Cardinal John Onaiyekan, a former Catholic Archbishop of Abuja has said that any elected public official, who cannot develop Nigeria, had no business
Cardinal John Onaiyekan, a former Catholic Archbishop of Abuja has said that any elected public official, who cannot develop Nigeria, had no business becoming a politician.
Onaiyekan while decrying the spate of attacks in various parts of the country, said citizens are now at the mercy of criminals. The cleric condemned the recurrent cases of attacks and banditry in various parts of the country particularly in Zamfara and Kaduna states. Major roads in the two states, especially the Abuja-Kaduna highway, have been abandoned by many as a result of high cases of abduction.
Onaiyekan said there is great need for government to step up measures to address the insecurity in the country. He decried cases where citizens are forced to pay ransoms to secure their release or that of their loved ones.
He said: “If you have no idea of how to develop Nigeria through education, security, amongst others then, do not go into politics. This same kidnapping issue happened along Lokoja /Kabba road some years back; I could not travel then. I could not understand that 30 kilometres of road cannot be policed. It just gives you a very sad impression that we are really at the mercy of the criminals. So you get ready to pay them, this is not the way to live.”
He therefore urged the Federal Government to urgently address the insecurity along the Abuja-Kaduna expressway, which he said had led to the kidnapping and killing of many Nigerians. The cleric said citizens were at the mercy of kidnappers and bandits who according to him, were waging a war against ordinary citizens and extorting huge ransoms from them.
