From Tony Osauzo, Benin

Edo State Governor, Ad­ams Oshiomhole, All Pro­gressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and Minister of State for Petro­leum, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu predicted a brighter future for Nigeria at the weekend.

They spoke at the child dedication of Senior Pastor and Mrs Charles Osazuwa of the Rock of Ages Chris­tian Assembly Internation­al in Benin.

First, Oshiomhole said Nigeria will witness prog­ress with subsidy removal.

“This time will come and go, Nigerians will wit­ness progress.” He also urged churches to decline providing cover for public officials who abused their offices and added that Ni­gerians resisted subsidy re­moval in the past “because of insincerity on the part of government.”

On his part, Odigie- Oyegun, who acknowl­edged that the Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu has been under fire lately be­cause of the increase in the pump price of petrol, admitted that Nigeria was, indeed, facing a dif­ficult time.

He appealed to Nigeri­ans to change trajectory for this nation to survive in order to achieve the change mantra of the Federal Government, as­suring that Nigeria will be great again, and that “things will definitely get better progressively.

“We just have to change trajectory for this nation to survive. Change is dif­ficult…The silver lining is there. Things will defi­nitely get better progres­sively. It is a journey in which we are set.

“We are going through the period of labour and at the end of labour, comes rejoicing. This na­tion will be great again.

Meanwhile, Kachikwu, observed that the anti-corruption posture of the Federal Government was responsible for the return of hostility and vandal­ism of crude oil pipelines and other national assets in the Niger Delta region of the country. The minis­ter defended the removal of subsidy on petrol and said aggrieved members of Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) were peeved un­necessarily by the policies of President Muhammadu Buhari because they lacked sufficient knowledge of his change agenda.

“I have the hope that those who are offended by the policies that we have pursued, will sooner or later, see the hope that we are trying very hard to pro­duce and work with us in a communal brotherhood to fix this country.”

The minister assured that Nigeria will be great again and retain her past glory in the comity of na­tions.