Cardinal Okogie’s Open Letter To President Buhari

The Emeritus Archbishop of
Lagos, Cardinal Anthony Okogie
has told President Muhammadu
Buhari on Monday through an open letter that
Nigerians are hungry and
urgently need relieve from the
President.
The Cardinal in the letter stated, "Today, cries of "hunger" could
be heard across the length and
breadth of our vast country.
Nigerians hunger, not only for
food, but also for good
leadership, for peace, security
and justice.
"This letter is to appeal to you to
do something fast, and, if you are
already doing something, to
redouble your effort. May it not
be written on the pages of
history that Nigerians die of
starvation under your watch.
"As President, you are the chief
servant of the nation. I therefore
urge you to live up to the huge
expectation of millions of
Nigerians. A stitch in time saves
nine."
"Nigerians are waiting for you to
fulfill the promises you made
during the campaign. They voted
you into office because of those
promises. The introduction of
town hall meetings is a
commendable idea. But in
practice, you, not just your
ministers, must converse with
Nigerians. You are the President.
You must be accountable to
them. The buck stops on your
desk. Even if your administration
has no magic wand at least give
some words of encouragement."
"Mr. President, if you want to
leave a credible legacy come
2019, in all sincerity, please
retool your administration.
Change is desirable. But it must
be a change for the better. Let
this change be real. Change is not
real when old things that we
ought to discard refuse to pass
away."
"You will need to take a critical
look at the manner of
appointments you have been
making. It is true that common
sense dictates that you appoint
men and women you can trust.
But if most of the people you
trust are from one section of the
country and practice the same
religion, then you and all of us
are living in insecurity.
"The Nigerian economy has
never been in a state as terrible
as this. You as the President, you
are like the pilot of an aircraft
flying in turbulence. Turbulent
times bring the best or the worst
out of a pilot. We can no longer
blame the turbulence on past
administrations. You know quite
well that some of the officials of
your administration served in
previous dispensations. Blame
for what we have been
experiencing is in fact bipartisan
in character.
"The entire political class needs
to come together, irrespective of
party differences to acknowledge
its collective guilt and to seek
ways of saving the sinking ship
that our country has become.
This cannot be done if some
officials of your administration
demonise and alienate members
of the opposition."
"This is the time to revitalise
moribund industries,
reinvigorate our agriculture,
make our country tourist and
investor friendly, and enable our
young men and women to find
fulfillment by contributing to the
common good.
"None of these lofty goals can be
achieved without good
education. On this particular
issue, recent appointments you
have made in the education
sector raise a question: have you
really appointed the best? Still on
education, it is important that
our universities be allowed to
use their own criteria to admit
students. It is a gross violation of
the principles of federalism and
academic freedom for the
Federal Government to insist that
only a federal parastatal can
decide on who gains admission
into our universities."