The Epistle of Reverend Adewale Martins to Buhari
The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev. Adewale Martins, hardly comes out smoking. When he does, it is usually thought-provoking. That was what he did with his Epistle to the federal government on #RevolutionNow, urging this regime to see the protest as a wake-up call to address the untold hardship and security challenges Nigerians are undergoing.
For Martins, the Buhari-led administration should see the agitations as an opportunity to directly hear the complaints of Nigerians, to enable government redouble its efforts toward fulfilling its constitutional role of securing the lives and property of the people.
My takeaway from Martins’ Epistle: “Except urgent and concrete measures are taken to reassure Nigerians of the safety of their lives and property across the country, things may soon get out of hand. People may be forced to resort to self-help, if the government and security agencies continue to fail them. The ongoing protests by some groups are a reflection of the growing decay in the land. Clamping down on the protesters will not make the problems to disappear. Rather, I urge him (Buhari) as the father of the nation, to pay attention to the issues that bother the citizens.
“The fears being expressed about the state of the nation are genuine and they deserve to be looked into urgently so as to save this nation from further distress. President Buhari needs to address the nation on these issues and give people the much-needed reassurance and hope. If this is not forthcoming, people may feel free to interpret events as they wish. The proper and real dividend of democracy includes freedom of expression and assembly, and the freedom to protest.”
This is a fair Epistle. As usual, Most Rev. Martins has shown great courage in telling the Buhari government truth. So many clergies are incapable of doing this because they have soiled their fingers. This is why my beloved Nigeria continues to degenerate.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has appointed 32 personal aides to help him run his show in the House. Yes, 32 aides; with five of them managing the media and six others handling political matters. This is a record. I don’t think any Speaker had appointed such a large number of aides in Nigeria’s history. An official statement released listed all sorts of humorous areas to be handled by the aides. They include Special Assistant, IDPs; Special Assistant, Employment and Job Creation; Special Assistant – Former Members Affairs; Special Assistant – Executive Relations; Special Assistant – Anti-Corruption; Special Assistant, Members’ Affairs. So, Gbajabiamila alone will have salaries and allowances for 32 aides paid for by the government? What a country? We should be talking more about cutting the cost of governance and deploying such savings into critical areas like health and education. My dear Gbajabiamila, you must drastically reduce the number of your aides.