle for the release of the abducted Chibok girls.
He said Fawehinmi would have been infuriated that Nigerians were placing ethnic and religious considerations ahead of capability in choosing their leaders.
In his own submission, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Femi Falana, mocked the political class and all the presidential aspirants who queued up in Abuja on Wednesday to sign the peace pact under the supervision of a former Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan.
Falana said, “Mr. Kofi Annan, a former Secretary General of the United Nations, came to Abuja to insult all of us, particularly our political leaders. Like school children, he forced the President of the country and the presidential candidate of the APC and others to queue up and sign one by one that we shall not engage in violence.”
Falana said the exercise was shameful and a waste of time, adding that what needed to be done was to confront the culture of impunity.
Falana also took a swipe at the Nigerian Bar Association, whose Abuja branch on Wednesday organised a seminar on how to conduct credible elections.
“The NBA Abuja organised a seminar on how to conduct a credible election and when I was watching the telly, I was asking myself: Does the NBA conduct credible election?” Falana asked.
In his review of a book titled “Stand up for what is right,” Falana described Fawehinmi as a man of rare courage, who “spoke loudly against injustice and lack of freedom, both in the courtroom and on the streets.” Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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