From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
Archbishop of Diocese of Kaduna, Anglican Communion, Timothy Yahaya, has lambasted the Federal Government over palliatives secured for Nigerians following fuel subsidy removal, saying it was more of a mockery on sensibilities of the masses.
He said the palliative the people need should be something that could stand the test of time, adding that the negative impacts of fuel subsidy removal has rubbished the value of ongoing palliative being distributed across the country.
Yahaya, the fourth archbishop of Kaduna Province of the Anglican communion spoke to newsmen, yesterday, before the thanksgiving service at the Cathedral of St. Michael’s, Kaduna over his recent election to the rank of archbishop.
Yahaya said: “Our advice is not only to the Christians but to leaders all over the world. Leadership today has become a source of decoration, it is no longer a source of responsibility, I call on all leaders to ensure at least their followers have some respite in this difficult time of economic conundrums in our country.
“Secondly, leadership should be responsible and responsive to the people. And when the people are smiling, that means there is leadership in place. When the people are crying, leaders are not supposed to be asleep until they ensure the people are smiling. Let’s be our brother’s keeper in this difficult time, let’s carry one another’s burdens so that our burdens will be lighter. That is my call to all and sundry.
“So, for me, the real palliative is to ensure schools are in order, to ensure our railway lines are in order, to ensure the insecurity conundrum is over, to ensure prices of food in the market are reduced to the bearer minimum so that it can be affordable. One thousand naira cannot buy a loaf of bread, depending on the loaf of bread you are buying.
“They said they have added N35,000 to the worker’s salary for the next six months, but it still remains bleak for us to know what is going to happen after six months, are we going back to the status quo? Are they going to increase more? If we are talking about palliative, we should talk about solid palliative, we should not only ensure our refineries are running, but all the geopolitical zones should have refineries so that the issue of fuel is settled once and for all in our country. I want to thank the Federal Government for listening to the labour union, but I hope they are listening to the masses. The labour is not up to 10 percent of our population, and if this is democracy, and when these people were voted, all Nigerians were expected to vote, not only 10 percent of Nigerians.”