*Says things have never been this bad in Nigeria, people are hungry
The Archbishop of Kaduna Catholic Diocese, the Most Rev. Mathew Ndago-Manoso has claimed that life is getting worse for Nigerians under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, pointing out that in the absence of the Nigerian government in Borno communities Boko Haram terrorists have been providing services and taxing people.
Ndago-Manoso said: “Insecurity starts from where there is the absence of government. The absence of government in certain parts of the country has brought us to where we are today. Our problem has always been the management of resources of the land.
“Something is happening right now whether the government knows or not; it is that the splinter group of the Boko Haram is providing services to communities in Borno. They are collecting taxes because of the absence of government. This is dangerous.”
He made the assertion in an interview with journalists at the ongoing Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Nigeria Catholic Diocese Priests’ Association in Kaduna.
Alluding to the fact that the Buhari-led federal government has proved incapable of successfully piloting the affairs of the country, the priest explained that there was a vacuum resulting from lack of visionary governance.
“You see, in governance or democratic government if you know you don’t have the capacity to even rule a local government, don’t put yourself forward. The very fact that you put yourself forward you are telling the people that you have the capacity and the know-how.
“Even if you don’t have the know-how I think in leadership, you don’t need to have the know-how. I think you should have the intelligence to get people who know to be able to do the job. Nobody, no matter how intelligent you are, you cannot do it alone.
“Now talking about the present government, I think the simple question that every Nigerian should ask is – my life today and my life before this government came in, what is the difference?. Go on the streets and ask Nigerians, four years on, how is your life compared to before?”
Ndago-Manoso, who has been serving as a priest for 33 years added that he had not seen Nigerians suffering the way they are under President Buhari.
“They come to my office in tears looking for ordinary food. You see them dressed up inagbada. But if they tell you what they are going through: they are not able to feed their families. It has never been this bad in our country,” he said.
Speaking further, the clergyman stated: “We have the resources. I think our leaders should get off their back and do what they need to do, using our resources. We are not poor. We have no business overtaking India as the poorest country in the world.
“Officially our population has hit 200 million, and India has over 1.2 billion people, but the resources we have India does not have yet we have overtaken them in terms of poverty. I think is shameful.”